12Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the words of the prophet Haggai, as the Lord their God had sent him, and the people feared the Lord.
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “high sacrificer” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Tagbanwa as “Most-important Priest of God” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Bariai: “Big leader of offerings” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
In Khoekhoe the translation for “high priest” is only capitalized when it refers to Jesus (as is Hebrews 2:17 et al.). (Source: project-specific notes in Paratext)
The Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin, and Greek that is translated in English typically as “obedience” or “obey” is translated in Tepeuxila Cuicatec as “thing hearing,” because “to hear is to obey.” (Source: Marjorie Davis in The Bible Translator 1952, p. 34ff. )
In Huba it is translated as hya nǝu nyacha: “follow (his) mouth.” (Source: David Frank in this blog post )
In Central Mazahua it is translated as “listen-obey” and in Huehuetla Tepehua as “believe-obey” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), and in Noongar as dwangka-don, lit. “hear do” (source: Portions of the Holy Bible in the Nyunga language of Australia, 2018).
The Hebrew, Greek and Latin that is transliterated as “Haggai” in English means “festival of the LORD,” “born of a festival day,” “my solemn feast.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )
In Swiss-German Sign Language it is translated with a sign that depicts the prophet pointing to God as his message to the people in Jerusalem.
In Hungarian Sign Language it is translated with a sign that suggests that the prophet directly interprets the word of God to the people. (Source: Jenjelvi Biblia and HSL Bible Translation Group)
“Haggai” in Hungarian Sign Language — note that only the first part refers to “Haggai,” the second and third parts refer to “prophet” and “book” (source )
The name that is transliterated as “Salathiel” or “Shealtiel” in English is translated in Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) with a sign that combines “ask” (the name means “I have asked God”) and a reference that his son Zerubbabel returned to the city of Jerusalem to build the second Temple (see Ezra 3:8). (Source: Missão Kophós )
The name that is transliterated as “Zerubbabel” or “Shealtiel” in English is translated in Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) with a sign that combines “begotten” (the name means “begotten in Babylon”) and a reference that he led the first group that left the city of Babylon to build the second Temple in Jerusalem (see Ezra 3:8). (Source: Missão Kophós )
Eugene Nida wrote the following about the translation of the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek terms that are typically translated with “prophet” in English:
“The tendency in many translations is to use ‘to foretell the future’ for ‘prophesy,’ and ‘one who foretells the future’ for ‘prophet.’ This is not always a recommended usage, particularly if such expressions denote certain special native practices of spirit contact and control. It is true, of course, that prophets of the Bible did foretell the future, but this was not always their principal function. One essential significance of the Greek word prophētēs is ‘one who speaks forth,’ principally, of course, as a forth-teller of the Divine will. A translation such as ‘spokesman for God’ may often be employed profitably.” (1947, p. 234f.)
Following is a list of (back-) translations from other languages (click or tap for details):
Ayutla Mixtec: “one who talks as God’s representative”
Isthmus Mixe: “speaker for God” (source for this and two above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Mezquital Otomi / Paasaal: “God’s messenger” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff. and Fabian N. Dapila in The Bible Translator 2024, p. 415ff.)
Noongar: Warda Marridjiny or “News Traveling” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Kutu: mtula ndagu or “one who gives the prediction of the past and the future” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Ebira: ọnịsẹ, a neologism that combines the prefix ọn for “a person” with ịsẹ for “prediction” (source: Scholz /Scholz 2015, p. 49)
French 1985 translation by Chouraqui: inspiré or “inspired one” (“someone in whom God has breathed [Latin: in + spiro]) (source: Watson 2023, p. 45)
Cherokee: adolehosgi (ᎠᏙᎴᎰᏍᎩ) or “discoverer of things,” a “term that was was traditionally applied to Cherokee medicine men or women who used divining.” (Source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 49)
In Ixcatlán Mazatec a term is used that specifically includes women. (Source: Robert Bascom)
“In some instances these spiritual terms result from adaptations reflecting the native life and culture. Among the Northern Grebo people of Liberia, a missionary wanted some adequate term for ‘prophet,’ and she was fully aware that the native word for ‘soothsayer’ or ‘diviner’ was no equivalent for the Biblical prophet who spoke forth for God. Of course, much of what the prophets said referred to the future, and though this was an essential part of much of their ministry, it was by no means all. The right word for the Gbeapo people would have to include something which would not only mean the foretelling of important events but the proclamation of truth as God’s representative among the people. At last the right word came; it was ‘God’s town-crier.’ Every morning and evening the official representative of the chief goes through the village crying out the news, delivering the orders of the chief, and announcing important coming events. ‘God’s town-crier’ would be the official representative of God, announcing to the people God’s doings, His commands, and His pronouncements for their salvation and well-being. For the Northern Grebo people the prophet is no weird person from forgotten times; he is as real as the human, moving message of the plowman Amos, who became God’s town-crier to a calloused people.” (source: Nida 1952, p. 20)
In British Sign Language it is is translated with a sign that depicts a message coming from God to a person (the upright finger) and then being passed on to others. (Source: Anna Smith)
“Prophet” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Haggai 1:12:
Kupsabiny: “Then, Zerubbabel and Joshua followed the words that God had said and also all the people who had returned from the land of Babylon followed (them). Those people listened to prophet Haggai whom God had sent. All the people obeyed/honored God.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Then Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, and the son of Jehozadak, Jeshua, the high priest, and all who had returned from Babylon began to obey the word of LORD their God and the message he sent through the prophet Haggai. They realized that the LORD their God had sent him, And the people took the fear of the LORD.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Zerubabel, Josue, and all their fellow Israelinhon who were-able-to-return to Israel from the captivity in Babylon obeyed the LORD. For they listened to what the LORD their God said through Prophet Haggai whom the LORD had-sent to them. In this way they respected the LORD.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Then Zerubbabel and Jeshua and all the others of God’s people who were still alive obeyed the message that Yahweh our God had said, and they heeded the message that I had given them, because they knew that Yahweh our God had sent/appointed me. And the people revered Yahweh.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-koe (御声) or “voice (of God)” in the referenced verses. This is used specifically to refer to the “voice” of God or used in a reference of God saying something.
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