Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 2:20:
Uma: “The day will be dark, the moon red like blood, before the Day of the Lord arrives, the day that is very big and powerful.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “The sun,’ he said, ‘will become dark, and the moon will become red like blood when the great and wonderful day is about to arrive, the day for my judging the human beings.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “As for me, the Lord, before the famous day of my punishing mankind is arrived to in the future, the sun will become dark and the moon will become red like blood.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “In-the-future indeed (prophetic formula) the sun will get-dark, and the moon, it will turn-reddish like blood. Then will arrive the valuable day that has no equal on-which the Lord -will-come.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “And then when that important/high day is arriving which is the far-from-ordinary day when God will judge people, the sun/day will become dark. The moon will, in the sight of people, be just like blood.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
The Hebrew adonai in the Old Testament typically refers to God. The shorter adon (and in two cases in the book of Daniel the Aramaic mare [מָרֵא]) is also used to refer to God but more often for concepts like “master,” “owner,” etc. In English Bible translations all of those are translated with “Lord” if they refer to God.
In English Old Testament translations, as in Old Testament translations in many other languages, the use of Lord (or an equivalent term in other languages) is not to be confused with Lord (or the equivalent term with a different typographical display for other languages). While the former translates adonai, adon and mare, the latter is a translation for the tetragrammaton (YHWH) or the Name of God. See tetragrammaton (YHWH) and the article by Andy Warren-Rothlin in Noss / Houser, p. 618ff. for more information.
In the New Testament, the Greek term kurios has at least four different kinds of use:
referring to “God,” especially in Old Testament quotations,
meaning “master” or “owner,” especially in parables, etc.,
as a form of address (see for instance John 4:11: “Sir, you have no bucket”),
or, most often, referring to Jesus
In the first and fourth case, it is also translated as “Lord” in English.
Most languages naturally don’t have one word that covers all these meanings. According to Bratcher / Nida, “the alternatives are usually (1) a term which is an honorific title of respect for a high-ranking person and (2) a word meaning ‘boss’, ‘master’, or ‘chief.’ (…) and on the whole it has generally seemed better to employ a word of the second category, in order to emphasize the immediate personal relationship, and then by context to build into the word the prestigeful character, since its very association with Jesus Christ will tend to accomplish this purpose.”
When looking at the following list of back-translations of the terms that translators in the different languages have used for both kurios and adonai to refer to God and Jesus respectively, it might be helpful for English readers to recall the etymology of the English “Lord.” While this term might have gained an exalted meaning in the understanding of many, it actually comes from hlaford or “loaf-ward,” referring to the lord of the castle who was the keeper of the bread (source: Rosin 1956, p. 121).
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Following are some of the solutions that don’t rely on a different typographical display (see above):
Iyansi: Mwol. Mwol is traditionally used for the “chief of a group of communities and villages” with legal, temporal, and spiritual authority (versus the “mfum [the term used in other Bantu languages] which is used for the chief of one community of people in one village”). Mwol is also used for twins who are “treated as special children, highly honored, and taken care of like kings and queens.” (Source: Kividi Kikama in Greed / Kruger, p. 396ff.)
Binumarien: Karaambaia: “fight-leader” (Source: Oates 1995, p. 255)
Warlpiri: Warlaljamarri (owner or possessor of something — for more information tap or click here)
We have come to rely on another term which emphasizes God’s essential nature as YHWH, namely jukurrarnu (see tetragrammaton (YHWH)). This word is built on the same root jukurr– as is jukurrpa, ‘dreaming.’ Its basic meaning is ‘timelessness’ and it is used to describe physical features of the land which are viewed as always being there. Some speakers view jukurrarnu in terms of ‘history.’ In all Genesis references to YHWH we have used Kaatu Jukurrarnu. In all Mark passages where kurios refers to God and not specifically to Christ we have also used Kaatu Jukurrarnu.
New Testament references to Christ as kurios are handled differently. At one stage we experimented with the term Watirirririrri which refers to a ceremonial boss of highest rank who has the authority to instigate ceremonies. While adequately conveying the sense of Christ’s authority, there remained potential negative connotations relating to Warlpiri ceremonial life of which we might be unaware.
Here it is that the Holy Spirit led us to make a chance discovery. Transcribing the personal testimony of the local Warlpiri pastor, I noticed that he described how ‘my Warlaljamarri called and embraced me (to the faith)’. Warlaljamarri is based on the root warlalja which means variously ‘family, possessions, belongingness’. A warlaljamarri is the ‘owner’ or ‘possessor’ of something. While previously being aware of the ‘ownership’ aspect of warlaljamarri, this was the first time I had heard it applied spontaneously and naturally in a fashion which did justice to the entire concept of ‘Lordship’. Thus references to Christ as kurios are now being handled by Warlaljamarri.” (Source: Stephen Swartz, The Bible Translator 1985, p. 415ff. )
Mairasi: Onggoao Nem (“Throated One” — “Leader,” “Elder”) or Enggavot Nan (“Above-One”) (source: Enggavoter 2004)
Obolo: Okaan̄-ene (“Owner of person(s)”) (source: Enene Enene)
Lotha Naga: Opvui (“owner of house / field / cattle”) — since both “Lord” and YHWH are translated as Opvui there is an understanding that “Opvui Jesus is the same as the Opvui of the Old Testament”
Seediq: Tholang, loan word from Min Nan Chinese (the majority language in Taiwan) thâu-lâng (頭儂): “Master” (source: Covell 1998, p. 248)
Thai: phra’ phu pen cao (พระผู้เป็นเจ้า) (divine person who is lord) or ong(kh) cao nay (องค์เจ้านาย) (<divine classifier>-lord-boss) (source: Stephen Pattemore)
Arabic often uses different terms for adonai or kurios referring to God (al-rabb الرب) and kurios referring to Jesus (al-sayyid الـسـيـد). Al-rabb is also the term traditionally used in Arabic Christian-idiom translations for YHWH, and al-sayyid is an honorary term, similar to English “lord” or “sir” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin).
Tamil also uses different terms for adonai/kurios when referring to God and kurios when referring to Jesus. The former is Karttar கர்த்தர், a Sanskrit-derived term with the original meaning of “creator,” and the latter in Āṇṭavar ஆண்டவர், a Tamil term originally meaning “govern” or “reign” (source: Natarajan Subramani).
Burunge: Looimoo: “owner who owns everything” (in the Burunge Bible translation, this term is only used as a reference to Jesus and was originally used to refer to the traditional highest deity — source: Michael Endl in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 48)
Yagaria: Souve, originally “war lord” (source: Renck, p. 94)
Aguacateco: Ajcaw ske’j: “the one to whom we belong and who is above us” (source: Rita Peterson in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 49)
Konkomba: Tidindaan: “He who is the owner of the land and reigns over the people” (source: Lidorio 2007, p. 66)
Chichewa: AmbuyeAmbuye comes from the singular form Mbuye which is used to refer to: (1) someone who is a guardian or protector of someone or group of people — a grandparent who has founded a community or village; (2) someone who is a boss or master over a group of people or servants and has absolute control over them; (3) owner of something, be it a property, animals and people who are bound under his/her rule — for people this was mostly commonly used in the context of slaves and their owner. In short, Mbuye is someone who has some authorities over those who call him/her their “Mbuye.” Now, when the form Ambuye is used it will either be for honorific when used for singular or plural when referring to more than one person. When this term is used in reference to God, it is for respect to God as he is acknowledged as a guardian, protector, and ruler of everything. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation).
Hdi uses rveri (“lion”) as a title of respect and as such it regularly translates adon in the Old Testament. As an address, it’s most often with a possessive pronoun as in rvera ɗa (“my lion” = “my lord” or “sir”). So, for example, Genesis 15:2 (“O Lord God”) is Rvera ɗa Yawe (“My lion Yahweh”) or Ruth to Boaz in Ruth 2:13: “May I find your grace [lit. good-stomach] my lion.” This ties in nicely with the imagery of the Lord roaring like a lion (Hosea 11:10; Amos 3:8; Joel 3:16). Better still, this makes passages like Revelation 5:5 even richer when we read about rveri ma taba məndəra la Yuda, “the Lion of the tribe of Judah”. In Revelation 19:16, Jesus is rveri ta ghəŋa rveriha “the lion above lions” (“lord of lords”). (Source: Drew Maust)
Law (2013, p. 97) writes about how the Ancient GreekSeptuagint‘s translation of the Hebrew adonai was used by the New Testament writers as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments: “Another case is the use of kurios referring to Jesus. For Yahweh (in English Bibles: ‘the Lord‘), the Septuagint uses kurios. Although the term kurios usually has to do with one’s authority over others, when the New Testament authors use this word from the Septuagint to refer to Jesus, they are making an extraordinary claim: Jesus of Nazareth is to be identified with Yahweh.”
The sun will become dark, and the moon red as blood accurately translates the meaning of the literal expression “the sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood.” The sun will become dark may be rendered simply as “the sun will not shine,” but a more poetic form would be “the sun will become like night.” In choosing a word for red it is important to select the precise term which is used in speaking of blood. In some languages, for example, the color area of red is divided into three parts: one designates orange and other yellowish forms of red; a second refers to light reds, including pinks; and still a third specifies dark red, shading toward purple. It is normally this latter area of color which is most appropriate.
In many languages a Day cannot “come” or “arrive.” It may “happen” or “people may arrive on that day.” Under such circumstances, one must make some adjustment in the semantic structure. Furthermore, in some languages one cannot speak of a day as “great.” It can be “important,” but not “great”—the latter being applicable only to persons.
The description of that day as a glorious Day comes from the Septuagint; the Hebrew has “fearful” or “awesome,” which became in the Septuagint “glorious.” A glorious Day is a “wonderful day” in some languages—but this quality of being “wonderful” is not in terms of the quality of the day, for example, sunshine and warmth, but in terms of the significance of the day. Hence, great and glorious really stand for the importance of the event, and in some languages the two concepts must be coalesced into one, with a compensatory expression of intensity of degree, such as “that very important day of the Lord.”
The possession of a day, for example, Day of the Lord, as suggested by the genitive usage in Greek, has no direct parallel in many languages, since people simply do not possess days. One can, however, often use “the very important day for the Lord,” but this use of “for” must not suggest that the importance is merely a matter of special interest for the Lord himself. What is important is that it is the day in which the Lord will act, that is, “that very important day for what the Lord will do.”
It should be noted that in the use of Lord there is an evident ambiguity, but an intentional one. In the Old Testament passage Lord refers to Jehovah (Yahweh), but for the writer of Acts the application to Jesus is implied (see specifically v. 36). It is, therefore, important to employ some term which can be doubly applicable, both to God as Lord (in the OT) and to Jesus Christ as Lord in these typical New Testament contexts.
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 sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood: This clause is passive. Some languages must use a clause that is not passive. For example:
⌊God⌋ will turn the sun to darkness and the moon to blood -or-
The sun will become dark, and the moon will become as red as blood (God’s Word)
The sun will be turned to darkness: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as turned is literally “changed.” God will cause or plan this event or events. In some languages a literal translation would not have the correct meaning. If that is true in your language, translate the correct meaning. For example:
⌊God⌋ will cause the sun to become dark
darkness: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as darkness can also mean “gloomy.” So it is possible that some of the light of the sun will still shine on the earth.
the moon to blood: The verb phrase “will be turned” is implied here but not repeated. God will cause the moon to become the color of blood or cause the smoke or dust to block the light of the moon so that it looks red like blood.
In some languages a literal translation would not have the correct meaning. If that is true in your language, translate the correct meaning. For example:
⌊God⌋ will cause the moon to become ⌊red like⌋ blood
2:20b
before the coming of the great and glorious Day of the Lord: The word before indicates that the wonders and signs, including the sun turning dark and the moon turning red, will happen soon before the Day of the Lord.
the coming of the great and glorious Day of the Lord: The verb coming refers to when the day of the Lord occurs. In some languages the verb “come” cannot be used for a Day. If that is true in your language, translate the correct meaning. For example:
when the great and glorious day of the Lord occurs
the…Day of the Lord: This phrase refers to the time when God will gather all people, alive or dead, and judge them.
the Lord: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the Lord means “master, owner.” See how you translated this word in 1:6.
This word refers here to God. He is master or owner over all things. In some languages it is more natural to include the word “God” here. For example:
the Lord ⌊God⌋
great: This word means “important” here, because of what God will do at that time. Here are some other ways to translate this word:
valuable -or-
very big -or-
important/high
glorious: The word glorious here refers to something being wonderful or remarkable. Here are some other ways to translate this word:
notable (King James Version) -or-
magnificent (English Standard Version) -or-
resplendent (Revised English Bible)
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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