The Greek and Latin that is translated as “resurrection” in English is translated in Chicahuaxtla Triqui and Pohnpeian as “live-up” (i.e. return to life) (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel) and in Iloko as panagungar: a term that stems “from the word ‘agungar,’ an agricultural term used to describe the coming back to life of a plant which was wilting but which has been watered by the farmer, or of a bulb which was apparently dead but grows again.” (Source: G. Henry Waterman in The Bible Translator 1960, p. 24ff. )
Likewise, in Matumbiyu’ya carries the meaning of “raise from the dead, resuscitate, come back from near death” and is used for dry plants that come back to life when you water them or sick children who revive after being healed. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
In Estado de México Otomi, it is translated as “people will be raised from the dead,” in Teutila Cuicatec as “the dead having to come to life again,” in San Mateo del Mar Huave as “arose from the grave” (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), and in Kriol as gidap laibala brom dedbala or “get up alive from the dead” (source: Sam Freney in this article .)
The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is often translated in English as “Hades” or “Sheol” is translated in the German Luther Bible 2017 (and pre-1912) as Totenreich or “realm (or: kingdom) of the dead” in these verses. (Source: Jost Zetzsche)
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 2:31:
Uma: “Daud was a prophet, and he knew from-the-start what God would do in the future. God made a promise to Daud with vowing, he said: one from the descendants of Daud later would be raised by God and be made king, like Daud himself. So, that is why Daud foretold ahead-of-time that the Redeemer King would live again, he said: he was not abandoned in the dwelling-place of the dead, and his body is not abandoned in the grave until rotten.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Da’ud knew beforehand as to what would happen in the future, that’s why he spoke about Almasi’s living again from his death. He said that Almasi was not left in the place of the dead and his body did not rot.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And since David knew what God was going to do, he prophesied the resurrection of Christ, the king whom God chose, because David said, ‘God didn’t never mind him there in the place of the dead, and also his body did not rot.’ ‘” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “He also knew that God would make-that descendant of his -come-alive again, and what he prophesied that he would not be left in the place of the dead and neither would his body rot, he was speaking-of the Messiah that God would send.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “David foretold what was put in his mind concerning the coming alive again of Cristo, who really wouldn’t be left there in the wherever of the dead, and his body wouldn’t be left to rot in the grave.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
The Greek Christos (Χρηστός) is typically transliterated when it appears together with Iésous (Ἰησοῦς) (Jesus). In English the transliteration is the Anglicized “Christ,” whereas in many other languages it is based on the Greek or Latin as “Kristus,” “Cristo,” or similar.
When used as a descriptive term in the New Testament — as it’s typically done in the gospels (with the possible exceptions of for instance John 1:17 and 17:3) — Christos is seen as the Greek translation of the Hebrew mashiaḥ (המשיח) (“anointed”). Accordingly, a transliteration of mashiaḥ is used, either as “Messiah” or based on the Greek or Latin as a form of “Messias.”
This transliteration is also used in the two instances where the Greek term Μεσσίας (Messias) is used in John 1:41 and 4:25.
In some languages and some translations, the term “Messiah” is supplemented with an explanation. Such as in the GermanGute Nachricht with “the Messiah, the promised savior” (Wir haben den Messias gefunden, den versprochenen Retter) or in Muna with “Messiah, the Saving King” (Mesias, Omputo Fosalamatino) (source: René van den Berg).
In predominantly Muslim areas or for Bible translations for a Muslim target group, Christos is usually transliterated from the Arabic al-Masih (ٱلْمَسِيحِ) — “Messiah.” In most cases, this practice corresponds with languages that also use a form of the Arabic Isa (عيسى) for Jesus (see Jesus). There are some exceptions, though, including modern translations in Arabic which use Yasua (يَسُوعَ) (coming from the Aramaic Yēšūa’) alongside a transliteration of al-Masih, Hausa which uses Yesu but Almahisu, and some Fula languages (Adamawa Fulfulde, Nigerian Fulfulde, and Central-Eastern Niger Fulfulde) which also use a form of Iésous (Yeesu) but Almasiihu (or Almasiifu) for Christos.
In Indonesian, while most Bible translations had already used Yesus Kristus rather than Isa al Masih, three public holidays used to be described using the term Isa Al Masih. From 2024 on, the government is using Yesus Kristus in those holiday names instead (see this article in Christianity Today ).
Other solutions that are used by a number of languages include these:
Dobel: “The important one that God had appointed to come” (source: Jock Hughes)
Noongar: Keny Mammarap or “The One Man” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Mairasi: “King of not dying for life all mashed out infinitely” (for “mashed out,” see salvation; source: Lloyd Peckham)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “One chosen by God to rule mankind” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Bacama: Ma Pwa a Ngɨltən: “The one God has chosen” (source: David Frank in this blog post )
Binumarien: Anutuna: originally a term that was used for a man that was blessed by elders for a task by the laying on of hands (source: Desmond Oatridges, Holzhausen 1991, p. 49f.)
Noongar: Keny Boolanga-Yira Waangki-Koorliny: “One God is Sending” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uab Meto: Neno Anan: “Son of heaven” P. Middelkoop explains: “The idea of heavenly power bestowed on a Timorese king is rendered in the title Neno Anan. It is based on the historical fact that chiefs in general came from overseas and they who come thence are believed to have come down from heaven, from the land beyond the sea, that means the sphere of God and the ghosts of the dead. The symbolical act of anointing has been made subservient to the revelation of an eternal truth and when the term Neno Anan is used as a translation thereof, it also is made subservient to a new revelation of God in Jesus Christ. The very fact that Jesus came from heaven makes this translation hit the mark.” (Source: P. Middelkoop in The Bible Translator 1953, p. 183ff. )
In Finnish Sign Language both “Christ” and “Messiah” are translated with sign signifying “king.” (Source: Tarja Sandholm)
“Christ / Messiah” in Finnish Sign Language (source )
Law (2013, p. 97) writes about how the Ancient GreekSeptuagint‘s translation of the Hebrew mashiah was used by the New Testament writers as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments (click or tap here to read more):
“Another important word in the New Testament that comes from the Septuagint is christos, ‘Christ.’ Christ is not part of the name of the man from Nazareth, as if ‘the Christs’ were written above the door of his family home. Rather, ‘Christ’ is an explicitly messianic title used by the writers of the New Testament who have learned this word from the Septuagint’s translation of the Hebrew mashiach, ‘anointed,’ which itself is often rendered in English as ‘Messiah.’ To be sure, one detects a messianic intent on the part of the Septuagint translator in some places. Amos 4:13 may have been one of these. In the Hebrew Bible, God ‘reveals his thoughts to mortals,’ but the Septuagint has ‘announcing his anointed to humans.’ A fine distinction must be made, however, between theology that was intended by the Septuagint translators and that developed by later Christian writers. In Amos 4:13 it is merely possible we have a messianic reading, but it is unquestionably the case that the New Testament writers exploit the Septuagint’s use of christos, in Amos and elsewhere, to messianic ends.”
By the addition what God was going to do the Good News Translation links the promise that God made (v. 30) to its fulfillment in the resurrection of the Messiah. The Greek expression of “foreseeing” is very elliptical, and particularly in this type of context it requires some degree of redundancy, even as in the Good News Translation.
The nominal phrase he spoke about the resurrection of the Messiah may be rendered as “he said that the Messiah would rise from the dead.” The difficulty with this expression is that it requires some verb of speaking, but this produces a conflict with the following verb of speaking, which introduces direct discourse. Hence, to relate the two expressions it may be necessary to say, “David was really talking about the fact that the Messiah would arise from the dead when he said, He was not abandoned….” In other languages it may be necessary to reverse the order, for example, “When David said, He was not abandoned in the world…, he was really talking about the fact that the Messiah would rise from the dead.”
Messiah is the same word which is translated elsewhere “Christ”; but where the term occurs as a title the Good News Translation renders it Messiah. The Messiah (meaning “the anointed one”) was a technical name for one whom God had promised to send to save his people. In popular Jewish thought of the first century A.D., the title had political overtones and implied a descendant of David who would come and overthrow the Roman rule. Here, of course Messiah is used apart from its political connotations; it is used rather to link Jesus to a spiritual fulfillment of the Jewish hope.
In many languages a term for Messiah is simply borrowed, but this does not make much sense, unless the meaning is taught or the reader is referred to a note in the glossary. In a number of languages Messiah is translated as “God’s specially chosen one.” Literally, of course, Messiah refers to anointing, but since the process of anointing to symbolize the selection of a person for some divinely appointed task is very rare, a literal rendering can rarely be employed. In any event, the meaning and significance of the term Messiah should be explained in the glossary.
Though in the quotation from the Old Testament the pronoun he must be so used as to refer to the Messiah, it is not warranted to introduce the noun “Messiah” into the quotation. One can, of course, always change the passive to the active, for example, “God did not leave him in the world of the dead.”
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 .
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