3The company of prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he said, “Yes, I know; keep silent.”
The name that is transliterated as “Elisha” in English means “God the Savior,” “to whom God is salvation,” “God of salvation,” “God is Savior.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )
In Finnish Sign Language it is translated with the sign signifying “help + prophet.” (Source: Tarja Sandholm)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 2 Kings 2:3:
Kupsabiny: “But as they were about to reach that place, they met with prophets who were still in training who lived in Bethel. Those people asked Elisha, ‘Do you know that God is going to take your master away today?’ Elisha answered, ‘Yes, I know, but do (plur.) not talk about it.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “A group of prophets came to Elisha in Bethel and asked, "What! Do you know that the LORD will take your master away from you today?" Elisha said, "Yes, I know. Do not talk of this matter."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Now, there was a group of the prophets there at Betel who went to Elisha and asked, ‘Do you know that the LORD is now about-to-take your master today?’ Elisha replied, ‘Yes, I know, but let- us (incl.) not -talk about that.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “A group of prophets came to Elisha and Elijah before they entered the town, and they asked Elisha, ‘Do you know that Yahweh is going to take your master/boss Elijah away from you today?’ Elisha answered, ‘Certainly I know that, but don’t talk about it!’” (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)
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)
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 benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.
Here, damatteite (黙っていて) or “stay silent” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
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 rare (られ) 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, toriage-rare-ru (取り上げられる) or “take away” is used.
The sons of the prophets: As in 1 Kgs 20.35, this expression is used as a name for the members of a group of people engaged in prophetic activity and living together more or less as an order or a brotherhood. The expression occurs ten times in 2 Kings and a similar one is found in Amos 2.11. Nueva Versión Internacional translates “the members of the community of prophets.”
Came out to Elisha: The verb used here in Revised Standard Version indicates that the prophetic group left Bethel and met Elisha before he entered the city. This is an accurate reflection of the normal Hebrew usage although Good News Translation is less clear on this point. Most English versions, however, reflect the meaning found in Revised Standard Version. New Jerusalem Bible may provide a better model for some languages: “came out to meet Elisha.”
The LORD will take away your master from over you is literally “… from over your head.” The prepositions from over in English almost make it sound like a promise of freedom from slavery, but this is certainly not the intent of the statement. The idea is that of the loss of a beloved leader. New Revised Standard Version, like Good News Translation, says “… take your master away from you.” Since verse 1 said that God was about to take Elijah up to heaven, the author may have intended for the reader to understand the words from over you with a double meaning. A more literal translation such as Revised Standard Version may, therefore, be preferable here.
Hold your peace: The Revised Standard Version translation is idiomatic English. The Hebrew verb here means simply “say nothing” (Revised English Bible), “do not speak of it” (New International Version), “say no more” (Knox), “Be quiet” (Hobbs), or “Keep silent” (American Bible). Translators should avoid a rendering that gives the impression of impoliteness, such as “hold your tongues” (Moffatt) or “shut up!” In other contexts this verb has the meaning “refrain from acting” (Jdg 18.9), but here the idea is “refrain from speaking” or “keep quiet” (as in 1 Kgs 22.3). The same expression is repeated in verse 5.
Since some languages will prefer indirect rather than direct discourse in this verse, the following model may be considered:
• … asked him if he knew that the LORD was going to take his master away from him that day. And Elisha said that he did know but that he preferred not to talk about it.
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.