Apali: “God’s one with talk from the head” (“basically God’s messenger since head refers to any leader’s talk”) (source: Martha Wade)
Michoacán Nahuatl: “clean helper of God” (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
Noongar: Hdjin-djin-kwabba or “spirit good” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Wè Northern (Wɛɛ): Kea ‘a “sooa or “the Lord’s soldier” (also: “God’s soldier” or “his soldier”) (source: Drew Maust)
Iwaidja: “a man sent with a message” (Sam Freney explains the genesis of this term [in this article ): “For example, in Darwin last year, as we were working on a new translation of Luke 2:6–12 in Iwaidja, a Northern Territory language, the translators had written ‘angel’ as ‘a man with eagle wings’. Even before getting to the question of whether this was an accurate term (or one that imported some other information in), the word for ‘eagle’ started getting discussed. One of the translators had her teenage granddaughter with her, and this word didn’t mean anything to her at all. She’d never heard of it, as it was an archaic term that younger people didn’t use anymore. They ended up changing the translation of ‘angel’ to something like ‘a man sent with a message’, which is both more accurate and clear.”)
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) is used as in mi-tsukai (御使い) or “messenger (of God).” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Bender / Belt (2025, p. 2f.) report about the translation of “angel” in Cherokee: “In John, the concept of angel is translated using a descriptive neologism rather than a semantic extension, suggesting the lack of a ready parallel. The plural is dmikahnawadidohi, ‘the law-givers’ or ‘those who go around looking after the medicine.’ Cherokee speakers argue that the Cherokee word for ‘law,’ dikahnawadvsdi, expresses the intent to maintain social, physical, and spiritual health and has at its core the word for ‘medicine,’ mwoli, which encompasses all aspects of social and spiritual well-being, including balance and order (Altman and Belt 2009), much more than the English word. Thus, the Cherokee word for ‘angel’ represents a new perspective on this category of spiritual beings named in the Bible. It does not derive from the concept of messenger present in both its Greek (angelos) and Hebrew (malak) antecedents perhaps because the Cherokee word for ‘messenger,’ atsinvsidasdi, is widely used to translate the foreign lexeme ‘servant.'”
Bura-Pabir: “sacrifice mound” (source: Andy Warrren-Rothlin)
Kalanga: “fireplace of sacrifice” (source: project-specific notes in Paratext)
Cherokee: “fire nurturing place” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 26) (note that the Jewish priest is “fire feeder” in Cherokee)
The Ignaciano translators decided to translate the difficult term in that language according to the focus of each New Testament passage in which the word appears (click or tap here to see the rest of this insight
Willis Ott (in Notes on Translation 88/1982, p. 18ff.) explains:
Matt. 5:23,24: “When you take your offering to God, and arriving, you remember…, do not offer your gift yet. First go to your brother…Then it is fitting to return and offer your offering to God.” (The focus is on improving relationships with people before attempting to improve a relationship with God, so the means of offering, the altar, is not focal.)
Matt. 23:18 (19,20): “You also teach erroneously: ‘If someone makes a promise, swearing by the offering-place/table, he is not guilty if he should break the promise. But if he swears by the gift that he put on the offering-place/table, he will be guilty if he breaks the promise.'”
Luke 1:11: “…to the right side of the table where they burn incense.”
Luke 11.51. “…the one they killed in front of the temple (or the temple enclosure).” (The focus is on location, with overtones on: “their crime was all the more heinous for killing him there”.)
Rom. 11:3: “Lord, they have killed all my fellow prophets that spoke for you. They do not want anyone to give offerings to you in worship.” (The focus is on the people’s rejection of religion, with God as the object of worship.)
1Cor. 9:13 (10:18): “Remember that those that attend the temple have rights to eat the foods that people bring as offerings to God. They have rights to the meat that the people offer.” (The focus is on the right of priests to the offered food.)
Heb. 7:13: “This one of whom we are talking is from another clan. No one from that clan was ever a priest.” (The focus in on the legitimacy of this priest’s vocation.)
Jas. 2:21: “Remember our ancestor Abraham, when God tested him by asking him to give him his son by death. Abraham was to the point of stabbing/killing his son, thus proving his obedience.” (The focus is on the sacrifice as a demonstration of faith/obedience.)
Rev. 6:9 (8:3,5; 9:13; 14:18; 16:7): “I saw the souls of them that…They were under the table that holds God’s fire/coals.” (This keeps the concepts of: furniture, receptacle for keeping fire, and location near God.)
Rev. 11:1: “Go to the temple, Measure the building and the inside enclosure (the outside is contrasted in v. 2). Measure the burning place for offered animals. Then count the people who are worshiping there.” (This altar is probably the brazen altar in a temple on earth, since people are worshiping there and since outside this area conquerors are allowed to subjugate for a certain time.)
In the Hebraic English translation of Everett Fox it is translated as slaughter-site and likewise in the German translation by Buber / Rosenzweig as Schlachtstatt.
The Greek in Luke 1:11 that is typically translated in English as “angel of the Lord” is translated by the ItalianLa Sua Parola è Vita translation as angelo or “angel.” Cotrozzi (2019) explains: “Apart from a handful of verses where the context makes clear that fallen angels are in view (e. g. Matt 25:41; 2 Cor 12:17; Rev 9:11) the term ‘angel’ refers to a supernatural, spiritual being sent by God. This is the default sense that this term has in Italian, the meaning people think of when they hear this word in isolation. Since the occurrence in Luke 1:11 corresponds to the default case, there is no reason to state explicitly that the angel in question belongs to the Lord. On the contrary, the phrase ‘angel of the Lord’ may be confusing to readers not accustomed to church jargon.”
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 1:11:
Noongar: “An angel of God came to Zechariah and he stood on the right hand side of the altar, the right place for burning the incense.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “At that time, an angel of the Lord appeared on the right side of the table for burning incense.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “So-then there appeared to him an angel of God standing there at the right side of where the incense was burned.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then an angel of God appeared to Him, and as for this angel, he was standing there at the right hand side of the altar where the incense was burned.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Whereupon an angel of God appeared to him standing at the right-side of the altar where-they -burned incense.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Suddenly/unexpectedly an angel(loan word, in glossary) of God came to Zacarias and stood to the right of that burning-place of incense.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
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®).
ōphthē de autō ‘and there appeared to him.’ The word order of the Greek, when retained in translation, necessitates expletive ‘there.’
ōphthē, passive form of horaō ‘to see,’ is used here and 9.31; 22.43; 24.34, in the meaning ‘to appear,’ of beings who make their appearance in a supernatural manner. The term denotes an objective appearance, not a subjective vision, as is shown by its frequent usage with reference to appearances of the risen Christ (cf. 24.34; Acts 13.31; 1 Cor. 15.5, 6, 7, 8).
aggelos ‘angel,’ of celestial messengers sent by God (chs. 1 and 2; 4.10; 22.43; 24.23), of celestial beings who are with God in heaven (9.26; 12.8, 9; 15.10; 16.22), or of human messengers (7.24, 27; 9.52).
hestōs ek dexiōn tou thusiastēriou tou thumiamatos ‘standing on the right side of the incense-altar,’ in apposition to aggelos kuriou and hence translated as a relative clause by Zürcher Bibel and Menge. The emphasis is not so much on ‘standing erect’ as an indication of the bodily position, as on ‘being there.’ Hence Phillips omits ‘standing’ and makes the rest of the phrase an adverbial expression with ‘appeared.’
dexios ‘right’ as contrasted with left. The right side is the place of honour (cf. Mt. 25.33, Lk. 22.69, Acts 7.55, Rom. 8.34) and stresses here the dignity of the angel.
thusiastērion (also 11.51) ‘altar.’ The following genitive tou thumiamatos is definitive, ‘the incense-offering.’
Translation:
And there appeared to him an angel …, or, ‘on that moment (or, then) an angel showed himself to him (or, came into his view).’ Him, or, ‘Zechariah,’ for a reason similar to that in v. 8, or because the distance from the proper name is too long for pronominal reference, as in Thai.
Angel of the Lord. Two of the common renderings of ‘angel’ are ‘messenger,’ ‘sent-one,’ specified by ‘of God,’ ‘holy,’ or ‘from heaven/heavenly.’ In the present phrase (also in 2.9, and cf. “his angels” in 4.10, and “angel of God” in 12.8f; 15.10) the first mentioned specification is often, the second or the third in some cases, omitted, because ‘of the Lord’ already specifies the character of the messenger. For other occurrences of “angel” see Exegesis.
On the right side of. A literal rendering of this phrase may be unacceptable, because (1) the ‘right side’ has an unfavourable connotation, or (2) the phrase ‘at the right, or left, side/hand’ is customarily used only in speaking of living beings, but never, or only exceptionally, of objects. In case (1) the translator may substitute a functional rendering, e.g. ‘at the place of honour,’ or he may add the function, e.g. ‘at the right side of … and so honoured’ (Isthmus Zapotec, in 1 Pet. 3.22). In case (2) the translator will try to use the indigenous way of indicating a local relationship, e.g. ‘at the southern side of.’ If such a rendering also has a favourable connotation (as ‘southern (lit. upstream) side’ would have in North Bali), he has translational luck; if it is unfavourable (as it would be in South Bali), he may shift the point of orientation, and say that the angel had the altar at his left (Shipibo-Conibo), or, if this would exclude the figurative interpretation, he may use a functional rendering, which in Shipibo-Conibo would lead to, ‘nicely-beside (i.e. at the honourable side of).’
Altar of incense. In Balinese the phrase has been rendered by a derivation of ‘to smoke (fragrant spices),’ i.e. ‘place-for-smoking.’
Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.
In this paragraph, Luke began to tell the main events of this section after he gave the background information in 1:5–10. Introduce this paragraph in a natural way in your language.
1:11a
Just then: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Just then here introduces the first event that happened when Zechariah was in the temple. The text does not explicitly state that Zechariah had entered the temple, but this is implied. In some languages it may be necessary to make this information explicit. For example:
While Zechariah was in the sanctuary (New Living Translation (2004))
an angel of the Lord: The phrase an angel of the Lord refers here to an angel whom the Lord sent. Some other ways to translate this are:
an angel who came from the Lord God -or-
an angel who was sent by the Lord
angel: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as angel means “messenger.” It refers here to a spirit being who serves God. God sent this angel to tell Zechariah a message. Some ways to translate this term are:
• Use a descriptive word or phrase. For example:
messenger ⌊from God/heaven⌋ -or-
⌊holy⌋ spirit-being
• Use a local term that fits the biblical meaning.
• In some areas the churches may already be using a borrowed term or a transliterated word for “angel.” Be sure that this term fits the biblical meaning. If some people do not understand the right meaning from this term, you may need to indicate the meaning in some way. For example:
an angelos messenger ⌊from God⌋ -or-
a sacred angelos spirit
Be sure that your term for “angel” is different from your terms for “prophet” and “apostle.” See angel, Meaning 1, in the Glossary. See also the chart in the Glossary that shows the differences between these three terms.
the Lord: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the Lord refers here to God. This same word occurs in 1:6b.
appeared to Zechariah: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as appeared indicates here that the angel arrived and became visible to Zechariah. Suddenly he was there where Zechariah could see him. This does not imply that Zechariah saw him only in a vision. The angel was really there. However, the context implies that the angel came in a supernatural way. He probably did not walk in; rather, he just appeared in front of Zechariah.
1:11b
standing at the right side of the altar of incense: This part of the verse indicates that the angel was standing at the right side of the altar. Your translation should not imply that it was Zechariah who was standing there.
The angel was standing near the altar, and he was facing Zechariah. The right side of the altar probably refers to the right side from the angel’s point of view. The right side implies a place of honor.
altar of incense: The altar of incense was the place where the priest burned incense for the Lord. The altar was a table made of wood and covered with gold. On top there was a charcoal fire. The priest threw the powdered incense onto the burning charcoal. The priests did not sacrifice animals on this altar. See the drawing below:
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