complete verse (Matthew 11:14)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 11:14:

  • Uma: “There was a prophet long ago who foretold that the prophet Elia would come again. So, if you want to believe it, this Yohanes is the prophet Elia who was foretold long ago.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “It has been foretold hep that Nabi Eliyas will come back to the world. If you want to believe the words of the prophets, Yahiya is hep Nabi Eliyas.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And if you are able to believe what they caused to be understood, you will know that John really is Elijah, for they prophesied the return of Elijah.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “And if you want to believe what one prophet said, you will understand that Juan himself is the Elias that he foretold would come.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “And if you want to believe the truth, you will comprehend that this Juan was fulfilling what was told by the prophet that Elias would return here again.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Concerning Elijah who was spoken about before by the spokesmen for God, if you want to know about this matter, this John is the one who is said to be Elijah.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Elijah

The name that is transliterated as “Elijah” in English means “God-LORD,” “strength of the LORD,” “my God is YHWH.” “the LORD God.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )

In Spanish Sign Language it is translated as “whirlwind” (according to 2 Kings 2:11) (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. )


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

Click or tap here to see how other sign languages are translating “Elijah”

In American Sign Language it is translated with a depiction of being taken up to heaven with a chariot of fire. (Source: ASL Sign Language Directory )


“Elijah” in American Sign Language (source )

Likewise in Estonian Sign Language, but with a different sign (source: Liina Paales in Folklore 47, 2011, p. 43ff.)


“Elijah” in Estonian Sign Language (source )

In Finnish Sign Language it is translated with the sign signifying “fire” (referring to 1 Kings 18:38). (Source: Tarja Sandholm)


“Elijah” in Finnish Sign Language (source )

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

Following is a Russian Orthodox icon of Elijah from the late 13h century.

 
Orthodox Icons are not drawings or creations of imagination. They are in fact writings of things not of this world. Icons can represent our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. They can also represent the Holy Trinity, Angels, the Heavenly hosts, and even events. Orthodox icons, unlike Western pictures, change the perspective and form of the image so that it is not naturalistic. This is done so that we can look beyond appearances of the world, and instead look to the spiritual truth of the holy person or event. (Source )

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Elijah .

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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 formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

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

Translation commentary on Matthew 11:14

If you are willing to accept it: the word willing can also be translated as “prepared.” Another way is to say “if you will accept it.”

Accept it (Good News Translation “believe their message”): in Greek the verb accept is without an object, but most languages will require one: “if you will believe me” (New Jerusalem Bible), “if you are prepared to accept it” (New American Bible), “if you care to believe it” (Moffatt), “if you are ready to accept the idea” (An American Translation), and “if you will accept it” (Zürcher Bibel).

Many translators tie the it of accept it to the following phrase, as in “accept that John is Elijah, whose coming was promised.” This link can also be made by those who give “me” as the object, as in “believe me when I say John is Elijah.” It is equally possible to refer to “prophesied” in verse 13, as in “if you are willing to believe what they said, then John is Elijah.” However one renders it in the sentence, the point remains that Jesus was asserting that John was Elijah, and he was asking people if they were prepared to accept that.

He is Elijah is an allusion to John the Baptist, and he is mentioned by name in a number of modern translations. Many readers will take he is Elijah literally, as if John were a reincarnation of Elijah, or as if somehow Elijah had returned to earth. This would be wrong, of course. To avoid this, translators might say “John is the man the prophet was talking about when he said Elijah would return” or “when the Scriptures said Elijah would return, they were speaking of John.”

Who is to come: Barclay translates “who was destined to come,” and New American Bible “the one who was certain to come.” However, the focus seems not to be so much upon the certainty of his coming as upon the fact of his coming, because it had been promised through the Law and the Prophets. In Malachi 4.5 it is stated that Elijah would return prior to the day of final judgment, and the present verse confirms that John fulfils the role of Elijah. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates the verse “And if you believe it or not: John is actually Elijah, whose coming was predicted.”

Note from some of the examples we have given for who is to come that it may be necessary to say who predicted or promised Elijah would return: “the man the prophets were talking about” or “when the Scriptures said Elijah would return.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 11:14

11:14a

And if you are willing to accept it: In Greek, the verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as accept does not have an object. Something must be accepted/believed, and there are two ways to interpret what that something might be:

(1) It is the second half of the verse: he is the Elijah who was to come. For example:

if you will believe me (New Jerusalem Bible)

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version, NET Bible, New American Standard Bible, Revised English Bible, King James Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New Living Translation (2004), Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

(2) It is the prophets in 11:13. For example:

if you believe them (Contemporary English Version)

(Good News Translation, God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). This fits the context best and is the interpretation that most English versions follow.

if you are willing to accept it: This is an if clause, but it is not a normal if clause. The second part of this verse (he is the Elijah who was to come) is true even if people were not willing to accept it.

Many people in the time of Jesus mistakenly believed that Elijah would literally come back to earth. Jesus probably used this if clause to draw attention to their mistaken belief and to emphasize the truth of what he was about to say.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

if you are willing to accept/believe what I say, ⌊you will understand that⌋
-or-
whether you are willing to accept/believe this ⌊or not⌋
-or-
Even though you may find it hard to accept/believe, ⌊I tell you the truth.⌋

This clause does not imply that if the people are not willing to accept it, then John is not the Elijah who is to come.

11:14b

he is the Elijah who was to come: This clause indicates that John was the fulfillment of Malachi 4:5. In that verse, God said that he would send the prophet Elijah. This prophecy took place after Elijah had already gone to heaven. Because of this verse, the Jews were expecting Elijah to come back down among them.

In Luke 1:17, God told John’s father that John would go before the Lord “in the spirit and power of Elijah.” John was not the actual Elijah reborn, rather God gave him power just like he had given power to Elijah. So when the prophet Malachi said that Elijah would come, he was actually talking about a man who would be like Elijah. That man was John.

If you translate this clause literally and people think that John and Elijah are the same person, you may want to:

• Add some implied information about the prophecy. For example:

John ⌊fulfilled the prophecy⌋ about Elijah coming
-or-
John is ⌊the man whom the prophet was talking about when he said that⌋ Elijah would return

• Use “like” or “as” to show that John was not Elijah reborn. For example:

John is ⌊the one who came as⌋ Elijah ⌊whom the Scriptures said⌋ was to come

who was to come: The Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates as who was to come indicates that Elijah’s coming was prophesied. The prophet Malachi foretold that Elijah would come.

Here are some other ways to translate this expression:

whose coming was predicted (Good News Translation)
-or-
the one the prophets said would come (New Living Translation (2004))

-or-

whom ⌊the prophet foretold⌋ would come

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