Bethlehem

The town name that is transliterated as “Bethlehem” in English is translated in Finnish Sign Language with the signs signifying “manger + town” (referring to Luke 2:7). (Source: Tarja Sandholm)


“Bethlehem” in Finnish Sign Language (source )

See also manger.

In American Sign Language it is translated with the signs for “bread” and “house,” referring to the original meaning of “Bethlehem” as “house of bread.” (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


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

Likewise in Hungarian Sign Language:


“Bethlehem” in Hungarian Sign Language (source )

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Bethlehem .

complete verse (Matthew 2:5)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 2:5:

  • Uma: “They answered him like this: ‘In the village of Betlehem in the land of Yudea. We know this because there is a Word of the Lord that was written by a prophet long ago. The Lord says:” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “They said, ‘The town of Betlehem there in Yahudiya, for Nabi Mika has written in the holy-book like this,” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And they answered, ‘He will be born in the town of Bethlehem in the province of Judea. We know this because there is a written saying of God by means of an inspired one long ago who said,” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “‘In Betlehem in this province of Judea,’ they said answering. ‘Because this is what God caused-the prophet long-ago -to-write saying,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “They answered, saying, ‘Respects to you, it’s said to be there in Betlehem in the district of Judea. Because that is what is there in what was written by a prophet, which is what was said by God,” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “The ones who were questioned said to Herod: ‘There in the city of Bethlehem of the land of Judah is where he is to be born. Because this is the word written by the spokesman for God who said:” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Judah, Judea

The name that is transliterated as “Judah” or “Judea” in English (referring to the son of Jacob, the tribe, and the territory) is translated in Spanish Sign Language as “lion” (referring to Genesis 49:9 and Revelation 5:5). This sign for lion is reserved for regions and kingdoms. (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. and Steve Parkhurst)


“Judah” and “Judea” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

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

See also Judah, Judah (son of Jacob) , and Tribe of Judah .

prophet

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 (Matthew 2:1-12)

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 Matthew 2:1-12:

They came from the east when Herod was king in Judea.
They were authorities themselves, authorities about stars, and they asked in Jerusalem,
       “Where is the child born to be king of your nation?
In the east we saw the star that signaled his birth,
       and we have come to worship him.”

This news worried King Herod and everyone else in town.
So Herod called together the religious authorities and asked,
       “Where is this new king supposed to be born?”

They replied, “In Bethlehem, just as the prophet wrote:
‘Bethlehem — so important in Judea—from you will come
       One with absolute authority over God’s flock.’”

Herod was sly, and after he had sent for the star-authorities,
he said, “Go to Bethlehem and return with all the details,
       so I can worship this new king.”

The eastern authorities followed the star
until it had settled over the child’s home —
       they were overwhelmed with joy…

When they entered the house,
       they saw him with Mary his mother.
So they knelt down and worshiped the child,
       placing at his feet the treasures they had brought.
Later — after being warned in a dream –
       they returned home by a different route.

Translation commentary on Matthew 2:5

On the expectation of the Messiah from Bethlehem, see John 7.41-42. Good News Translation marks Bethlehem as a “town.” See comments on 2.1.

In some languages it will be necessary to answer Herod’s question with a full sentence, as in “He will be born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea.”

Note that the phrase which introduces the reported speech, They told him, is at the beginning of all they said in Revised Standard Version, but has been inserted in the middle of the quote itself in Good News Translation. In English, as in many languages, this is perhaps a matter of style. But in other languages this is completely unnatural, so that the translator can only do something similar to the Revised Standard Version form.

The Greek passive construction for so it is written by the prophet is transformed by Good News Translation into an active construction: “For this is what the prophet wrote.” The same “quotation formula” (it is written) is also found in 4.4, 6, 7, 10; 11.10; 21.13; 26.24, 31.

The causative for can be handled in many ways: “We know this because of what the prophet wrote,” or “This is how we know this thing: the prophet wrote…,” or even in some languages, “The prophet wrote that it would be in the town of Bethlehem in Judah. He said….” Of course, other languages will do something very similar to Good News Bible.

For prophet, see comments on 1.22. In languages where there is already an Old Testament, it is good to indicate in the footnotes that this is a quotation from the book of the prophet Micah, but it will not be necessary to put this information in the 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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 2:5

Paragraph 2:5–6

2:5a

“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as they replied can also be translated as “they answered” (as in the Good News Translation). The Berean Standard Bible places this phrase in the middle of sentence. This is good English style. However, in some languages, this phrase should be in the beginning of the sentence. For example:

They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea…” (English Standard Version)

In Bethlehem in Judea: The phrase In Bethlehem in Judea is the answer to Herod’s question in 2:4b. In some languages, it will be more natural to translate this phrase as a complete sentence. For example:

He will be born⌋ in Bethlehem in Judea

In some languages, it is necessary to address the king in a respectful way. For example:

Our king,⌋ ⌊he will be born⌋ in Bethlehem in Judea.

Bethlehem in Judea: As mentioned in the note on 2:1a, Bethlehem is the name of a town, and Judea is the name of a province.

2:5b

for: The conjunction for introduces the reason that the leaders knew that the Christ would be born in Bethlehem. They knew he would be born in Bethlehem for/because that is what the prophet had said.

Here are some other ways to translate this conjunction:

We know this⌋ because
-or-

He will be born there⌋ because

In some languages, it will be more natural to put the reason clause (in 2:5b) before the result clause (in 2:5a). For example:

5bThe prophets have written that 5ahe will be born⌋ in Bethlehem of Judea.

this is what the prophet has written: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as this refers ahead to the words in 2:6a–d.

The clause this is what the prophet has written introduces 2:6. In Greek, this clause is more literally “so it has been written through the prophet” and is passive.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

As a passive clause. For example:

it is written this way by the prophet (NET Bible)

As an active clause. For example:

this is what the prophet wrote (Good News Translation)
-or-
here is what the prophet wrote about this issue
-or-
the prophet wrote about this matter as follows

-or-

the words ⌊that God spoke⌋ which the prophet ⌊then⌋ wrote down are these:

These words were written hundreds of years before the time of Jesus. You may want to include some of this implied information. For example:

the words ⌊of God⌋ which the prophet wrote ⌊long ago⌋ are these:

the prophet: The phrase the prophet refers to the prophet Micah. He wrote down God’s words that are quoted in 2:6.

The word prophet first occurs in 1:22. See the note there for help in translating this word. Also see prophet in the Glossary.

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