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):
Cherokee: galaladi (ᎦᎸᎳᏗ) or “up” — Bender / Belt (2025, p. 23) note that there is a related term — galvlohi (ᎦᎸᎶᎯ) — that is used “for the upperworld of Cherokee cosmology, [but] was not used, possibly to communicate a sharp distinction.”
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” — employed for instance in Matthew 10:32f.), 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, Intha, Danu, Tavoyan (Dawei), 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.”
Retrotraducciones en español (haga clic o pulse aquí)
Jesús y los discípulos estaban caminando y vieron enfrente de ellos el Monte de los Olivos.
Allá cerca estaba el pueblo de Betania y más allá Betfagé, cerca de Jerusalén.
Jesús dijo a dos discípulos: Uds dos vayanse al pueblo de Betfagé y verán que hay un burro chico que todavía no ha sido montado por nadie.
El burro está atado, quiten la cuerda y si alguien les dice: “¿porqué toman el burro?” uds dos digan: “espera un poco, Jesús necesita el burro, nosotros dos lo tomamos y después vendremos otra vez aquí y dejaremos el burro.”
Jesús (dijo): “¿entienden?” Y los discipulos lo afirmaron y se fueron a Betfagé y yendo por el camino vieron una casa y a la puerta había un burro atado.
Los dos lo desataron y alguien los vio y dijo: ¿Porqué toman el burro? Los dos discípulos se dieron cuenta de que era exactamente lo que Jesús había dicho antes y dijeron: “Mira” y lo explicaron, y las personas (dijeron): “Sí, tienen permiso, vayanse.”
Los dos discípulos tomaron el burro y lo llevaron, y pusieron sus mantos en la espalda del burro.
Jesús montó el burro y fueron y una multitud de personas vino y caminaba con ellos y punían sus mantos en la calle, y cortaban ramas de los árboles y las ponían en el camino.
Jesús estaba andando el burro y muchas personas caminaban enfrente de él y atrás de él caminaba mucha gente y estaban alegres y gritaban: “alabado sea Dios que ya ha entregado la autoridad a Jesús, Dios bendiga su familia, la descendencia del Rey David de mucho antes, este es el rey bendito, ¡huy! Dios, salvanos ahorita.”
La multitud estaba caminando y Jesús estaba andando en el burro y llegaron al templo de Jerusalén y Jesús miró al templo, y como ya era tarde Jesús regresó al pueblo de Betania.
Jesus and the disciples were walking and they saw in front of them the Mount of Olives.
Over there close by was the village of Bethany and further on Bethphage, near Jerusalem.
Jesus said to two disciples: “You two go off to the village of Bethphage and you will say that there is a little donkey there that nobody has ridden yet.
“The donkey is tied up, take off the rope and if anyone says to you: ‘Why are you taking the donkey?’ tell them: ‘Wait a little, Jesus needs the donkey, we will take it and afterwards we will come here again and leave the donkey.'”
Jesus (said): “understood?” And the disciples affirmed and went to Bethphage, and going on their way they saw a house and at the door there was a donkey tied up.
The two of them untied it and someone saw them and said: “Why are you taking the donkey?” The disciples realized that it was exactly what Jesus had just said and they said: “Look” and they explained it and the people (said): “Yes, you have permission, off you go.”
The two disciples took the donkey and led it away and they put their mantles on the back of the donkey.
Jesus got on the donkey and they went and a multitude of people came and walked with them and they put their mantles on the road and cut branches of the trees and put them on the road.
Jesus was riding on the donkey and many people walked in front of him and behind him came many people and they were happy and shouted: “Praise be to God who has given the authority to Jesus, God bless his family, the descendants of King David of long ago, this is the blessed king, wow. God, save us now.”
The multitude was walking and Jesus was riding on the donkey and they arrived at the temple in Jerusalem and Jesus looked around in the temple, and since it was already late he went back to the village of Bethany.
Jesus and His twelve disciples were approaching the city of Jerusalem. In front of Jerusalem there is a mountain called the Mount of Olives. There are two villages near the mountain, Bethphage and Bethany. Jesus called the two disciples to him and said to them:
— Go to that village over there. There is a young donkey there. None of the people have ever ridden it before. The donkey will be tied up. You will untie him and bring him here. If, when you untie him, people will be displeased and will ask, “What is this for? Why are you untying him? What are you doing?”, answer them, “Our master needs this donkey,” and then people will allow it.
The two disciples went to the village, and there they saw a donkey tied at the gate. The disciples began to untie it. People saw it, started to come up and asked, “Why are you doing this? Why do you untie it?” The disciples answered as Jesus told them to. Then the people allowed it. The disciples brought the young donkey to Jesus. The disciples took off their cloaks and put them on the back of the donkey. Jesus sat on top and rode on top of the donkey. Many people gathered around. Many took off their cloaks and laid them on the road in front of Jesus. Others cut palm branches and laid them on the road. Jesus was riding on a donkey, and the people crowded around him, shouting:
— Jesus! Glory to you! May God bless you! You have come by the will of the Lord God! God bless you! You will reign! You are a descendant of King David. You will also reign! God’s glory is in heaven!
And Jesus continued to ride on the young donkey. Then Jesus entered Jerusalem. He went into the temple and looked around. It was late in the evening. Jesus and the 12 disciples traveled back to the village of Bethany.
Original Russian back-translation (click or tap here):
Иисус с двенадцатью учениками подходили к городу Иерусалим. Перед Иерусалимом есть гора, называемая «Масличная». Возле горы есть две деревни — Вифагия и Вифания. Иисус подозвал к себе двух учеников и сказал им:
— Идите вон в ту деревню. Там есть молодой ослик. Никто из людей еще не ездил на нем верхом. Ослик будет привязан. Вы отвяжите его и приведите его сюда. Если, когда вы будете его отвязывать, люди будут недовольны и будут спрашивать: «Зачем это? Зачем вы его отвязываете? Что вы делаете?», ответьте им: «Нашему хозяину нужен этот осел», и тогда люди разрешат.
Два ученика отправились в деревню, там они увидели осла, привязанного у ворот. Ученики стали отвязывать его. Люди увидели это, стали подходить, стали спрашивать: «Зачем вы это делаете? Зачем отвязываете?» Ученики отвечали так, как велел им Иисус. Тогда люди разрешили. Ученики привели молодого осла к Иисусу. Ученики сняли с себя плащи и положили на спину осла. Иисус сел сверху и поехал верхом на осле. Множество людей собралось вокруг. Многие снимали свои одежды и стлали их по дороге, перед Иисусом. Другие срезали пальмовые ветви и клали их на дорогу. Иисус ехал верхом на осле, а вокруг толпились люди, и они кричали:
— Иисус! Слава тебе! Пусть Бог благословит тебя! Ты пришел по воле Господа Бога! бог благословляет тебя! Ты будешь царствовать! Ты потомок царя Давида. Ты также будешь царствовать! На небесах Божья слава!
А Иисус продолжал ехать верхом на молодом осле. И вот Иисус вступил в Иерусалим. Он вошел в храм, все там обошел и осмотрел. Был уже поздний вечер. Иисус и 12 учеников отправились обратно в деревню Вифания.
The Greek, Hebrew, Latin, Ge’ez, and Aramaic that is translated into English as “(to) bless” or “blessed” is translated into a wide variety of possibilities.
The Hebrew term barak (and the Aramaic term berak) also (and originally) means “kneel” (a meaning which the word has retained — see Gen. 24:11) and can be used for God blessing people (or things), people blessing each other, or people blessing God. While English Bible translators have not seen a stumbling block in always using the same term (“bless” in its various forms), other languages need to make distinctions (see below).
In Bari, spoken in South Sudan, the connection between blessing and knees/legs is still apparent. For Genesis 30:30 (in English: “the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned”), Bari uses a common expression that says (much like the Hebrew), ‘… blessed you to my feet.'” (Source: P. Guillebaud in The Bible Translator 1965, p. 189ff. .)
Other examples for the translation of “bless” when God is the one who blesses include (click or tap here to see the rest of this insight):
“sprinkle with a propitious (lit. cool) face” (a poetic expression occurring in the priests’ language) (Toraja Sa’dan) (source for this and above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
“give good things” (Mairasi) (source: Enggavoter 2004)
“ask good” (Yakan) (source: Yakan Back Translation)
“praise, say good things” (Central Yupik) (source: Robert Bascom)
“showing a good heart” (Kutu) (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
“good luck — have — good fortune — have” (verbatim) ꓶꓼ ꓙꓳ ꓫꓱꓹ ꓙꓳ — ɯa dzho shes zho (Lisu). This construction follows a traditional four-couplet construct in oral Lisu poetry that is usually in the form ABAC or ABCB. (Source: Arrington 2020, p. 58)
wodala — denoting a person who is considered fortunate because he/she has something good that the majority of people do not have. It also acknowledges someone as a causative agent behind “being blessed.” (Chichewa) (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
In Tagbanwa a phrase is used for both the blessing done by people and God that back-translates to “caused to be pierced by words causing grace/favor” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation) and in Benabena a term denoted “good spell” or “good magic” (source: Renck 1990, p. 112).
Ixcatlán Mazatec had to select a separate term when relating “to people ‘blessing’ God” (or things of God): “praise(d)” or “give thanks for” (in 1 Cor. 10:16) (“as it is humans doing the ‘blessing’ and people do not bless the things of God or God himself the way God blesses people” — source: Robert Bascom). Eastern Bru and Kui also use “praise” for this a God-directed blessing (source: Bru back translation and Helen Evans in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 40ff. ) and Uma uses “appropriate/worthy to be worshipped” (source: Uma back translation).
When related to someone who is blessing someone else, it is translated into Tsou as “speak good hopes for.” In Waiwai it is translated as “may God be good and kind to you now.” (Sources: Peng Kuo-Wei for Tsou and Robert Hawkins in The Bible Translator 1962, pp. 164ff. for Waiwai.)
Some languages associate an expression that originally means “spitting” or “saliva” with blessing. The Bantu language Koonzime, for instance, uses that expression for “blessing” in their translation coming from either God or man. Traditionally, the term was used in an application of blessing by an aged superior upon a younger inferior, often in relation to a desire for fertility, or in a ritualistic, but not actually performed spitting past the back of the hand. The spitting of saliva has the effect of giving that person “tenderness of face,” which can be translated as “blessedness.” (Source: Keith Beavon)
Martin Ehrensvärd, one of the translators for the DanishBibelen 2020, comments on the translation of this term: “As for ‘blessing’, in the end we in most instances actually kept the word, after initially preferring the expression ‘giving life strength’. The backlash against dropping the word blessing was too hard. But we would often add a few words to help the reader understand what the word means in a given context — people often understand it to refer more to a spiritual connection with God, but in the Hebrew texts, it usually has to do with material things or good health or many children. So when e.g. in Isaiah 19:25 the Hebrew text says ‘God bless them’, we say ‘God bless them’ and we add: ‘and give them strength’. ‘And give them strength’ is not found in the overt Hebrew text, but we are again making explicit what we believe is the meaning so as to avoid misunderstanding.” (Source: Ehrensvärd in HIPHIL Novum 8/2023, p. 81ff. )
Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 11:10:
Uma: “The Lord bless his government. He will govern like our grandparent of old, King Daud. Praise the Lord who is in heaven!'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Let us (incl.) praise this one arriving, the one who is taking the place of our (incl.) ancestor of old, King Da’ud. Let us (incl.) really praise God.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Praise the arriving king who takes the place of our ancestor long ago King David! Praise the Lord!'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Blessed be this successor to King David! Praised be God in heaven!'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Praiseworthy is the coming kingdom of the descendant of king David! Praise God who is there in highest heaven!’ (lit. at the top of the sky, i.e. beyond sun and stars)” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
In the GermanGute Nachricht (Good News) translation of 1982, this occurrence of the Greek term which is translated in most English versions of “kingdom (of God or heaven)” is translated with a form of “God establishes his rule” (Gott richtet seine Herrschaft auf) or “God’s rule” (Herrschaft). For an explanation of the differentiated translation in German as well as translation choices in a number of languages, see Kingdom (of God / heaven).
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