lamb

The term that is translated as “lamb” in English is typically translated as “offspring of a sheep” in Ixcatlán Mazatec since there is no specific word for “lamb.” Since this could distract readers with thoughts of God being the sheep when the “lamb” refers to Jesus the translation into Ixcatlán Mazatec chose “little (individual) sheep” for those cases. (Source: Robert Bascom)

In Dëne Súline the native term for “lamb” directly translated as “the young one of an evil little caribou.” To avoid the negative connotation, a loan word from the neighboring South Slavey was used. (Source: NCAM, p. 70)

For the Kasua translation, it took a long process to find the right term. Rachel Greco (in The PNG Experience) tells this story:

“To the Kasua people of Western Province, every four-legged animal is a pig. They call a horse a pig-horse, a cow, a pig-cow, and a sheep, a pig-sheep, because all of these animals have four legs, which is kopolo, or pig, in their language.

“When the translation team would translate the word, ‘sheep’ in the New Testament, they would translate it as ‘pig-sheep’. So when Jesus is referred to as the ‘Lamb,’ (John 1:29; Rev. 12:11; Rev. 17:14), they translated as ‘pig-sheep’ so that in John 1:29 it would read: ‘Behold, the pig-sheep of God.’

“When some members of the translation team attended the Translators Training Course, they had the opportunity to observe and study sheep for the first time. As they watched and learned more about the animals’ behavior, their understanding of these creatures—and God’s Word—rotated on its axis.

“Once during the course, Logan and Konni — the translation team’s helpers — were driving with the team to a Bible dedication when Amos, one of the team members, said passionately, ‘We can’t use the word kopolo in front of the word, ‘sheep’! Pigs know when they’re about to die and squeal and scream.’ The team had often watched villagers tie up pigs so they wouldn’t escape.

“’But,’ Amos said, ‘Jesus didn’t do that.’ The team had learned that sheep are quiet and still when death walks toward them. They had observed, as they translated the New Testament, the words of Isaiah 53 fulfilled: ‘Like a lamb led to the slaughter, he did not open his mouth.’ And now they understood what it meant. For this reason, the team decided not to put pig-sheep in the New Testament for the word ‘sheep,’ but used sheep-animal or, in their language, a:pele sipi.

“The Kasua translation team also chose to discard the word ‘pig’ before sheep because pigs are unclean animals to the Jews. The team knew that Jesus was called the ‘Lamb of God’ in the New Testament to show that he is unblemished and clean. Hopefully the Lord will open up the Kasua villagers’ eyes to these same truths about Jesus as they read of Him in their own language.”

See also sheep.

apostle, apostles

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The Greek term that is usually translated as “apostle(s)” in English is (back-) translated in the following ways:

Scot McKnight (in The Second Testament, publ. 2023) translates it into English as commissioner.

In American Sign Language it is translated with a combination of the signs for “following” plus the sign for “authority” to differentiate it from disciple. (Source: RuthAnna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“apostles” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

complete verse (Revelation 21:14)

Following are a number of back-translations of Revelation 21:14:

  • Uma: “That fort of that village was built on twelve foundation stones, and on those foundation stones were written the names of the twelve messengers of the Lamb.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “The foundation (lit. for-placing) of the wall of that city were twelve stones. On these stones the names were written of the twelve people commissioned by Isa, the one called the Sheep.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “The wall of the city rests on twelve large stones. Written on these stones are the names of the twelve apostles of the young sheep.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “The foundation of the stonewall of the town, it was twelve large rocks on which were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Sheep.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “And there were also twelve units of rock which were the stabilizers of the wall of that city. Written also there were the names of the twelve apostles of that one referred to as Young Sheep.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Concerning this wall which goes around the city, there at the base there are twelve stones which are the base. These stones have written on them the names of the twelve representatives of the Lamb.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Revelation 21:14

The wall … had twelve foundations: these are “foundation stones” (Good News Translation). The picture seems to be that of large stones, each one of which reaches from one gate to the next, twelve in all; or else there is a foundation stone under each of the twelve gateways. In any case, the foundation stones are partly above ground, since the name of the twelve apostles of Christ can be seen written on them. The phrase the twelve apostles of the Lamb presumably refers to the twelve disciples of Jesus, as listed in the Gospels. For apostles see 18.20. It should be clear in translation (which it is not in Revised Standard Version or Good News Translation) that there is one name per stone. New Jerusalem Bible makes this quite explicit: “each one of which bore the name of one of the apostles of the Lamb.” “Foundation stones” in some languages will be expressed as “root stones” or “basic stones.”

Alternative translation models for this verse are:

• They had built the wall (or, fence) of the city on top of twelve large stones. The name of one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb was written on each stone.

Or:

• … Each stone had the name of one of the twelve chief messengers of the Lamb written on it.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Revelation to John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .