angel

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The Greek, Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Aramaic that is translated as “angel” in English versions is translated in many ways:

  • Pintupi-Luritja: ngaṉka ngurrara: “one who belongs in the sky” (source: Ken Hansen quoted in Steven 1984a, p. 116.)
  • Tetela, Kpelle, Balinese, and Mandarin Chinese: “heavenly messenger”
  • Shilluk / Igede: “spirit messenger”
  • Mashco Piro: “messenger of God”
  • Batak Toba: “envoy, messenger”
  • Navajo (Dinė): “holy servant” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida 1961; Igede: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
  • Central Mazahua: “God’s worker” (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.)
  • Saramaccan: basia u Masa Gaangadu köndë or “messenger from God’s country” (source: Jabini 2015, p. 86)
  • Mairasi: atatnyev nyaa or “sent-one” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Shipibo-Conibo: “word bringer” (source: James Lauriault in The Bible Translator 1951, p. 32ff. )
  • 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. )

See also angel (Acts 12:15) and this devotion on YouVersion .

complete verse (Luke 4:10)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 4:10:

  • Noongar: “because the Bible says, ‘God will send his angels and they will save you’.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “Nothing will happen to you (sing.), because it is written in the Holy Book: ‘The Lord God orders his angels to protect you (sing.), so that you (sing.) do not come-to-harm/disaster.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “for it is written in the holy-book it says, ‘He has commanded his angels to watch over/care for you so that nothing bad will happen to you.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Because there is a written word of God which says, ‘God will cause His angels to help you,” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “because the written word of God says, ‘God will command his angels to take-care-of you (sing.).” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “For isn’t is so that it is written as-you-know, saying, ‘God will order his angels to take care of you,” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “For Deo’s book has talk like this, | ‘‘He will talk strongly to his anggelo | in order that they be looking after you (sing.).’” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Kupsabiny: “it is written, ‘God will send his angels to support you’ ‘” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Mairasi: “Because in the Holy Book it is written like this: ‘Great Above One will soon command His sent-ones [and] they will come guard you very well’ it said.'” (Source Enggavoter 2004)
  • Kinaray-A: “Did not the Scripture say that ‘God will order his angels to watch over you’?” (Source: Balbina Abadiano in Notes on Translation 1988, p. 40ff.)

For the Old Testament quote, see Psalm 91:11.

Jesus is Tempted

Following is a 1973 painting of the JESUS MAFA project, a response to New Testament readings from the Lectionary by a Christian community in Cameroon, Africa. Each of the readings was selected and adapted to dramatic interpretation by the community members. Photographs of their interpretations were made, and these were then transcribed to paintings:

In this painting, Jesus has been taken to the top of a mountain in the final temptation where the devil whispers in his ear the promise of all the kingdoms of the world. Jesus is confronted with the temptation to seize power—to live by the rule(s) of the world. We know from this one gospel story that he refuses every temptation, but we know from the remaining narrative that the temptation to be the messiah people expected must have haunted him to his death on the cross. Jesus instead is a new kind of messiah, one who exemplifies non-violent resistance, trusting in the love he embodies.

From Art in the Christian Tradition , a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. Image retrieved March 23, 2026. Original source: librairie-emmanuel.fr.

pronoun for "God"

God transcends gender, but most languages are limited to grammatical gender expressed in pronouns. In the case of English, this is traditionally confined to “he” (or in the forms “his,” “him,” and “himself”), “she” (and “her,” “hers,” and “herself”), and “it” (and “its” and “itself”).

Modern Mandarin Chinese, however, offers another possibility. Here, the third-person singular pronoun is always pronounced the same (tā), but it is written differently according to its gender (他 is “he,” 她 is “she,” and 它/牠 is “it” and their respective derivative forms). In each of these characters, the first (or upper) part defines the gender (man, woman, or thing/animal), while the second element gives the clue to its pronunciation.

In 1930, after a full century with dozens of Chinese translations, Bible translator Wang Yuande (王元德) coined a new “godly” pronoun: 祂. Chinese readers immediately knew how to pronounce it: tā. But they also recognized that the first part of that character, signifying something spiritual, clarified that each person of the Trinity has no gender aside from being God.

While the most important Protestant and Catholic Chinese versions respectively have opted not to use 祂, some Bible translations do and it is widely used in hymnals and other Christian materials. Among the translations that use 祂 to refer to “God” were early versions of Lü Zhenzhong’s (呂振中) version (New Testament: 1946, complete Bible: 1970). R.P. Kramers (in The Bible Translator 1956, p. 152ff. ) explains why later versions of Lü’s translation did not continue with this practice: “This new way of writing ‘He,’ however, has created a minor problem of its own: must this polite form be used whenever Jesus is referred to? Lü follows the rule that, wherever Jesus is referred to as a human being, the normal tā (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential tā (祂) is used.”

In Kouya, Godié, Northern Grebo, Eastern Krahn, Western Krahn, and Guiberoua Béte, all languages of the Kru family in Western Africa, a different kind of system of pronouns is used (click or tap here to read more):

In that system, one kind of pronoun is used for humans (male and female alike) and others for natural elements, non-liquid masses, and some spiritual entities (one other is used for large animals and another one for miscellaneous items). While in these languages the pronoun for spiritual entities used to be employed when referring to God, this has changed into the use of the human pronoun.

Lynell Zogbo (in The Bible Translator 1989, p. 401ff. ) explains: “From informal discussions with young Christians especially, it would appear that, at least for some people, the experience and/or concepts of Christianity are affecting the choice of pronoun for God. Some people explain that God is no longer ‘far away,’ but is somehow tangible and personal. For these speakers God has shifted over into the human category.”

In Kouya, God (the Father) and Jesus are referred to with the human pronoun ɔ, whereas the Holy Spirit is referred to with a non-human pronoun. (Northern Grebo and Western Krahn make a similar distinction.)

Eddie Arthur, a former Kouya Bible translation consultant, says the following: “We tried to insist that this shouldn’t happen, but the Kouya team members were insistent that the human pronoun for the Spirit would not work.”

In Burmese, the pronoun ko taw (ကိုယ်တော်) is used either as 2nd person (you) or 3rd person (he, him, his) reference. “This term clearly has its root in the religious language in Burmese. No ordinary persons are addressed or known by this pronoun because it is reserved for Buddhist monks, famous religious teachers, and in the case of Christianity, the Trinity.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae in The Bible Translator 2002, p. 202ff. )

In Thai, the pronoun phra`ong (พระองค์) is used, a gender-neutral pronoun which must refer to a previously introduced royal or divine being. Similarly, in Northern Khmer, which is spoken in Thailand, “an honorific divine pronoun” is used for the pronoun referring to the persons of the Trinity (source: David Thomas in The Bible Translator 1993, p. 445 ). In Urak Lawoi’, another language spoken in Thailand, the translation often uses tuhat (ตูฮัด) — “God” — ”as a divine pronoun where Thai has phra’ong even though it’s actually a noun.” (Source for Thai and Urak Lawoi’: Stephen Pattemore)

The English “Contemporary Torah” addresses the question of God and gendered pronouns by mostly avoiding pronouns in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (unless God is referred to as “lord,” “father,” “king,” or “warrior”). It does that by either using passive constructs (“He gave us” vs. “we were given”), by using the adjective “divine” or by using “God” rather than a pronoun.

Some Protestant and Orthodox English Bibles use a referential capitalized spelling when referring to the persons of the Trinity with “He,” “His,” “Him,” or “Himself.” This includes for instance the New American Standard Bible or The Orthodox New Testament, but most translations do not. Two other languages where this is also done (in most Bible translations) are Twents as well as the closely related Indonesian and Malay. In the latter two languages this follows the language usage according to the Qur’an, which in turn predicts that usage (see Soesilo in The Bible Translator 1991, p. 442ff. and The Bible Translator 1997, p. 433ff. ).

See also first person pronoun referring to God.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Gender of God .

Translation: Chinese

在现代汉语中，第三人称单数代词的读音都是一样的（tā），但是写法并不一样，取决于性别以及是否有生命，即男性为“他”，女性为“她”，动物、植物和无生命事物为“它”（在香港和台湾的汉语使用，动物则为“牠”）。这些字的部首偏旁表明了性别（男人、女人、动物、无生命事物），而另一偏旁通常旁提示发音。

到1930年为止，基督教新教《圣经》经过整整一百年的翻译已经拥有了十几个译本，当时的一位圣经翻译者王元德新造了一个“神圣的”代词“祂”，偏旁“礻”表示神明。一般汉语读者会立即知道这字的发音是tā，而这个偏旁表示属灵的事物，因此他们明白这个字指出，三位一体的所有位格都没有性别之分，而单单是上帝。

然而，最重要的新教圣经译本（1919年的《和合本》）和天主教圣经译本（1968年的《思高圣经》）都没有采用“祂”；虽然如此，许多其他的圣经译本采用了这个字，另外还广泛出现在赞美诗和其他基督信仰的书刊中。（资料来源：Zetzsche）

《吕振中译本》的几个早期版本也使用“祂”来指称“上帝”；这个译本的《新约》于1946年译成，整部《圣经》于1970年完成。克拉默斯（Kramers）指出：“‘他’的这种新写法（即‘祂’）产生了一个小问题，就是在指称耶稣的时候，是否一律使用这个敬语代词？《吕振中译本》遵循的原则是，在称呼耶稣这个人的时候，用一般的‘他’，而在称呼耶稣神性的时候，特别是升天之后的耶稣，则用尊称‘祂’。”

Translator: Simon Wong

Honorary "rare" construct denoting God ("protect")

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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, mamo-rare-ru (守られる) or “protect” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Luke 4:10 – 4:11

Exegesis:

gegraptai gar ‘for it is written,’ cf. on v. 4. This time the quotation from the Old Testament comes from the devil in order to found the suggestion of v. 9.

tois aggelois autou enteleitai peri sou ‘he will give his angels orders about you.’ Subject of enteleitai is ho kurios ‘the Lord’ understood. The double reference to the person concerned, i.e. peri sou and se, the object of diaphulaxai (cf. next note), is unidiomatic in Greek. This is due to the fact that the clause is a rather literal rendering of the Hebrew of Ps. 91.11, which is perfectly idiomatic in Hebrew.

entellomai ‘to command,’ ‘to give orders.’

tou diaphulaxai se ‘in order to guard you,’ independent articular infinitive with final force.

diaphulassō ‘to guard,’ in the Septuagint especially of God’s care for man. Here the reference is rather to protection from danger.

(V. 11) kai hoti ‘and’ connects the second part of the quotation with the first, probably because the phrase ‘on all your ways’ is omitted in the quotation.

epi cheirōn arousin se ‘on their hands they will bear you up.’ Subject is hoi aggeloi ‘the angels’ understood from v. 10.

airō ‘to lift up,’ ‘to bear up,’ ‘to carry along’ as a continuation of bearing up. Different from Ps. 91.11f, the picture is here that of the angels lifting up somebody who throws himself down.

mēpote proskopsēs pros lithon ton poda sou ‘lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ This clause also applies only indirectly to the present situation, see above.

mēpote ‘lest,’ emphatic form of mē here in the sense of ‘in order to prevent that.’

proskoptō ‘to strike.’

Translation:

Give his angels charge of you, to guard you. Some renderings are more analytic, e.g. ‘say to/command his angels, “Guard him/this man” ,’ others more synthetic, e.g. ‘cause-to-take-care-with-reference-to his angels you,’ i.e. cause his angels to take care of you (Pohnpeian). For to guard, or, “to keep from harm” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation). — You here refers to man in general (as is clearly intended in the Psalm word quoted), not to the Messiah (as assumed in some versions). The repetition of this pronoun, is a literalism which should not be imitated at the cost of receptor language idiom.

(V. 11) The metaphorical meaning of the expressions used may have to be marked, e.g. by adding ‘as it were,’ ‘it will be as if.’

You strike your foot against a stone, or, ‘stumble-over a stone’ (Balinese); elsewhere ‘the/your foot’ has to become the subject of the clause.

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.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Luke 4:10

4:10a

For: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible here translates as For also means “because.” This conjunction introduces the reason clause (4:10a) of a reason-result statement. The result is implied. The implied information is: ⌊You will not be hurt⌋ or ⌊it will not harm you⌋.

result (implied)

⌊You will not be hurt,
⌋

reason (4:10b)

for/because God will tell his angels to protect you.

Some ways to translate this are:

• Include the implied information and indicate the relationship with 4:10b. For example:

⌊You will not be hurt⌋ because it is written…
-or-
It is written…, so ⌊you will not be hurt⌋

• Do not translate the conjunction, and leave the relationship implied. For example:

It is written in the Scriptures (New Century Version)
-or-
Scripture says

it is written: The phrase it is written again introduces a quotation from the OT Scriptures. The quotation is in 4:10b–4:11b. The quotation is from Psalm 91:11–12. (See also the note on “It is written” at 4:8a.)

4:10b

He will command His angels concerning You to guard You carefully: This quotation is the first part of Psalm 91:11.

The pronoun You occurs twice in 4:10b. In some languages, this is not natural. If this is the case in your language, consider making concerning You implicit. For example:

God will order his angels to protect you from harm.

In some languages, it may be natural to use a direct quotation:

⌊God⌋ will give his angels orders about you, ⌊saying,⌋ “Keep him safe.”

‘He: In this quotation the pronoun He refers to God.

angels: The word angels also occurred in 2:15a. See angel, Meaning 1, in the Glossary.

You: This is the second person singular pronoun. In Psalm 91, this pronoun refers to anyone who trusts God to protect him. The devil was applying it specifically to Jesus.

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