rising up in numbers

In Gbaya, the notion of rising up in large numbers in the referenced verses is emphasized in with the ideophone gɛrɛm.

Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)

prophesy

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The Hebrew and the Greek that are translated in English versions as “prophesy” are translated into Anuak as “sing a song” (source: Loren Bliese), into Balanta-Kentohe as “passing on message of God” (source: Rob Koops), and into Ixcatlán Mazatec with a term that does not only refer to the future, but is “speak on behalf of God” (source: Robert Bascom).

Other translations include: “God making someone to show something in advance” (Ojitlán Chinantec), “God causing someone to think and then say it” (Aguaruna), “speaking God’s thoughts” (Shipibo-Conibo), “God made someone say something” “Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac) (source for this and above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125), “proclaim God’s message” (Teutila Cuicatec), “speak for God” (Chichimeca-Jonaz), “preach the Word of God” (Lalana Chinantec), “speak God’s words” (Tepeuxila Cuicatec), “that which God’s Spirit will cause one to say one will say” (Mayo) (source for this and four above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), “say what God wants people to hear” (tell people God wod dat e gii oona fa say) (Gullah) (source: Robert Bascom), and “bring God’s mouth” (Bariai) (source: Bariai Back Translation).

In Luang it is translated with different shades of meaning:

  • For Acts 3:18, 3:21, 3:25: nurwowohora — “mouth says words that don’t come from one’s own mind.” (“This term refers to an individual’s speaking words that are not his because either a good or bad spirit is at work through him. The speaker is not in control of himself.”)
  • For Acts 19:6, Acts 21:9: nakotnohora — “talk about.” (“The focus of this term is on telling God’s message for the present as opposed to the future.”)
  • For Acts 21:11: rora — “foretell” (“The focus of this term is giving God’s message concerning the future. The person who speaks is aware of what he is doing and he is using his own mind, yet it is with God’s power that he foretells the future.”)

Source: Kathy Taber in Notes on Translation 1/1999, p. 9-16.

See also prophet and prophesy / prophetic frenzy.

complete verse (Ezekiel 37:10)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 37:10:

  • Kupsabiny: “Then I spoke to the breath like he had told me. The breath/spirit came and entered those things, then (they) became alive and got up to stand. Yes! They were many people!.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “And that was I said, according to what he commanded me. The dead bodies were-able-to-accept breath and they lived. They stood-up, and they were very many, seemed-like a battalion of soldiers.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “So I said what he commanded me to say, and then breath entered them. They became alive and stood up, like a huge army.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 37:10

So I prophesied as he commanded me: See Ezek 37.7.

And the breath came into them: See the previous verse. Contemporary English Version says “the wind blew among the bodies,” and New Living Translation (1996) has “and the wind entered the bodies.”

And they lived may be rendered “Then they came to life again” (New International Reader’s Version), “and they came back to life” (Contemporary English Version), or “they came alive” (Christian Community Bible).

And stood upon their feet may be rendered simply “and stood up” (Good News Translation). It is not necessary to specify upon their feet, unless that is part of the normal expression for standing.

An exceedingly great host renders a very strong phrase in Hebrew, which is literally “a very, very large multitude.” It means there was a huge crowd of people (compare New Revised Standard Version and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, which say “a vast multitude”). The Hebrew word for host sometimes refers to an army and some translations try to reflect that; for example, Contemporary English Version has “and there were enough to make a large army” (similarly Good News Translation), New International Version says “a vast army,” and New Century Version translates “a very large army.” However, the main point of this phrase is not the army, but the huge numbers of people that had just come back to life. Translators will do well to use the strongest possible terms in their language to show the huge numbers of people involved. They may need to express this phrase with a separate sentence, such as “They were a huge crowd.”

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 .