angel

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The Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic that is translated as “angel” in English versions is translated in many ways:

  • Pintupi-Luritja: ngaṉka ngurrara: “one who belongs in the sky” (source: Ken Hansen quoted in Steven 1984a, p. 116.)
  • Tetela, Kpelle, Balinese, and Mandarin Chinese: “heavenly messenger”
  • Shilluk / Igede: “spirit messenger”
  • Mashco Piro: “messenger of God”
  • Batak Toba: “envoy, messenger”
  • Navajo: “holy servant” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida 1961; Igede: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
  • Central Mazahua: “God’s worker” (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.)
  • Saramaccan: basia u Masa Gaangadu köndë or “messenger from God’s country” (source: Jabini 2015, p. 86)
  • Mairasi: atatnyev nyaa or “sent-one” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Shipibo-Conibo: “word bringer” (source: James Lauriault in The Bible Translator 1951, p. 32ff. )
  • Apali: “God’s one with talk from the head” (“basically God’s messenger since head refers to any leader’s talk”) (source: Martha Wade)
  • Michoacán Nahuatl: “clean helper of God” (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
  • Noongar: Hdjin-djin-kwabba or “spirit good” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Wè Northern (Wɛɛ): Kea ‘a “sooa or “the Lord’s soldier” (also: “God’s soldier” or “his soldier”) (source: Drew Maust)
  • Iwaidja: “a man sent with a message” (Sam Freney explains the genesis of this term [in this article): “For example, in Darwin last year, as we were working on a new translation of Luke 2:6–12 in Iwaidja, a Northern Territory language, the translators had written ‘angel’ as ‘a man with eagle wings’. Even before getting to the question of whether this was an accurate term (or one that imported some other information in), the word for ‘eagle’ started getting discussed. One of the translators had her teenage granddaughter with her, and this word didn’t mean anything to her at all. She’d never heard of it, as it was an archaic term that younger people didn’t use anymore. They ended up changing the translation of ‘angel’ to something like ‘a man sent with a message’, which is both more accurate and clear.”)

See also angel (Acts 12:15) and this devotion on YouVersion .

complete verse (Revelation 7:1)

Following are a number of back-translations of Revelation 7:1:

  • Uma: “After that, I saw four angels stand in the four corners of the world. Those angels received power/authority from God to strike the world with plagues/tortures, whether in the sea or on the land/shore. They restrained the wind from the four corners of the world, so that there was no wind blowing on the sea and on the shore/land and in the forest. And I saw another angel appear in the east. He held a sealer/stamp [posaa’, from Indonesian: cap] from the God who Lives forever. That angel called loudly saying to those four angels earlier, he said:” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “After that I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the world/universe holding back the wind so that it would not blow on to the earth and on the sea or even on a single tree.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “After this I saw four angels of God. Each one of them was standing on the four sides of the earth, and they block off the four winds on the earth so that the earth and the sea and the trees could not be blown upon.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “When that was finished, I saw four angels standing on/at the four corners of the world restraining the four sources of the wind so that the earth and ocean and also the trees would absolutely not be blown-on.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well when those things were over, I saw four angels who were standing at the four edges/corners of this world. They were prohibiting the four eyes of the wind so that they wouldn’t just yet blow here under the heavens, wouldn’t blow on the ocean or the forest.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Having passed what I saw, again I saw four angels standing at four corners of the world. They were each one stopping the wind. They did not allow any wind to be on the land, nor upon the sea. They didn’t let there be a wind to move a tree.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Revelation 7:1

After this I saw: as in 4.1. This is a separate vision, and everything takes place on earth. Since this is the beginning of a new chapter, it will be equally natural in most languages to say “The next thing that I saw….”

Four angels standing at the four corners of the earth: the earth is regarded as a vast, square surface, with four distinct corners, from each of which one wind blows.

Holding back the four winds of the earth: the four winds blow from heaven (Jer 49.36; Dan 7.2; Zech 6.5); here they are called the four winds of the earth, blowing from north, south, east, and west. The angels keep them from blowing on earth or sea, which includes all the earth’s surface—the earth, of course, meaning “the dry land,” and the sea referring to large bodies of water everywhere. The addition of or against any tree seems to be a detail meant to make the figure more vivid, since trees are particularly affected by strong winds.

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 .