Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 13:33:
Noongar: “But I must go on my path, today and tomorrow and the next day. They must kill the prophets, but only inside Jerusalem.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “But today, tomorrow and the next day, I definitely must continue towards Yerusalem. Because it is not appropriate that a prophet be killed in another town, it must be in the town of Yerusalem.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “But I have to continue on my journey/way today and tomorrow and including the day after tomorrow. Nothing will happen to me here. For most of the prophets are/were killed there in Awrusalam.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “But I say to you that it is necessary that I continue on my way slowly, today, tomorrow and the next day, because it’s not possible that I be killed here, because a prophet of God is never killed except inside the town of Jerusalem.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Yes, I will emphatically not die here but rather I will continue until I arrive in Jerusalem, because it’s as if a prophet can’t die if it’s not there.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “But it’s true, every day I am continuing on with my journey going to Jerusalem, because it’s not fitting for a prophet that where he will be killed is just anywhere other than there at Jerusalem.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:
While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)
“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
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)
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 Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
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®).
plēn ‘but,’ cf. on 6.24. Here its use suggests that v. 33 is no longer part of the message to Herod.
dei me sēmeron kai aurion kai tē echomenē poreuesthai ‘I must continue my journey today and tomorrow and the next day.’ poreuesthai refers to the journey to Jerusalem. sēmeron kai aurion kai tē echomenē refers to the same time as the partly identical partly synonymous words in v. 32.
hē echomenē, scil. hēmera ‘the immediately following day.’
ouk endechetai prophētēn apolesthai exō Ierousalēm ‘it is impossible that a prophet should perish outside Jerusalem.’
endechetai ‘it is possible,’ ‘it is right,’ ‘it is thinkable.’
Translation:
Nevertheless, or, ‘however,’ ‘yet.’ To mark the message to Herod as ended, The Four Gospels – a New Translation has, “yet to you I admit that”.
I must, see 2.49.
The day following, or, ‘the day-after-tomorrow’ (Sranan Tongo, lit. ‘the-other tomorrow’; also several Indonesian languages), in some cases coinciding with the rendering of ‘the third day’ in v. 32.
Away from, or, “anywhere except in” (Good News Translation), ‘if not in’ (Bahasa Indonesia 1968), ‘in any other place than’ (Sranan Tongo), focussing on what must happen in Jerusalem, rather than on what cannot happen outside it (a meaning conveyed by some literal renderings).
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.
Nevertheless: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Nevertheless introduces a contrast with the statement that Jesus would soon complete his work (13:32c). Some other ways to introduce this contrast are:
Yet (Good News Translation) -or-
However (Revised English Bible) -or-
But (God’s Word)
However, 13:33a does not contrast with 13:32b. Instead, it repeats the information there. So in some languages it may be more natural to indicate that in 13:33a Jesus was restating for emphasis what he had said in 13:32b. Here is another way to begin this verse:
Yes (New Living Translation (2004))
I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day: In Greek, this clause is literally “it-is-necessary for-me to travel/go today and tomorrow and the following.” The verb “it is necessary” implies here that it was necessary for Jesus to keep going for a time ⌊to fulfill God’s plan⌋.
keep going: The verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as keep going refers not only to Jesus’ literal travel toward Jerusalem but also to his progress in accomplishing all his purposes. Both aspects of the meaning should be clear in your translation if possible.
today and tomorrow and the next day: These three terms are used figuratively. They probably refer to the same period of time as the three terms in 13:32b–c. The New International Version uses a dash at the end of this verse part. Most English versions do not.
13:33b
for: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as for introduces the reason for what Jesus had said in 13:33a.
it is not admissible for a prophet to perish outside of Jerusalem: Here Jesus was using a figure of speech called irony. Jerusalem was the city that God had chosen for his temple. It was supposed to be the holy city, so it would be reasonable to think that the people of Jerusalem would welcome God’s prophets. However, the people of Jerusalem had killed so many prophets that Jerusalem had developed a reputation as a place where prophets were murdered. Jesus was stating this in an exaggerated, sarcastic way. He did not mean literally that every prophet died in Jerusalem.
It can be very difficult to translate irony and sarcasm meaningfully. Some ways to translate this statement in English are:
After all, Jerusalem is the place where prophets are killed. (Contemporary English Version) -or-
Surely it cannot be right for a prophet to be killed anywhere except in Jerusalem. (New Century Version) -or-
it would never do for a prophet to meet his death outside Jerusalem! (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
By saying this, Jesus implied that he also was a prophet, and that people would kill him in Jerusalem. In some languages it may be necessary to make some of this information explicit. See the last two meaning lines in the Display for 13:33b.
prophet: This is the same word as in 13:28b and 13:34b. See also prophet in the Glossary.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.