Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 1:22:
Uma: “All that happened to fulfill what the Lord said with the lips of his prophets long ago, like this:” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Na, all this happened so that it would be fulfilled what God had said to Nabi Isaya in old times, he said,” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “The reason these things happened to Mary and Joseph is because it was a fulfillment of what the Lord said long ago through his prophet who said,” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “All this happened so that thus would be fulfilled what the Lord God had-caused-a prophet -to-say saying,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “All this happened so that what God had caused a prophet to say would be fulfilled, which was,” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Thus happened all these things in order that there come about the word God put in the mind of his spokesman to say:” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
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):
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)
“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 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)
The Hebrew adonai in the Old Testament typically refers to God. The shorter adon (and in two cases in the book of Daniel the Aramaic mare [מָרֵא]) is also used to refer to God but more often for concepts like “master,” “owner,” etc. In English Bible translations all of those are translated with “Lord” if they refer to God.
In English Old Testament translations, as in Old Testament translations in many other languages, the use of Lord (or an equivalent term in other languages) is not to be confused with Lord (or the equivalent term with a different typographical display for other languages). While the former translates adonai, adon and mare, the latter is a translation for the tetragrammaton (YHWH) or the Name of God. See tetragrammaton (YHWH) and the article by Andy Warren-Rothlin in Noss / Houser, p. 618ff. for more information.
In the New Testament, the Greek term kurios has at least four different kinds of use:
referring to “God,” especially in Old Testament quotations,
meaning “master” or “owner,” especially in parables, etc.,
as a form of address (see for instance John 4:11: “Sir, you have no bucket”),
or, most often, referring to Jesus
In the first and fourth case, it is also translated as “Lord” in English.
Most languages naturally don’t have one word that covers all these meanings. According to Bratcher / Nida, “the alternatives are usually (1) a term which is an honorific title of respect for a high-ranking person and (2) a word meaning ‘boss’, ‘master’, or ‘chief.’ (…) and on the whole it has generally seemed better to employ a word of the second category, in order to emphasize the immediate personal relationship, and then by context to build into the word the prestigeful character, since its very association with Jesus Christ will tend to accomplish this purpose.”
When looking at the following list of back-translations of the terms that translators in the different languages have used for both kurios and adonai to refer to God and Jesus respectively, it might be helpful for English readers to recall the etymology of the English “Lord.” While this term might have gained an exalted meaning in the understanding of many, it actually comes from hlaford or “loaf-ward,” referring to the lord of the castle who was the keeper of the bread (source: Rosin 1956, p. 121).
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Following are some of the solutions that don’t rely on a different typographical display (see above):
Iyansi: Mwol. Mwol is traditionally used for the “chief of a group of communities and villages” with legal, temporal, and spiritual authority (versus the “mfum [the term used in other Bantu languages] which is used for the chief of one community of people in one village”). Mwol is also used for twins who are “treated as special children, highly honored, and taken care of like kings and queens.” (Source: Kividi Kikama in Greed / Kruger, p. 396ff.)
Binumarien: Karaambaia: “fight-leader” (Source: Oates 1995, p. 255)
Warlpiri: Warlaljamarri (owner or possessor of something — for more information tap or click here)
We have come to rely on another term which emphasizes God’s essential nature as YHWH, namely jukurrarnu (see tetragrammaton (YHWH)). This word is built on the same root jukurr– as is jukurrpa, ‘dreaming.’ Its basic meaning is ‘timelessness’ and it is used to describe physical features of the land which are viewed as always being there. Some speakers view jukurrarnu in terms of ‘history.’ In all Genesis references to YHWH we have used Kaatu Jukurrarnu. In all Mark passages where kurios refers to God and not specifically to Christ we have also used Kaatu Jukurrarnu.
New Testament references to Christ as kurios are handled differently. At one stage we experimented with the term Watirirririrri which refers to a ceremonial boss of highest rank who has the authority to instigate ceremonies. While adequately conveying the sense of Christ’s authority, there remained potential negative connotations relating to Warlpiri ceremonial life of which we might be unaware.
Here it is that the Holy Spirit led us to make a chance discovery. Transcribing the personal testimony of the local Warlpiri pastor, I noticed that he described how ‘my Warlaljamarri called and embraced me (to the faith)’. Warlaljamarri is based on the root warlalja which means variously ‘family, possessions, belongingness’. A warlaljamarri is the ‘owner’ or ‘possessor’ of something. While previously being aware of the ‘ownership’ aspect of warlaljamarri, this was the first time I had heard it applied spontaneously and naturally in a fashion which did justice to the entire concept of ‘Lordship’. Thus references to Christ as kurios are now being handled by Warlaljamarri.” (Source: Stephen Swartz, The Bible Translator 1985, p. 415ff. )
Mairasi: Onggoao Nem (“Throated One” — “Leader,” “Elder”) or Enggavot Nan (“Above-One”) (source: Enggavoter 2004)
Obolo: Okaan̄-ene (“Owner of person(s)”) (source: Enene Enene)
Lotha Naga: Opvui (“owner of house / field / cattle”) — since both “Lord” and YHWH are translated as Opvui there is an understanding that “Opvui Jesus is the same as the Opvui of the Old Testament”
Seediq: Tholang, loan word from Min Nan Chinese (the majority language in Taiwan) thâu-lâng (頭儂): “Master” (source: Covell 1998, p. 248)
Thai: phra’ phu pen cao (พระผู้เป็นเจ้า) (divine person who is lord) or ong(kh) cao nay (องค์เจ้านาย) (<divine classifier>-lord-boss) (source: Stephen Pattemore)
Arabic often uses different terms for adonai or kurios referring to God (al-rabb الرب) and kurios referring to Jesus (al-sayyid الـسـيـد). Al-rabb is also the term traditionally used in Arabic Christian-idiom translations for YHWH, and al-sayyid is an honorary term, similar to English “lord” or “sir” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin).
Tamil also uses different terms for adonai/kurios when referring to God and kurios when referring to Jesus. The former is Karttar கர்த்தர், a Sanskrit-derived term with the original meaning of “creator,” and the latter in Āṇṭavar ஆண்டவர், a Tamil term originally meaning “govern” or “reign” (source: Natarajan Subramani).
Burunge: Looimoo: “owner who owns everything” (in the Burunge Bible translation, this term is only used as a reference to Jesus and was originally used to refer to the traditional highest deity — source: Michael Endl in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 48)
Yagaria: Souve, originally “war lord” (source: Renck, p. 94)
Aguacateco: Ajcaw ske’j: “the one to whom we belong and who is above us” (source: Rita Peterson in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 49)
Konkomba: Tidindaan: “He who is the owner of the land and reigns over the people” (source: Lidorio 2007, p. 66)
Chichewa: AmbuyeAmbuye comes from the singular form Mbuye which is used to refer to: (1) someone who is a guardian or protector of someone or group of people — a grandparent who has founded a community or village; (2) someone who is a boss or master over a group of people or servants and has absolute control over them; (3) owner of something, be it a property, animals and people who are bound under his/her rule — for people this was mostly commonly used in the context of slaves and their owner. In short, Mbuye is someone who has some authorities over those who call him/her their “Mbuye.” Now, when the form Ambuye is used it will either be for honorific when used for singular or plural when referring to more than one person. When this term is used in reference to God, it is for respect to God as he is acknowledged as a guardian, protector, and ruler of everything. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation).
Hdi uses rveri (“lion”) as a title of respect and as such it regularly translates adon in the Old Testament. As an address, it’s most often with a possessive pronoun as in rvera ɗa (“my lion” = “my lord” or “sir”). So, for example, Genesis 15:2 (“O Lord God”) is Rvera ɗa Yawe (“My lion Yahweh”) or Ruth to Boaz in Ruth 2:13: “May I find your grace [lit. good-stomach] my lion.” This ties in nicely with the imagery of the Lord roaring like a lion (Hosea 11:10; Amos 3:8; Joel 3:16). Better still, this makes passages like Revelation 5:5 even richer when we read about rveri ma taba məndəra la Yuda, “the Lion of the tribe of Judah”. In Revelation 19:16, Jesus is rveri ta ghəŋa rveriha “the lion above lions” (“lord of lords”). (Source: Drew Maust)
Law (2013, p. 97) writes about how the Ancient GreekSeptuagint‘s translation of the Hebrew adonai was used by the New Testament writers as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments: “Another case is the use of kurios referring to Jesus. For Yahweh (in English Bibles: ‘the Lord‘), the Septuagint uses kurios. Although the term kurios usually has to do with one’s authority over others, when the New Testament authors use this word from the Septuagint to refer to Jesus, they are making an extraordinary claim: Jesus of Nazareth is to be identified with Yahweh.”
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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, kata-rare-ru (語られる) or “speak” is used.
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®).
“Now” of Good News Translation and New Jerusalem Bible is not a temporal marker; its function is purely transitional, and it represents a Greek particle left implicit in Revised Standard Version. Again, as with “behold” in verse 20, translators will use or not use a transitional particle or phrase like “Now,” depending on what would be most natural in the discourse of their language. But note that this particle shows a logical relation: “The reason all this happened was…” or “Now then, all this happened because….”
It is no longer the angel speaking, and translators will probably begin a new paragraph or will mark clearly in some other way that it is the narrator, Matthew, who is speaking. As above, “Now then…” or “In fact…” are possible.
All this took place refers to the events mentioned in verses 18-21. The same expression is found in 26.56, while “This took place” is used in 21.4. It is now the author of the Gospel who is speaking. Nowhere in the Bible does an angel appeal to Scripture as the basis of his proclamation.
All this may have to be plural in some languages, as in “These things happened….”
To fulfil (Good News Translation “in order to make come true”) is found as a quotation formula only in the Gospel of Matthew, and it occurs in several variant forms: 2.15, 17, 23; 4.14; 8.17; 12.17; 13.35; 21.4; 27.9. See also 26.56, which is parallel to Mark 14.49. Similar formulas are also known in Jewish writings. None of the quotations which Matthew introduces by these formulas conforms exactly to the Septuagint text. For the most part they are rather free renderings of the Old Testament and are sometimes composite in nature. Through the use of these quotations, Matthew indicates the inseparable ties that exist between Israel’s past and present, brought to fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ.
To fulfil expresses purpose, as seen in Good News Translation, and some languages use “so that.” There are languages where purpose is expressed at the beginning of the sentence; for example, “The reason all this took place was to fulfil….”
Fulfil in this context means “to make come true” (Good News Translation) or “to cause to happen.” Some languages express this “to make happen what the Lord by the prophet said should happen.”
Prophet is a word for which translators need to find a good translation early in their work. Certainly the best solution is not “seer” or “future teller.” Rather, the prophets were God’s spokesmen. Sometimes the message God gave them dealt with the future, but it was in their capacity as his spokesmen that the prophets brought these messages. Many languages say simply “spokesman” or “God’s spokesman.” In some societies there are spokesmen who serve chiefs or other authorities and who have titles in the languages. In these places, translators can use the titles but add “of God.” Still other societies have town criers who carry important messages from authorities, and in these situations, “prophets” can be translated “God’s town criers.”
By the prophet is a good example of the role of the prophets. They spoke what God gave them to speak, and their words were therefore God’s words. Some translations say “what the Lord said by means of the prophet.” Others have used “what the Lord said through (or, by) the mouth of the prophet.” Other solutions are “what the prophet said when the Lord gave him the words” or “what the prophet said when he spoke the words the Lord told him.” But in sentences like these latter ones, it is important to be sure that the readers see that the real agent or speaker is the Lord, and the prophet is the instrument.
Before the prophet some ancient manuscripts include “Isaiah,” since he is obviously the prophet indicated by the following verse. But the name “Isaiah” is not mentioned in the original text.
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 .
Verses 1:22–23 interrupt the story of Mary and Joseph to give us some background information. This background information shows that an Old Testament prophecy was fulfilled. It is not part of what the angel said to Joseph.
1:22
Verse 1:22 begins the background information. If you have a word or phrase to introduce background information, you may want to use it here.
All this took place: The clause All this took place refers to the all the events that happened in 1:18–21.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
This all happened
-or-
All these events occurred
to fulfill: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as to fulfill means “in order to make come true.” For example:
in order to make come true (Good News Translation)
-or-
to bring about (New Century Version)
what the Lord had said through the prophet: The phrase what the Lord had said through the prophet refers to the words/message that the Lord God told the prophet Isaiah to tell the people. Isaiah then spoke these words to the people. He also wrote them down.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
the Lord’s message through his prophet: (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
the message that the Lord ⌊God⌋ spoke through the prophet. He said,
-or-
the words that the Lord told the prophet to say to the people. He said,
prophet: A prophet is a person who spoke on behalf of God. He told people what God revealed to him. A prophet is someone who has had direct communication from God.
It has a different meaning than either “angel,” “preacher” or “apostle.” See prophet in the Glossary for further information. Some ways to translate prophet are:
• Use the word that has the same meaning as prophet in your language.
• Use a descriptive phrase. For example:
spokesman for God
-or-
one who speaks God’s message
-or-
one who brings words from God
This verse introduces a conflict that the Pharisees had with the disciples who plucked and ate grain on the Sabbath. If you have a word or phrase that introduces a conflict of this type in your language, you should use it here. One way to do this in English is to use the word “But.”
Here is another way to introduce this conflict:
However
In some languages it is not necessary to add a special word or phrase to introduce a conflict in a historical event such as this.
When the Pharisees saw this: Some, but not all, of the Pharisees were there and saw what the disciples did. In some languages, it will be necessary to make some of this information explicit. For example:
Some Pharisees noticed this (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
⌊Some⌋ men of the Pharisee group ⌊were there and⌋ saw what the disciples were doing
Pharisees: For help in translating this word, see the note in 9:11a.
12:2b
Look: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Look is the same word that is sometimes translated as “Behold.” This word focuses attention on what follows and indicates that it is important, unexpected, or amazing. In this context, the Pharisees are amazed and surprised that the disciples picked grain on the Sabbath.
Here, this word is also used in a somewhat literal sense, because the Pharisees want Jesus to notice what the disciples are doing.
Here are some examples:
See!
-or-
Look here!
In some languages, it is natural to begin this sentence with a term of respect. For example:
⌊Teacher/Sir,⌋ Do you see what they are doing?
Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath: The Pharisees criticized the disciples for breaking the law which says that people must not work on the Sabbath. The Pharisees believed that even picking a small handful of grain for a snack was harvesting and therefore work. They also believed that rubbing that small amount of grain and blowing away the husk was threshing and therefore work as well.
According to Deuteronomy 23:25, people were allowed to pick and eat a little grain for a snack. It was not stealing. The Pharisees said that what the disciples did was wrong because they were doing it on the Sabbath.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
• Explain what was unlawful in the text. For example:
Look, your disciples are breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath. (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Why are your disciples picking grain on the Sabbath? They are not supposed to do that! (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Look! Your disciples are breaking the law ⌊about working⌋ on the Sabbath
• Explain what was unlawful in a footnote. Here is a sample footnote:
God allowed people to pick and eat a handful of grain from other people’s fields (Deuteronomy 23:25). But the Pharisees said that such picking was work and therefore not allowed on the Sabbath.
General Comment on 12:2b
In some languages, it may be natural to translate 12:2b as indirect speech. For example:
that his disciples were doing what was not allowed in the Sabbath
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