Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 10:24:
Noongar: “I tell you, many clever people and kings wanted to see what you see, but they did not see. They wanted to hear what you hear, but they did not hear.’
” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “Because there were many prophets and kings long ago who wanted to see what you have seen, but they did not see. They very much wanted to hear what you have heard, but they did not hear.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “I tell you many prophets and kings of old really wanted to see what you see now, but they didn’t see it. They also really wanted to hear what you hear now but they didn’t hear it.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Because true it is that I say to you, that there were not just a few of the prophets of God long ago and the kings long ago, who wanted to see these things that you have seen today, but these things were never shown to them. And they also wanted to hear these things that you heard today, but these things were not told to them, because these things were not yet revealed by God.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Because emphatically many (sympathy particle) are the prophets and kings back before who wanted to see what you have seen, but they didn’t see it, and they also wanted to hear what you have been hearing, but they didn’t hear it.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “What I will tell you really is the truth, that many were the prophets and kings of the past who wanted hopefully to see this which you see now, but they didn’t see it. And they wanted to hear this which you hear now, but also they didn’t hear it.'” (Source: Tagbanwa 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)
Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.
As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator2002, p. 210ff. ), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.
Here, Jesus is addressing his disciples, individuals and/or crowds with the formal pronoun, showing respect.
In most Dutch translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and common people with the informal pronoun, whereas they address him with the formal form.
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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 Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).
Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:
Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))
Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) was determined:
“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”
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®).
polloi prophētai kai basileis ‘many prophets and kings,’ of Old Testament times.
ēthelēsan idein … kai akousai ‘wished to see … and to hear.’
kai ouk eidan … kai ouk ēkousan ‘but did not see … but did not hear.’ kai has here the force of an adversative connective.
ha humeis blepete ‘what you see,’ emphatic.
ha akouete ‘what you hear,’ also emphatic though humeis is not added.
Translation:
Desired. The reference to the past may have to be expressed not in the verb but otherwise, e.g. in the subject, cf. ‘prophets and kings of old’ (Balinese).
And to hear …. This second clause may require repetition of the main verb, e.g. ‘they desired to hear….’
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.
For: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as For introduces another fact that emphasizes how blessed the disciples were to see Jesus and what he did as the Messiah (10:23). This fact is that even important leaders of the past did not have the opportunity to see him.
Connect 10:24a to 10:23b in a natural way in your language. In some languages a connector may not be needed. For example:
I tell you, many prophets and kings… (New Century Version)
I tell you: Jesus often used the words I tell you to begin a statement that he wanted to emphasize. He was asking people to listen with extra attention. Some ways to show the emphasis are:
I can guarantee (God’s Word) -or-
I assure you
If you have another way in your language to emphasize a statement like this, consider using it here.
many prophets and kings desired to see what you see: Many of the Jewish leaders who lived long before Jesus was born had wanted to see the Messiah and what he would do.
prophets: The word prophets refers to men and women who spoke on behalf of God. They told people what God revealed to them. Some ways to translate prophets are:
spokesmen for God -or-
people who speak God’s words -or-
God’s message-speakers
See how you translated the word prophets in 9:8a. See also prophet in the Glossary.
but did not see it: The prophets and kings of ancient times never saw the Messiah during the time they lived on earth.
10:24b
and to hear what you hear but did not hear it: The prophets and kings of old times had also wanted to hear the things that the Messiah taught people. But they were not able to hear what the Messiah taught, because they died long before Jesus was born.
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