22‘How?’ the Lord asked him. He replied, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ Then the Lord said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do it.’
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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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “ask” in English is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-tazune (お尋ね), combining “inquire” (tazune) with the respectful prefix o-. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
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)
Cherokee: adolehosgi (ᎠᏙᎴᎰᏍᎩ) or “discoverer of things,” a “term that was was traditionally applied to Cherokee medicine men or women who used divining.” (Source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 49)
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)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Kings 22:22:
Kupsabiny: “God asked, ‘So how will you go and incite (him)?’ The spirit said, ‘I will make all his prophets deceive (him). God said to (him), ‘Good. You go and do like that.’ ’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “The LORD asked, ‘How?’ The spirit replied, ‘Having gone, I will be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.’ "The LORD said, ‘You will succeed in enticing him. ‘Go, do just like that.’"” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “The LORD asked, ‘In what way?’ He replied, ‘I will-go and I will-cause- the prophets of Ahab -to-speak lies.’ The LORD said, ‘Go and do that. You will-succeed in enticing him.’ ’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Yahweh asked him, ‘How will you do it?’ The spirit replied, ‘I will go and inspire all of Ahab’s prophets to tell lies.’ Yahweh said, ‘You will be successful; go and do it!’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, iw-are-ru (言われる) or “say” is used.
The verse division between verses 21 and 22 is the cause of some confusion. In Hebrew, the Greek Septuagint, and the Latin Vulgate, the break comes after the question By what means? And this is followed by certain English versions (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New American Bible, Contemporary English Version) as well as most non-English versions. But many English versions follow the King James Version tradition, which makes the break as in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. This was apparently an error on the part of the King James Version translators and need not be repeated in other languages unless there is already a strong tradition in the area of the new translation.
By what means?: This may be translated by an interrogative adverb meaning “How?” or “In what manner?” The LORD is asking what kind of trick will be used to accomplish the purpose of deceiving Ahab. International Children’s Bible makes it a complete sentence, filling out the meaning with “How will you trick Ahab?”
In the first occurrence of the words And he said (in the middle of the verse), the spirit is the subject of the verb said. But in the second occurrence, the LORD is the subject of the verb said.
Will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets: A literal rendering of this expression is not recommended in most cases. The idea is that the spirit “will cause all of Ahab’s prophets to speak lies.”
You are to entice him, and you shall succeed: The Hebrew verbs translated entice and succeed may both be translated as future tense. But in this context they may also both be translated as imperatives. Most translations treat the first of these two verbs as a command and the second verb as a statement of what will happen (so Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation). If both verbs are treated as commands, the translation will be “Deceive him and overpower him.” If both verbs are taken in the future tense sense, then New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh provides a good model with “You will entice and you will prevail.”
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 Yahweh said/asked, ‘How ⌊will you (sing) do it/that⌋ ?’ -or-
Yahweh asked ⌊the spirit⌋, ‘In what way will you deceive/trick him?’ -or-
Yahweh asked him/it how he/it would do that.
22:22b ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.’
The spirit answered, ‘I will go to be a spirit that deceives. I will make/cause all of Ahab’s prophets to deceive/trick him.’ -or-
He/It said/replied, ‘I will go to Ahab’s prophets. I will be a spirit that causes all of them to lie to him.’ -or-
The spirit said that he would go and cause all Ahab’s prophets to speak deceitfully.
22:22c ‘You will surely entice him and prevail,’ said the LORD.
Yahweh said, ‘You (sing) will deceive ⌊him⌋ and you will succeed. -or-
Then Yahweh said, ‘You will be able to deceive/trick Ahab/him in that way. -or-
And Yahweh said that he would be successful
22:22d ‘Go and do it.’
Go (sing) now and do as you have said.’ -or-
Go and do it now.’ -or-
and should go and do ⌊as he had suggested⌋.
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