vision

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The Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin and Greek that is translated as “vision” in English is translated in a variety in the following languages:

  • Chol: “as if in a dream” (source: Robert Bascom)
  • Obolo: ilaak ọkpọchieen̄ or “dreaming awake” (source: Enene Enene)
  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “a showing like dreams”
  • Desano: “see in a dream what God will send”
  • Rincón Zapotec: “see what God shows”
  • Mayo: “see things from God as in a dream”
  • Lalana Chinantec: “dream how it is going to be”
  • Chuj: “like dreaming they see”
  • San Mateo del Mar Huave: “understand what they see as if in a dream”
  • Ayutla Mixtec: “see that which will happen” (source for this and seven above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
  • Tagbanwa: “being caused to dream by God” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Chichewa: azidzaona zinthu m’masomphenya: “they will see things as if face-to-face” (interconfessional translation, publ. 1999) (Source: Wendland 1998, p. 69)
  • Mandarin Chinese: yì xiàng (异象 / 異象), lit. “different (or: strange) appearance.” (Source: Zetzsche)

The Greek in the books of Revelation and Acts is translated as obq-rmwible: “look-dream” in Natügu. Brenda Boerger (in Beerle-Moor / Voinov, p. 162ff.) tells the story of that translation: “In the book of Revelation, the author, John, talks about having visions. Mr. Simon [the native language translator] and I discussed what this meant and he invented the compound verb obq-rmwible ‘look-dream’ to express it. Interestingly, during village testing no one ever had to ask what this neologism meant.”

See also see a vision.

Daniel

The term that is transliterated as “Daniel” in English means “judge of God (i.e., one who delivers judgment in the name of God,” “my judge is God.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )

In American Sign Language it is translated with the sign for the letter D and for “lion,” referring to the story in Daniel 6. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“Daniel” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

In Hungarian Sign Language it is translated with a sign that refers to Daniel being cast into the lions’ den. (Source: Jenjelvi Biblia and HSL Bible Translation Group)


“Daniel” in Hungarian Sign Language (source )

In Swiss-German Sign Language it is translated with the sign for “prayer” that illustrates Daniel’s close relationship with God.


“Daniel” in Swiss-German Sign Language, source: DSGS-Lexikon biblischer Begriffe , © CGG Schweiz

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

The following is a stained glass window depicting Daniel by Endre Odon Hevezi and Gyula Bajo from 1965 for the Debre Libanos Monastery, Oromia, Ethiopia:

Photo by Timothy A. Gonsalves, hosted by Wikimedia Commons under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license

Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum )

See also Daniel.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Daniel in the Lions’ Den and Daniel .

complete verse (Daniel 7:15)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Daniel 7:15:

  • Kupsabiny: “I Daniel, became afraid because of the dreams I saw that disturbed me so much.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “I Daniel wondered what to do. [lit.: I, Daniel became, what to do, what to do.] The vision I had seen made me feel my heartbeat. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘I was- really -troubled of those I had-seen.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “As for me, Daniel, I was very terrified by what I had seen in that vision, and I did not know what to think about it.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Daniel 7:15

As for me, Daniel: the very same expression, consisting of an emphatic first person pronoun followed by the proper name, is used in verse 28 at the end of this chapter. It serves to remind the reader of the source of the information and perhaps here marks the point in the vision when the prophet comes to himself. The pronoun plus proper noun combination may also be found frequently in the next chapters (8.1, 15, 27; 9.2; 10.2, 7; 12.5). This may be a literary device to mark important transition points in the discourse structure of the last half of Daniel.

Within me: literally “in the midst of the sheath.” The last word in Aramaic is normally used of the leather container into which a sword or knife is placed when not in use. Compare New American Bible “within its sheath of flesh.” According to some scholars it is here used as a metaphor for the human body, in which the spirit resides. If this assumption is accepted, naturalness in the translation will determine whether translators use the noun “body” or the pronoun “me” (Moffatt, New English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible). However, some versions, following the ancient Greek, omit the two words altogether (New Jerusalem Bible as well as Good News Translation). It may also be possible to omit these words for translation reasons.

And: the conjunction here is not intended to indicate two totally different reactions to the vision. The structure is rather parallel, and the two phrases describe a single emotion. This should be made clear in the translation.

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René & Ellington, John. A Handbook on Daniel. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .