Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 15:15:
Uma: “That is the same as the words of the prophet long ago, because there was a prophet long ago who foretold that God would call non-Yahudi people become his people/crowd. Its sound is like this:” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “That which Petros spoke coincides/agrees-with what was written by the prophets of ancient-times. It is written hep in the holy-book, saying,” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “This believing of the Gentiles very much agrees with the words which were written by the prophet of God long ago because there is a written prophecy which says:” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “That-aforementioned-thing that God has done, it is-in-harmony-with what a prophet wrote saying,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “This indeed is in line with (lit. follows the trail of) what was written by the prophets of the past saying,” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
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)
On the expression the words of the prophets see 13.40; the quotation comes from Amos 9.11-12. The expression the words of the prophets must sometimes be expressed as a verbal construction—for example, “what the prophets said agreed…” or “when the prophets spoke, their words agreed….” In many languages one can readily speak of “people agreeing” but it is often difficult to talk about “words … agreeing.” Therefore, in some languages one must say “when the prophets spoke, this is exactly what they talked about” or “what the prophets said was precisely about this very matter.”
The clause as the scripture says is perfectly acceptable in many languages, but in certain languages one cannot speak of “the scripture saying.” Rather, it is necessary to have “these are the words of the scriptures,” “in the scriptures one reads,” or “in the scriptures the prophet said.”
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Acts of the Apostles. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
The words of the prophets agree with this: The word words refers to various sayings of the prophets in the Old Testament. These various prophecies confirm what God did among the Gentiles, starting with Cornelius.
In some languages words must use a different verb phrase than agree with this. For example:
The sayings of the prophets confirm this -or-
Various prophecies ⌊in scripture⌋ verify this
prophets: A “prophet” is a person who receives messages from God. The message from God (often called a “prophecy”) may be in words or visions. It may reveal something about a past, present, or future event, or it may reveal someone’s thoughts, motives, or attitudes. It is not like a sermon, prepared by the preacher’s study of the Bible, but God may inspire a preacher with a prophecy during a sermon. The person speaks the prophecy to the people or writes it down for their use. Other ways to translate the word prophets are:
spokespersons for God -or-
people who speak/bring God’s message/words -or-
God’s message-speakers
It is good to use a general term that does not focus only on foretelling the future.
When choosing a term for “prophet,” consider how you will distinguish “prophet” from other words such as “angel,” “apostle,” “evangelist,” and “preacher.”
See how you translated this word in 2:16 or 13:40.
this: Here this word refers to what happened in 15:14. In some languages, “that” is more natural.
15:15b
as it is written: This phrase introduces examples of prophecies from the Old Testament about God including some of the Gentiles among his people. Other ways to translate this are:
since the scriptures say: (New Jerusalem Bible) -or-
for example, they wrote this ⌊in the scriptures⌋: -or-
This agrees with what the prophets wrote, (Contemporary English Version)
it is written: This clause is passive. Some languages must use an active clause. The prophets wrote what God told them. For example:
what the prophets wrote (Contemporary English Version)
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
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