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. )
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 16:22:
Noongar: “Lazarus died and angels took him to sit with Abraham, eating and drinking in Heaven. The rich man, he died and they buried him.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “‘One day, that poor man died, and angels carried him to a good seat beside Abraham. That rich man also died, and was buried.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Then that poor man died and he was brought by the angels to where Ibrahim was in heaven. Then the rich man also died and was buried.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Not very long after that, that poor man named Lazarus died, and the angels of God took him and they placed him near Abraham, the ancestor of the Jews. And at that time also, that rich man died and he was buried.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “‘When that poor man died, the angels took him to the place where Abraham was. When the rich man also died, they buried him,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Well, it happened that that beggar died. When he died, he was taken by the angels to Abraham’s wherever there in heaven. That rich person followed him next. When he died, he was buried.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Yagaria: “Afterwards the poor man died, and the angels came and took him up above, and put him into Abraham’s lap, and he stayed there.” (Source: Renck, p. 95)
The name that is transliterated as “Abraham” in English means “father of a multitude,” “father of mercy,” “father of many nations.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )
In the vast majority of sign languages, including American Sign Language it is translated with the sign signifying “hold back arm” (referring to Genesis 22:12).
In Vietnamese (Hanoi) Sign Language it is translated with a sign for that demonstrates his new destiny. Previously, he had been called to wander from his home, and the name “Abram” reflected this movement (see here). The new sign name is in one location and stays there, showing Abraham will be given a land to call his own. At this time, Abraham was in the southern part of Canaan, which is shown on the base arm by the location near the elbow. (Source: The Vietnamese Sign Language translation team, VSLBT)
“Abraham” in Vietnamese Sign Language, source: SooSL
In Tira it is transliterated as Abaram. The choice of this, rather than the widely-known “Ibrahim,” as used in the Tira translation of the Qu’ran, was to offset it against the Muslim transliteration which originates from Arabic. (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )
Click or tap here to see two short video clips about Abraham (source: Bible Lands 2012)
Greek, Hebrew, Latin, Ge’ez, and Aramaic all have one term only that refers to what can be expressed in English as “sky” or “heaven(s)” (as a physical and spiritual entity). While there is a slight overlap between the meaning of the two English terms, “sky” (from Old Norse sky meaning “cloud”) typically refers to the physical entity, and “heaven” (from Old English heofon meaning “home of God”) typically refers to the spiritual entity. While this enriches the English lexicon, it also forces English Bible translators to make decisions that can be found only in the context in the Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic texts. Most versions tend to use “heaven(s)” even if the meaning is likely “sky,” but the Contemporary English Version (NT: 1991, OT: 1995, DC: 1999) is an English translation that attempted to be more specific in the separation of the two meanings and was used as the basis for the links to verses used for this and this record (“sky”).
Norm Mundhenk (in The Bible Translator 2006, p. 92ff. ) describes the difficulty that English translations face (click or tap here to see more):
“A number of years ago an old lady asked me a question. What did Jesus mean when he said, ‘Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away’? I do not remember what answer I gave, but I was surprised at how concerned she seemed to be about the verse. It was only later, after I had left her, that I suddenly realized what it was that she was so concerned about. She knew that death could not be far away, and all her life she had looked forward to being with God in heaven. But this verse said that ‘heaven will pass away’! What did that mean for her hopes? In fact, of course, in this verse Jesus was talking about the skies or the heavens, not about Heaven as the place of God’s presence. If I had realized the problem in time, I could easily have set the lady’s mind at rest on this question that was troubling her so much. However, I suspect that she is not the only person to be misled by the wording of this verse. Therefore, it is very surprising to find that even today many English versions (including the New International Version, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, Good News Translation) still say ‘heaven and earth’ in verses like Matt 24:35 and its parallels (Mark 13:31 and Luke 21:33). The Contemporary English Version (CEV) and Phillips’ translation seem to be aware of the problem, and in Mark 13:31 both of these have ‘earth and sky’ instead of ‘heaven and earth.’ But in some other passages (such as Matt 5:18) the traditional wording is still found in both of those translations. The New Century Version (NCV) does have ‘earth and sky’ more consistently, and the New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) has ‘sky and earth’ in these passages. (Although ‘sky and earth’ is closer to the Greek, it seems more natural in English to say ‘earth and sky’; but either way, at least the meaning is correct.)
“Louw and Nida’s Lexical Semantics of the Greek New Testament (publ. 1992) suggests that the Greek expression being translated here, ho ouranos kai he ge is ‘a more or less fixed phrase equivalent to a single lexical unit’ and that it means everything that God created, that is, the universe. They then quote Mark 13:31 as an example, using ‘heaven and earth’ in their translation of it. However, they go on to say that there ‘may be certain complications involved in rendering ho ouranos kai he ge as ‘heaven and earth,’ since ‘heaven’ might be interpreted in some languages as referring only to the dwelling place of God himself. The referents in this passage are ‘the sky and the earth,’ in other words, all of physical existence, but not the dwelling place of God, for the latter would not be included in what is destined to pass away.’ In my opinion, English itself is one of the languages where the word ‘heaven’ will be interpreted as referring only to the dwelling place of God himself, and translations into English should not use ‘heaven’ in these passages. It is probably because these passages are so very familiar that translators do not realize the meaning they are giving their readers when they use the expression ‘heaven and earth’ here. In modern English we might talk about a rocket ‘soaring into the heavens,’ but we would certainly not describe it as ‘soaring into heaven,’ because ‘heaven’ is not another way of referring to the sky or to outer space.
“In fact, it is surely important in all languages to have some way of distinguishing the concept of ‘sky’ from the concept of ‘dwelling place of God.’ In these passages translators should never use a term meaning ‘the dwelling place of God.’ It may not be necessary to use a term meaning ‘sky’ either, if there is some other expression in the language which gives the correct meaning of ‘everything that has been created’ or ‘the universe.’ There are of course places in the New Testament where Heaven, as the place where God lives, is contrasted with the earth. In these passages, translators should be careful to give the correct meaning. A good example of this is in the Lord’s Prayer, in Matt 6:10: ‘Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’ Similarly, 1 Cor 15:47 says that ‘the first man [a reference to Adam] was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.’ Passages like these are referring to Heaven, not to the sky. Other NT passages where heaven refers to God’s dwelling place, in contrast with earth, are Matt 5:34-35, 16:19, 18:18, Acts 7:49, James 5:12, and Rev 5:3.
“Sometimes in the New Testament, the word ‘heaven’ is used because of the Jewish reluctance to use the name of God. ‘Heaven’ in these cases is used in place of ‘God’ and refers to God himself. This is the case in the many references in Matthew to ‘the kingdom of heaven’ where other gospels have ‘the kingdom of God’ (e.g., compare Matt 4:17 with its parallels in Mark 1:15 and Luke 10:9). It is also most likely the case in references like Matt 16:1, Luke 20:4, 5, John 3:27, and even perhaps Col 1:5.
“There are some places, such as Matt 11:25, where God is called ‘Lord of heaven and earth.’ Since God is of course the Lord of Heaven as well as of the universe, it may not matter so much which interpretation is given in these passages (others are Luke 10:21 and Acts 17:24). Nevertheless, the intended meaning here is likely to be ‘the universe.’ This is because this expression in Greek, as Louw and Nida say, is a set expression referring to everything that has been created. Acts 17:24 in fact combines the idea of the creation of the universe with the idea of God as Master or Lord of the universe. (…)
“Old Testament background The use of ‘heaven and earth’ in the New Testament is very similar to what we find in the Old Testament, because it is largely based on the Old Testament.
“The Old Testament begins with the story of creation, which is presented as the creation of the heavens and the earth, with lights to shine in the heavens and give light to the earth. Birds are created to live in the heavens, animals to live on earth, and fish to live in the sea (Gen 1:1-2:4).
“As we can see from the way the creation story is told, it is meant to be understood as the creation of the universe. Although in English the regions above the earth have traditionally been called ‘the heavens’ in the story of creation, they cannot be called ‘Heaven,’ in the sense of the place where God dwells. In terms of modern English, it would probably be better to say ‘the sky and the earth’ or ‘the earth and the sky.’ The story of creation then becomes an important theme throughout the Old Testament. (…)
“In most passages, whether in the Old Testament or the New Testament, when ‘heaven and earth’ or ‘the heavens and the earth’ are mentioned, the meaning is the created universe. It is not a reference to Heaven, as the dwelling place of God. In English, translators have not been careful to keep this distinction clear, and this is probably true in many other languages as well. However, as we have seen, this can lead to real confusion for ordinary Bible readers. It is better if translators find ways to make the meaning clear in these passages. ‘Heaven’ should be mentioned only in passages which clearly mean the dwelling place of God. In other passages, an expression should be used which means only ‘sky.’ Or else, the whole expression ‘heaven and earth’ can be translated in a way to show that the whole universe is meant.”
Other languages that have a semantic distinction similar to English include (click or tap here to see more):
Mossi: saase — “sky”; nyingeri — “the up above”(source for Loma and Mossi: Bratcher/Nida)
Roviana: mamaṉa — “sly”; maṉauru — “heaven” (an old word, meaning “empty, open space of the sky”) (source: Carl Gross)
Kayaw: mô̄la or “canopy-under”/mô̄khû̄la or “canopy-above-under” — “sky” (atmosphere where there is just air); mô̄khû̄ or “canopy-on/above” — “heaven” (invisible abode of God and angels)
Mairasi: Sinyavi — an indigenous term that is used for both “sky” and heaven”; Surga — loanword from Sanskrit via Indonesian referring to “heaven” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
Kupsabiny: “up” for “sky” vs. “God’s Homestead” for “heaven” (source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
In some languages, such as Yagaria, a term that was originally used as “sky” (gokudana) was adopted by the Christian community as “heaven.” This resulted in a language shift so that now all communities uses “empty space / air” (galogina or hakalogina) as “sky” and gokudana is exclusively used for the Christian concept of heaven. (Source: Renck 1990, p. 133)
Many languages follow the original biblical languages in not making that distinction, such as (click or tap here to see more):
In some languages, such as Wandala, the vocabulary for terms for either “heaven” or “sky” is much richer than just to include those two distinction. While zhegela, the term that is specifically used for the physical sky was only used in early translations of the New Testament for “sky,” other terms such as samaya (used for both “sky” and “heaven”), zlanna (specifically used for the perfect abode of God and the goal of the faithful, as in Matthew 8:11), kwárá (a locational term used to speak of a chief’s rule [lit., “voice”] such as Matthew 3:2), or sleksire (“chieftaincy,” “kingship,” or “royalty” [originally from slekse “chief”] and used where there are no locational overtones, such as in Matthew 16:28) are used. (Source: Mona Perrin in Notes on Translation 1/1999, p. 51ff.)
Under the auspices of the Dhama Mate Swe Association , a new Burmese translation of the New Testament was published in 2024 which uses terminology that attempts to overcome “insurmountable barriers to the Buddhist world.” One term that this version uses is ရွှေမြို့တော် (shway myahoettaw) or “Golden City” for “heaven,” referring it to the golden city described in Revelation 21 but at the same time using a Buddhist term for a desired destination that does not have the Buddhist connotation of ကောင်း ကင် (kaungg kain) as being the Trāyastriṃśa (တာဝတိံသာ) heaven, home of Śakra/Indra. This Burmese translation formed the basis of translations of parts of the New Testament into other languages spoken in Burma, including Sumtu Chin, Ekai Chin, Songlai Chin, Danau, Kadu, Kanan, Khün, Lahta Karen, Rakhine, Marma (Northern Rakhine), Riang Lai, Samtao, Shwe Palaung, Tai Laing, Taungyo, and Chak (Thet). (Source: Jay Pratt)
The English translation by Sarah Ruden (2021) uses “sky” throughout. Ruden explains (p. li): “The Greek word ouranos refers evenhandedly to the physical sky and the place—often pictured as a royal court — where supreme divinity resides. ‘Sky’ seems generally better, first of all in avoiding the wackier modern imagery that comes with the English ‘heaven.’ And even when a supernatural realm is meant, ‘sky’ will often do, because the divine realm was thought to be located there, in addition to the weather and the heavenly bodies, whereas ‘heaven’ to us is fundamentally a religious term, and the ancients did not tend to separate linguistic domains in this way. I have retained the plural ‘skies’ where I see it in the Greek, because it is a Hebraism familiar in English translations of scripture and (I hope) not too archaic or jarring.”
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®).
egeneto de apothanein ton ptōchon ‘it happened that the beggar died,’ cf. on 1.8. As to its function egeneto de may be placed under (2) or (4) of the list given there, preferably the latter.
kai apenechthēnai auton hupo tōn aggelōn eis ton kolpon Abraam ‘and that he was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom,’ dependent upon egeneto.
apopherō ‘to lead away,’ ‘to carry away,’ here of the carrying away of the soul after death. The identity of a man and his soul is expressed by the fact that auton is subject of apenechthēnai.
kolpos (cf. on 6.38) here ‘bosom.’ The phrase eis ton kolpon Abraam is best understood as referring to the place next to Abraham while reclining at the table, cf. Mt. 8.11, Jn. 13.23.
apethanen de kai ho plousios kai etaphē ‘the rich man also died and was buried,’ without details or indication of place. No significance is to be attached to the fact that the rich man’s burial is mentioned and the beggar’s not.
Translation:
Was carried by the angels to goes with “the poor man”. But it may be impossible thus to refer to a deceased person in the same way as to a living person, e.g. in Toraja-Sa’dan, where the subject of the sentence must be ‘his soul’ (i.e. what leaves the body at death, and continues the deceased’s personality in the Land of the Souls). To carry (away) to is sometimes better rendered by two verbs, cf. e.g. ‘to take-up/away…, (and) bring to’ (Malay), and in some languages only things can be said ‘to be carried,’ whereas personal entities, including ‘souls,’ require another verb, cf. e.g. ‘to lead/take-with-one, or, to accompany…, (and) put-(down-)at’ (Balinese, Toraja-Sa’dan).
To Abraham’s bosom is, as a rule, better not rendered literally: hence, ‘put in Abr.’s hands’ (Sranan Tongo), ‘to sit with Abr.’ (Tae’), “to Abr.’s side” (Good News Translation), ‘near Abr.’ (Kekchi).
Buried, cf. on 9.59.
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, the setting of the parable changes. This paragraph describes the situation of the poor man and the rich man in the places where their spirits went after they died.
16:22a
One day: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as One day is more literally “Now it happened that.” Some versions, such as the New American Standard Bible and New Jerusalem Bible, translate it that way. This phrase introduces an important event, the death of the poor man. This event is a turning point in the story. Many modern English versions do not translate this phrase explicitly. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
The time came when (New International Version) -or-
Later (New Century Version) -or-
Finally (New Living Translation (2004))
Use a natural way in your language to introduce this event.
the beggar died: The word beggar is the same word as in 16:20a and refers back to Lazarus.
16:22b
was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side: The clause was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side means that some angels took or accompanied the poor man’s soul/spirit to be with Abraham. The verse does not say what happened to the poor man’s body.
the angels: The phrase the angels refers to some angels, not all the angels. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
angels (Contemporary English Version) -or-
there were angels -or-
some angels
angels: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as angels means “messengers.” It refers here to spirit-beings who serve God. Some ways to translate this term are:
• Use a descriptive word or phrase. For example:
messengers ⌊from God/heaven⌋ -or-
⌊good/holy⌋ spirit-beings -or-
spirit-being servants of God
• Use a local term that fits the biblical meaning.
• In some areas the churches may use a borrowed term or a transliterated word for angels. If some people do not understand the right meaning from this word, you may need to indicate the meaning. For example:
Be sure that your term for angels is different from your terms for “prophet” and “apostle.” See angel, Meaning 1, in the Glossary.
was carried: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as carried means to carry or take away from one place to another. The expression “the beggar…was carried” refers to the poor man’s inner being (his soul or spirit), not his body. In some languages, using a word such as carried may wrongly imply that the angels carried the poor man’s body. Some other ways to translate the phrase was carried are:
took him (Contemporary English Version) -or-
led/accompanied his soul/spirit
to Abraham’s side: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Abraham’s side is literally “Abraham’s bosom/chest.” This was a Jewish expression that figuratively referred to God’s people having close fellowship with their great ancestor, Abraham. For example:
to be with Abraham (New Revised Standard Version) -or-
to the place of honor next to Abraham (Contemporary English Version)
Many scholars think that this expression specifically implies a place of honor next to Abraham at the Messianic feast. (See 13:28–29, which mentions Abraham in connection with the feast in the kingdom of God.) For example:
to sit beside Abraham at the feast in heaven (Good News Translation)
However, other scholars think that the expression “Abraham’s bosom” implies close fellowship with Abraham, but not necessarily a feast. The parable itself does not mention a feast. It is recommended that you avoid specifying a feast and its location “in heaven.” Scholars do not agree exactly where the spirits of righteous dead people were located, and the verse does not make this detail explicit.
16:22c
And the rich man also died: Jesus did not say when the rich man died. This does not matter, but it was probably after Lazarus died.
and was buried: The verb was buried is a passive verb. If it is more natural to use an active verb in your language, you may supply “his family” or “people” as the subject. For example:
and ⌊his family⌋ buried him
In some languages it may be more natural to speak of a person’s body being buried. For example:
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