25Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many; then call on the name of your god, but put no fire to it.”
The Hebrew and Greek that is typically transliterated as “Baal” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign for “idol.” (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
The name that is transliterated as “Elijah” in English means “God-LORD,” “strength of the LORD,” “my God is YHWH.” “the LORD God.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )
Orthodox Icons are not drawings or creations of imagination. They are in fact writings of things not of this world. Icons can represent our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. They can also represent the Holy Trinity, Angels, the Heavenly hosts, and even events. Orthodox icons, unlike Western pictures, change the perspective and form of the image so that it is not naturalistic. This is done so that we can look beyond appearances of the world, and instead look to the spiritual truth of the holy person or event. (Source )
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Kings 18:25:
Kupsabiny: “Then, Elijah said to those prophets of Baal, ‘So, you choose first your bullock and prepare it, for you are many. Then, you cry out to Baal but do not start/set fire to the wood.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Since you are many, you choose and prepare your bull first and pray to your god. However, do not light a fire."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Then Elias said to the prophets of Baal, ‘You (plur.) be the first-ones because you (plur.) are many. You (plur.) choose one bull and you (plur.) prepare (it). You (plur.) then pray to your (plur.) god, but you (plur.) do- not -set-fire on the firewood.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, ‘You call to Baal first, because there are many of you. Choose one of the bulls and prepare it, and then call to your god. But do not light a fire under the wood!’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Eugene Nida wrote the following about the translation of the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek terms that are typically translated with “prophet” in English:
“The tendency in many translations is to use ‘to foretell the future’ for ‘prophesy,’ and ‘one who foretells the future’ for ‘prophet.’ This is not always a recommended usage, particularly if such expressions denote certain special native practices of spirit contact and control. It is true, of course, that prophets of the Bible did foretell the future, but this was not always their principal function. One essential significance of the Greek word prophētēs is ‘one who speaks forth,’ principally, of course, as a forth-teller of the Divine will. A translation such as ‘spokesman for God’ may often be employed profitably.” (1947, p. 234f.)
Following is a list of (back-) translations from other languages (click or tap for details):
Ayutla Mixtec: “one who talks as God’s representative”
Isthmus Mixe: “speaker for God” (source for this and two above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Mezquital Otomi / Paasaal: “God’s messenger” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff. and Fabian N. Dapila in The Bible Translator 2024, p. 415ff.)
Noongar: Warda Marridjiny or “News Traveling” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Kutu: mtula ndagu or “one who gives the prediction of the past and the future” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Ebira: ọnịsẹ, a neologism that combines the prefix ọn for “a person” with ịsẹ for “prediction” (source: Scholz /Scholz 2015, p. 49)
French 1985 translation by Chouraqui: inspiré or “inspired one” (“someone in whom God has breathed [Latin: in + spiro]) (source: Watson 2023, p. 45)
In Ixcatlán Mazatec a term is used that specifically includes women. (Source: Robert Bascom)
“In some instances these spiritual terms result from adaptations reflecting the native life and culture. Among the Northern Grebo people of Liberia, a missionary wanted some adequate term for ‘prophet,’ and she was fully aware that the native word for ‘soothsayer’ or ‘diviner’ was no equivalent for the Biblical prophet who spoke forth for God. Of course, much of what the prophets said referred to the future, and though this was an essential part of much of their ministry, it was by no means all. The right word for the Gbeapo people would have to include something which would not only mean the foretelling of important events but the proclamation of truth as God’s representative among the people. At last the right word came; it was ‘God’s town-crier.’ Every morning and evening the official representative of the chief goes through the village crying out the news, delivering the orders of the chief, and announcing important coming events. ‘God’s town-crier’ would be the official representative of God, announcing to the people God’s doings, His commands, and His pronouncements for their salvation and well-being. For the Northern Grebo people the prophet is no weird person from forgotten times; he is as real as the human, moving message of the plowman Amos, who became God’s town-crier to a calloused people.” (source: Nida 1952, p. 20)
In British Sign Language it is is translated with a sign that depicts a message coming from God to a person (the upright finger) and then being passed on to others. (Source: Anna Smith)
“Prophet” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.
In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
For you are many explains why Elijah thinks that the prophets of Baal should go first in preparing their sacrifice. In some languages this clause may have to precede the clauses with the verbs Choose and prepare even though it comes after them in the Hebrew text.
But put no fire to it: Since the sending of fire is to be the actual test, Elijah states clearly that neither the prophets of Baal nor he himself (verse 23) are to set fire to the prepared sacrifices. For to it, see the comments on verse 23.
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, -or-
So Elijah told Baal’s prophets
18:25b “Since you are so numerous, choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first.
“There are so many of you! You (plur) can/will go/try first. Choose a bull and prepare it. -or-
that, because they were so many/numerous, they should be the first to choose a bull and prepare it.
18:25c Then call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.”
Then call/cry (plur) out to your (plur) god by name. Do not start (plur) the/a fire yourselves.” -or-
They should not set ⌊the wood⌋ on fire but ⌊instead⌋ pray to their god ⌊to send fire⌋.
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