Following are a number of back-translations of John 7:52:
Uma: “His companions retorted: ‘What, are you from Galilea too?! Examine and look in the Holy Book. There has never been a prophet who appeared from Galilea.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “They answered, they said, ‘Are you also from Jalil? Look in the holy-book, it is not written in the holy-book that a prophet will come from Jalil.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And his companions answered, ‘Are you also a stupid Galilean? Search through the written prophecies and you will know that there isn’t even one prophet of God that comes from the province of Galilee.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Whereupon they answered and said, ‘It’s as if you (sing.) are also from-Galilea. Go learn what God caused-to-be-written so that you (sing.) will find-out that no prophet has-come-from Galilea.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “‘Expl.’ was the answer of those companions of his. ‘What’s this? What, are you too one of those despised taga Galilea? Read our writings over and over, and you’ll observe there that there’s no prophet who will come from Galilea.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Then Nicodemus was told, ‘Are you also a native of Galilee then? Study what the Holy Book says. In it you will see that not one spokesman of God will come from Galilee.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
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)
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)
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
Well, they answered is literally “they answered and said to him.” John’s style here reflects Semitic Greek structure. Good News Translation attempts to give an equivalent meaning in contemporary English style. Jerusalem Bible translates “To this they answered.” New English Bible “they retorted” sounds bookish.
In the question are you also from Galilee? the pronoun you is emphatic. It is not possible to know what the other Jewish authorities meant in asking Nicodemus this question. Obviously, they would have known the place from which Nicodemus had come, since the Sanhedrin was formed of a relatively small and well-integrated group of men who undoubtedly knew about one another. The question may have been intended to mean “Are you a partisan of Galilee as far as the origin of the Messiah is concerned?” or “Are you one who favors Galilee?” However, rather than attempt to introduce into the translation something of the apparent intent of the question, it is probably best simply to reproduce the question and leave the interpretation of intent to the context as a whole. There seems to be little chance of serious misunderstanding.
Study the Scriptures (so also New English Bible) is more literally “Search” (Revised Standard Version). In 5.39 this same verb “to search” is used with the Scriptures as its stated object, and there Good News Translation translates You study the Scriptures. The verb “to search” was a technical term used by the rabbis when referring to a study of the Scriptures. For that reason Good News Translation and New English Bible make this information explicit. New American Bible also makes an attempt in this direction, “Look it up.” Jerusalem Bible “Go into the matter” and Phillips “Look where you will” are misleading.
Most Greek manuscripts have the general statement that no prophet ever comes from Galilee, while the original reading of one reliable Greek manuscript makes the specific statement that “the Prophet will not come from Galilee” (see Good News Translation note). Most modern translations (New American Bible is an exception) follow the reading no prophet ever comes from Galilee. Moffatt follows this same Greek text, but his rendering is rather amusing, “no prophet ever springs from Galilee.”
In some languages there is a problem in relating the studying of the Scriptures to what is to be learned from them. This concept may be best expressed as a conditional, for example, “If you study the Scriptures, you will learn that” or “By studying the Scriptures you will learn that.”
A further problem is involved in the tense of the verb comes. If this is understood as a general truth, always applicable and then placed in a historical tense (for example, “no prophet has ever come from Galilee”), there are obvious exceptions, since Jonah had come from a town in Galilee (2 Kgs 14.25). Some translators have therefore wished to employ the expression “no prophet is ever to come from Galilee” as a reference to a predicted prophet. However, it is possible to say “you cannot expect a prophet to come from Galilee.” This translation preserves the general meaning of the Greek form of the statement, and at the same time has reference to future events, rather than to past situations.
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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