leprosy, leprous

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The Greek and Hebrew terms that are often translated as “leprosy (or: defiling/skin disease)” or “leprous (person)” in English is translated in Mairasi as “the bad sickness,” since “leprosy is very common in the Mairasi area” (source: Enggavoter 2004).

Following are various other translations:

  • Shilluk: “disease of animals”
  • San Mateo Del Mar Huave: “devil sore” (this and the above are indigenous expressions)
  • Inupiaq: “decaying sores”
  • Kaqchikel: “skin-rotting disease” (source for this and three above: Eugene Nida in The Bible Translator 1960, p. 34f. )
  • Noongar: “bad skin disease” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Usila Chinantec “sickness like mal de pinta” (a skin disease involving discoloration by loss of pigment) (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
  • Hiligaynon: “dangerous skin disease” (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “fearful skin disease” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “terrible rotting” (source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
  • Newari: “infectious skin disease” (source: Newari Back Translation)

Targumim (or: Targums) are translations of the Hebrew Bible into Aramaic. They were translated and used when Jewish congregations increasingly could not understand the biblical Hebrew anymore. Targum Onqelos (also: Onkelos) is the name of the Aramaic translation of the Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) probably composed in Israel/Palestine in the 1st or 2nd century CE and later edited in Babylon in the 4th or 5th century, making it reflect Jewish Babylonian Aramaic. It is the most famous Aramaic translation and was widely used throughout the Jewish communities. In Leviticus 13 and 14 it translates tzaraat as a “quarantining affliction” — focusing “on what occurs to individuals after they suffer the affliction; the person is isolated from the community.” (Source: Israel Drazin in this article ). Similarly, the English Jewish Orthodox ArtScroll Tanach translation (publ. 2011) transliterates it as tzaraat affliction.

See also stricken and leprosy healed.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Leprosy (Word Study) and Bible Translations Are for People .

Elisha

The name that is transliterated as “Elisha” in English means “God the Savior,” “to whom God is salvation,” “God of salvation,” “God is Savior.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )

In Finnish Sign Language it is translated with the sign signifying “help + prophet.” (Source: Tarja Sandholm)


“Elisha” in Finnish Sign Language (source )

In American Sign Language it is translated with the sign for “bald,” referring to 2 Kings 2:23. This is a sign that was adapted from Kenyan Sign Language. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“Elisha” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

In Spanish Sign Language it is translated with with the sign depicting “putting on mantel” referring to 2 Kings 2:13. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)


“Elisha” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Elisha .

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

People from his home town rejected him because they could not accept who he claimed to be (image)

“Only qualified, trained leaders know the dharma (truth) yet Jesus made claims that threatened the establishment. He is being chased out of the temple because his people thought him merely a carpenter. They intended to throw him down the cliff but he just passed by.”

Drawing by Sawai Chinnawong who employs northern and central Thailand’s popular distinctive artistic style originally used to depict Buddhist moral principles and other religious themes; explanation by Paul DeNeui. From That Man Who Came to Save Us by Sawai Chinnawong and Paul H. DeNeui, William Carey Library, 2010.

For more images by Sawai Chinnawong in TIPs see here.

complete verse (Luke 4:27)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 4:27:

  • Noongar: “Many people there were sick, having bad skin disease, but Elijah did not heal one of them, only Naaman the Syrian.'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “So also in the time of the prophet Elisa long ago, there were many lepers in the land of Israel. But there was not even one who was healed by the prophet Elisa. Only Naaman, a Siria person.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Likewise also at the time when Elisa was prophet,’ said Isa. ‘There were many people with leprosy among the tribe of Isra’il at that time but none of them was healed even one, the only one that was healed was a person from the tribe of Suriya, called Nayman.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And in the same way there was another thing that happened,’ said Jesus. ‘Long time ago when Elisha was still alive, who was one of the prophets of God, there were many Jews who were lepers. But because they did not believe in God there was no Jew that Elisha healed, but rather it was a non-Jew person, Naaman from Syria,’ said Jesus.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Likewise also in the time of the prophet Eliseo. Many also were the people here in Israel who had a fearful skin disease, but there was not even one of them whom he healed, because it was only Naaman from-Syria whom he healed.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well, there were also many lepers who were descendants of Israel in the time of the prophet Eliseo. But none of them were healed. Only Naaman who was a taga Siria was healed.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

prophet

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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):

  • San Blas Kuna: “one who speaks the voice of God”
  • Central Pame and Vai: “interpreter for God”
  • Kaqchikel, Navajo (Dinė), Yaka: “one who speaks for God”
  • Northern Grebo: “God’s town crier” (see more about this below)
  • Sapo: “God’s sent-word person”
  • Shipibo-Conibo, Ngäbere: “one who speaks God’s word”
  • Copainalá Zoque: “one who speaks-opens” (a compound meaning “one who discloses or reveals”)
  • Sierra Totonac: “one who causes them to know” (in the sense of “revealer”)
  • Batak Toba: “foreteller” (this and all the above acc. to Nida 1961, p. 7)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “one who is inspired of God” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Alekano: “the true man who descended from heaven” (source: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation June 1986, p. 36ff.)
  • Aguaruna: “teller of God’s word” (source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125)
  • Ekari: “person who speaks under divine impulse”
  • Mandarin Chinese: 先知 xiānzhī — “one who foreknows” (or the 1946/1970 translation by Lü Zhenzhong: 神言人 shényánrén — “divine-word-man”)
  • Uab Meto: “holy spokesman” (source for this and two above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Kouya: Lagɔɔ gbʋgbanyɔ — “the one who seeks God’s affairs” (source: Saunders, p. 269)
  • Kafa: “decide for God only” (source: Loren Bliese)
  • Martu Wangka: “sit true to God’s talk” (source: Carl Gross)
  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “word passer” (source: John Beekman in Notes on Translation November 1964, p. 1-22)
  • Obolo: ebi nriran: “one with power of divine revelation” (source: Enene Enene)
  • Mairasi: nonondoai nyan: “message proclaimer” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Highland Totonac: “speaker on God’s behalf”
  • Central Tarahumara: “God’s preacher” (source for this and above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
  • Coatlán Mixe: “God’s word-thrower”
  • 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)

About the translation into Northern Grebo:

“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 American Sign Language it is a person who sees into the future:


“Prophet” in American Sign Language (source )

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)

See also prophesy and prophesy / prophetic frenzy.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: How to Recognize a Biblical Prophet .

See also seer.

Scriptures Plain & Simple (Luke 4:16-30)

Barclay Newman, a translator on the teams for both the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version, translated passages of the New Testament into English and published them in 2014, “in a publication brief enough to be non-threatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and un-believers alike.” The following is the translation of Luke 4:16-30:

Jesus — now a grown man — returned one day
to his hometown of Nazareth,
       where he attended synagogue on a Sabbath.
He was handed a Bible and instructed to read from Isaiah:

       The Spirit of the Lord has descended upon me
       and has chosen me to proclaim great news for the poor,
              to set prisoners free, to heal blindness and suffering,
              and to announce this is the Lord’s chosen time.
Jesus closed the Bible and handed it to the leader,
then sat down, and with everyone staring at him, said,
       “These words have all come true today.”

Though completely amazed at the teaching of Jesus,
the entire congregation was puzzled and questioned,
       “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?”

So Jesus responded:

       “You think I’m really the one in need of help,
       and you challenge me to work in my own hometown
              the same miracles you heard I worked in Capernaum.
       Need I remind you — prophets are rejected at home!

       “During the time of Elijah the prophet,
       there was a drought for three years,
              and people were starving everywhere.
       But God sent Elijah to help only a foreign widow.

       “During the time of Elisha the prophet,
       many men in our nation suffered from leprosy,
              but God healed only Naaman, who lived in Syria.”

At this, everyone in the synagogue became furious.
They threw Jesus out of their town,
       dragged him to the edge of a cliff,
       and started to throw him down from there.
But Jesus slipped through the crowd and disappeared.

Translation commentary on Luke 4:27

Exegesis:

kai polloi leproi ēsan en tō Israēl ‘and (again), there were many lepers in Israel.’ kai here connects two parallel stories, cf. New English Bible and The Four Gospels – a New Translation. For Israēl cf. on v. 25.

lepros ‘leprous,’ as a substantive ‘leper.’ For the exact reference of lepros and lepra.

epi Elisaiou tou prophētou ‘in the time of the prophet Elisha.’ Most translations have here the common Old Testament spelling of the name, not a transliteration of the Greek.

kai oudeis autōn ekatharisthē ‘and (yet) none of them was cleansed.’ For kai here cf. on v. 26.

katharizō ‘to make clean,’ ‘to cleanse,’ in Luke (except 11.39 where the cleaning of cups and dishes is referred to) always of the healing of leprosy which makes a person ceremonially unclean (cf. 17.14, the restoration of ceremonial cleanness had to be stated by the priests). Usually the verb is in the aorist (except 7.22) in order to stress the punctiliar nature of the cleansing.

ei mē Naiman ho Suros ‘but only Naaman the Syrian.’ For ei mē cf. on v. 26. Naaman is a transliteration of the Hebrew.

Translation:

And, preferably, ‘again,’ ‘similarly,’ ‘also.’

Lepers. The references given in Exegesis also provide material for possible solutions of the translational problems. Three points may be made, by way of summary. (1) A term exclusively or primarily referring to leprosy in the sense of Hansen’s Disease should be avoided. If that is felt to be impossible (as seems, unfortunately, to be the case in most western versions), a footnote should explain the meaning of Gr. lepra, as used in the New Testament, differs in many aspects from what is now meant by “lepra”, “leprosy” (or equivalent terms in other languages), primarily in that it was considered curable (cf. Lev. 14.1-32), and that the socio-religious connotation was very important. (2) The use of a descriptive rendering, entire unconnected with Hansen’s Disease, is much to be preferred. (3) The use of an existing general term for a skin disease that can be serious and implies ostracism, even if it has Hansen’s Disease amongst its possible referents, is acceptable as a second best solution.

Was cleansed, or, ‘became clean,’ rightly stressing that the term has both a socio-religious and a physical aspect. This is brought out e.g. in ‘whose stain was-taken-away’ (Balinese, in which ‘stain’ covers ritual impurity as well as disease or disaster). A more generic rendering, at least open to both aspects, may also be considered, e.g. ‘received help’ (Tzeltal), ‘was released from his fearful state.’ In some languages the negative term ‘unclean/impure’ is more frequent and productive than its opposite; hence, ‘his impurity was removed’ (Javanese).

But only Naaman the Syrian. Here again repetition of the verb may be preferable, cf. .’.. but Naaman, … became clean’ (cf. Marathi). This may also serve to make clear that Naaman was not included among the lepers in Israel (Shona 1966 using two synonymous expressions, ‘was cured,’ and ‘had his leprosy taken away’); the same end may be reached by a locative rendering of ‘Syrian,’ e.g. ‘Naaman of Syria-country’ (cf. Sranan Tongo).

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.