complete verse (Hebrews 11:26)

Following are a number of back-translations of Hebrews 11:26:

  • Uma: “He refused to get wealth in the land of Mesir, he chose to be disparaged because of his faith in the Redeemer King who was to arrive afterwards. For Musa kept in-his-mind’s-eye [lit., he-in-eye-eyed] the reward of his faith that he would get in the future.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “He thought that it would be better for him to endure being put-down/humbled because of his expectation/hope in Almasi than to become rich in the country of Misil. Because that is what he wished for his reward from God in the future.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “He decided that it was far better for him to endure being scorned because of his faith in the chosen king that God would reveal in the future, rather than have great riches which he could get there in Egypt. For what he was really waiting for were all the good things that God would give him in the future.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because even though they looked-down-on/despised him because of his faith in the coming Messiah, he considered his aforementioned being-despised more valuable/important than his gaining all the wealth in Egipto, because he was thinking of the reward that would be given to him at a future day.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “For, in his mind/thinking, no matter what hardship he would experience at the hands of others because of his believing in the Savior whom God would cause-to-come-down in the future, that would be far better than the riches that he would get there in Egipto. What he really caused-to-pierce his mind/inner-being was, the far-from-ordinary (things) with which God would reward him in the future.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Moses wanted, considering it more good, to suffer the suffering like the suffering which Christ suffered. Therefore he didn’t want to remain in Egypt, being the owner of all the money there. Because he well knew that there is very much which God pays later.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Christ, Messiah

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The Greek Christos (Χρηστός) is typically transliterated when it appears together with Iésous (Ἰησοῦς) (Jesus). In English the transliteration is the Anglicized “Christ,” whereas in many other languages it is based on the Greek or Latin as “Kristus,” “Cristo,” or similar.

When used as a descriptive term in the New Testament — as it’s typically done in the gospels (with the possible exceptions of for instance John 1:17 and 17:3) — Christos is seen as the Greek translation of the Hebrew mashiaḥ (המשיח‎) (“anointed”). Accordingly, a transliteration of mashiaḥ is used, either as “Messiah” or based on the Greek or Latin as a form of “Messias.”

This transliteration is also used in the two instances where the Greek term Μεσσίας (Messias) is used in John 1:41 and 4:25.

In some languages and some translations, the term “Messiah” is supplemented with an explanation. Such as in the German Gute Nachricht with “the Messiah, the promised savior” (Wir haben den Messias gefunden, den versprochenen Retter) or in Muna with “Messiah, the Saving King” (Mesias, Omputo Fosalamatino) (source: René van den Berg).

In predominantly Muslim areas or for Bible translations for a Muslim target group, Christos is usually transliterated from the Arabic al-Masih (ٱلْمَسِيحِ) — “Messiah.” In most cases, this practice corresponds with languages that also use a form of the Arabic Isa (عيسى) for Jesus (see Jesus). There are some exceptions, though, including modern translations in Arabic which use Yasua (يَسُوعَ) (coming from the Aramaic Yēšūa’) alongside a transliteration of al-Masih, Hausa which uses Yesu but Almahisu, and some Fula languages (Adamawa Fulfulde, Nigerian Fulfulde, and Central-Eastern Niger Fulfulde) which also use a form of Iésous (Yeesu) but Almasiihu (or Almasiifu) for Christos.

In Indonesian, while most Bible translations had already used Yesus Kristus rather than Isa al Masih, three public holidays used to be described using the term Isa Al Masih. From 2024 on, the government is using Yesus Kristus in those holiday names instead (see this article in Christianity Today ).

Other solutions that are used by a number of languages include these:

  • Dobel: “The important one that God had appointed to come” (source: Jock Hughes)
  • Noongar: Keny Mammarap or “The One Man” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Mairasi: “King of not dying for life all mashed out infinitely” (for “mashed out,” see salvation; source: Lloyd Peckham)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “One chosen by God to rule mankind” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Bacama: Ma Pwa a Ngɨltən: “The one God has chosen” (source: David Frank in this blog post )
  • Binumarien: Anutuna: originally a term that was used for a man that was blessed by elders for a task by the laying on of hands (source: Desmond Oatridges, Holzhausen 1991, p. 49f.)
  • Noongar: Keny Boolanga-Yira Waangki-Koorliny: “One God is Sending” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uab Meto: Neno Anan: “Son of heaven” P. Middelkoop explains: “The idea of heavenly power bestowed on a Timorese king is rendered in the title Neno Anan. It is based on the historical fact that chiefs in general came from overseas and they who come thence are believed to have come down from heaven, from the land beyond the sea, that means the sphere of God and the ghosts of the dead. The symbolical act of anointing has been made subservient to the revelation of an eternal truth and when the term Neno Anan is used as a translation thereof, it also is made subservient to a new revelation of God in Jesus Christ. The very fact that Jesus came from heaven makes this translation hit the mark.” (Source: P. Middelkoop in The Bible Translator 1953, p. 183ff. )

In Finnish Sign Language both “Christ” and “Messiah” are translated with a sign signifying “king.” (Source: Tarja Sandholm)


“Christ / Messiah” in Finnish Sign Language (source )

Law (2013, p. 97) writes about how the Ancient Greek Septuagint‘s translation of the Hebrew mashiah was used by the New Testament writers as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments (click or tap here to read more):

“Another important word in the New Testament that comes from the Septuagint is christos, ‘Christ.’ Christ is not part of the name of the man from Nazareth, as if ‘the Christs’ were written above the door of his family home. Rather, ‘Christ’ is an explicitly messianic title used by the writers of the New Testament who have learned this word from the Septuagint’s translation of the Hebrew mashiach, ‘anointed,’ which itself is often rendered in English as ‘Messiah.’ To be sure, one detects a messianic intent on the part of the Septuagint translator in some places. Amos 4:13 may have been one of these. In the Hebrew Bible, God ‘reveals his thoughts to mortals,’ but the Septuagint has ‘announcing his anointed to humans.’ A fine distinction must be made, however, between theology that was intended by the Septuagint translators and that developed by later Christian writers. In Amos 4:13 it is merely possible we have a messianic reading, but it is unquestionably the case that the New Testament writers exploit the Septuagint’s use of christos, in Amos and elsewhere, to messianic ends.”

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Christ .

Translation commentary on Hebrews 11:25 – 11:26

There is a close parallel between these two verses, especially in a rather literal translation such as Revised Standard Version.

He preferred may be rendered as “He thought it was better” or “He decided that it was better.”

As in Revised Standard Version, different expressions for suffer are used in Greek in verses 25 and 26 for the sake of variety. In verse 25 the writer uses an unusual compound verb, meaning “be badly treated with.”

Enjoy sin for a little while: in 4 Maccabees 5.8 and 8.6, a pagan emperor invites faithful Jews to “enjoy” the rewards of giving up their faith; the meaning is similar here, though “pleasures” is implicit (see King James Version, Revised Standard Version, New English Bible).

Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch brings out clearly the relation between “enjoyment” and “sin” in verse 25: “He preferred to suffer with God’s people, rather than to live well for a short time, and so burden himself with guilt.” The verb translated suffer with is related to that translated suffering in 13.3, and mistreated in 11.37. These verbs are not used anywhere else in the New Testament. The writer of Hebrews uses the more common Greek word for suffer only in speaking of the death of Christ (2.9, 10, 18; 5.8; 9.26). Translators must decide whether it is natural to keep this distinction in their own language. In Greek as in English, the verb for mistreated, unlike that for suffer, clearly expresses the evil nature of those who cause the suffering.

To suffer with God’s people may be expressed as “to suffer in a way in which God’s people were suffering.” To suffer may be translated “to experience pain” or “to be pained.”

Scorn for the Messiah is literally “the shame (or, insult) of the Christ” (compare 13.13). This expression raises two questions:
(a) Who is “the Christ” in this context? In Psalm 89.51 “the Christ” (Revised Standard Version “anointed”) is probably God’s “servant” or “chosen king.” In translating Hebrews the usual equivalent for “the Messiah” or “God’s chosen one” should be used: the Messiah, “God’s Anointed” (New English Bible), or “God’s promised king,” rather than “the Christ” (Revised Standard Version) or “Christ,” as in Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch and most older translations. The idea of Moses suffering insults directly for the sake of Jesus is unnecessarily difficult.
(b) What is the meaning of the word “of” in the Greek expression for “the shame of the Christ”? In other words, what is the relation between Moses’ “sufferings” and “the Christ”? It is part of the translator’s responsibility to make this clear, and the literal translation “the reproach of Christ” (Phillips), even with quotation marks, does not convey any clear meaning. Translators follow two main lines: (i) suffering for the Messiah (Good News Translation); so also Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “the contempt which one takes on oneself for Christ,” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “suffering dishonor for the cause of Christ,” and Translator’s New Testament “shame suffered for God’s Anointed One”; or (ii) suffering like God’s anointed: Barclay “the insults and injury, which God’s Anointed One must suffer,” Jerusalem Bible “the insults offered to the Anointed,” New English Bible “the stigma that rests on God’s Anointed,” and New American Bible “the reproach borne by God’s Anointed.” “Suffering as (being) God’s Anointed” is impossible; Moses anointed Aaron and his sons (Exo 28.41) but was not himself anointed. The insults which Moses “suffered” had a meaning related to Jesus, and also indirectly to the “suffering” of the people of God (verse 25a). To some extent (ii) includes (i) and is to be preferred.

It may be difficult to say that suffering is worth more than all the treasures of Egypt, since to suffer scorn for the Messiah could be interpreted as a type of condition. It may therefore be possible to render the first part of verse 26 as “He reasoned that if he suffered the scorn of the people for the sake of God’s Anointed One, that was far more valuable than possessing all the treasures of Egypt.”

He kept his eyes on the future reward prepares the way for 12.2, though the Greek is different. Instead of this figurative expression, it may be better to use a nonfigurative one; for example, “he kept thinking about the reward which would come in the future,” “… the reward which would be given to him in the future,” or “he kept hoping for the reward.”

On reward, see comments on 2.2 and 10.35.

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Letter of the Hebrews. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .