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.

complete verse (Ezekiel 12:27)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 12:27:

  • Kupsabiny: “‘Ezekiel, this house of Israel is saying, ‘The revelations that (he) is seeing are for years that are coming and (he) is predicting things of the future.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘Man, the people of Israel are-saying that your visions and prophesies are still a long-time-yet to happen.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “‘You human, the Israeli people are constantly saying about you, ‘The things that he sees in visionswill not happen soon. They are aboutthings that will happen many years from now, far in the future.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 12:27

In verses 27-28 God reacts to another popular saying of the Israelites.

Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say: Here behold is used to make God’s words more dramatic. For those languages where such a word is natural, the appropriate equivalent may be “look.” In those languages where it is redundant, it may be omitted (so Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). They of the house of Israel refers to “the people of Israel” (Contemporary English Version; see Ezek 12.6), the same audience as in verses 22-25.

The vision that he sees is for many days hence, and he prophesies of times far off: This is another proverb of the Israelites. It was probably directed at Ezekiel and was the reaction of the people to his prophecies of judgment on Jerusalem. They acknowledged that he had visions and prophecies, but they did not believe that they would come true in the immediate future. They claimed that they were for many days hence and of times far off, that is, they applied to “the distant future” (Good News Translation). This was their excuse for not taking his messages seriously. It is probably best to make it clear that the people were talking about Ezekiel’s visions and prophecies by saying “Ezekiel’s visions are about something a long time from now. His messages are about the distant future.” If it is more natural to use indirect speech for the proverb, a possible model for this verse is:

• “Human being, look, the Israelites are saying that your visions are about things a long time from now and that your messages are about the distant future.

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .