The Greek, Hebrew and Ge’ez that is typically translated as “eternity,” “forever,” or “forever and ever” in English are translated in Mairasi as “mashed out infinitely.” Lloyd Peckham explains: “Bark cloth required pounding. It got longer and wider as it got pounded. Similarly, life gets pounded or mashed to lengthen it into infinity. Tubers also get mashed into the standard way of serving the staple food, like the fufu of Uganda, or like poi of Hawaii. It spreads out into infinity.” (Source: Lloyd Peckham)
In Lisu the phrase “forever and ever” is translated as ꓕꓲꓽ ꓞꓲꓼ ꓕꓲ ꓑ — thi tsi thi pa, verbatim translated as “one – lifetime – one – world.” 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. 57f.)
In Makonde it is often translated as navyaka or “years and years.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
Following are a number of back-translations of Revelation 10:6:
Uma: “He vowed [mosumpa, from Indonesian: sumpah] with the name of God who lives forever, who made the sky, the earth, the sea with all its contents. He said in his vow like this: ‘With the authority that the Lord God gave me I say: When the seventh angel blows his trumpet, at that time God will fulfill his plan/purpose that has long been hidden, like he said long ago to the prophets who carried his word. The time will no longer be put off [lit., scooted-scooted].'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “And he swore to God who lives forever, he is the one who created the sky and the earth and the sea and everything in them. The angel swore, he said, ‘God is listening, there will be no more delay.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “He called upon God, the Creator of heaven and earth and sea, and the creator also of everything that these contain, to witness what he was about to say. He said, ‘This cannot be backed up!” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “and he vowed to God who is alive forever who created the sky and the earth and the ocean and all that is there. He said, ‘In-the-future indeed (prophetic formula) what will happen will not again be delayed,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “For he swore an oath in the name of God who is alive without ending, he who created the heaven/sky and world and ocean and all their contents. What I heard him swear was, ‘There’s no more waiting for anything. All will now be fulfilled.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “He called on God to be his witness, God who lives forever, who make what is above, who made the sea, who made whatever there is. He said: ‘And now it is the time. Now no longer will the days pass.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
The Greek in the referenced verses that is typically translated as “age,” “(for)ever / eternity / eternal / permanent,” “of old / long ago” in English is translated in the German translation by Fridolin Stier (1989) consistenty as “world (or: “cosmic”) time” (Weltzeit).
Sarah Ruden (2021, p. lxii) explains the complexities of the translation of aiōn: “Trickiest of all [the words relating to time] is aion, most simply an ‘age’ or ‘era’ but sometimes denoting either the whole present world or the whole world to come. The same word can allude to all the limits of material existence (or to dangerous worldly distractions in particular), or to their absence in the eternal age to come. Looking forward, especially to ‘ages of ages’ (in the pattern of ‘King of Kings’), the meaning is ‘eternity.’”
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):
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”), 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, 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.”
The various Greek, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Latin and Hebrew terms that are translated as “sea,” “ocean,” or “lake” in English are all translated in Chichewa with one term: nyanja. Malawi, where Chichewa is spoken, has a lot of lakes but does not share a border with the ocean. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
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 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, ikite-rare-ru (生きておられる) or “living” is used.
Swore by him who: this may be expressed by “made a solemn promise in the name of him who” or “took a vow in the name of him who,” “made a strong promise in,” or “stated solemnly, using God’s name, that everything he would say is true.” The name of God is used in order to show that what the angel is about to say is absolutely true. See A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew, page 144, for a detailed discussion on the difference in English between “promise,” “vow,” “swear,” or “oath.” In this context the angel is taking an oath, making a solemn statement, with God as witness, that something is true.
Him who lives for ever and ever: see 4.10 for this way of speaking about God.
Created heaven … the earth … and the sea: this means the whole universe. The addition in each case of and what is in it (see also 12.12) is meant to emphasize that everything that exists, animate and inanimate, was all created by God (see 14.7).
That there should be no more delay: instead of using the indirect discourse, as Revised Standard Version does, it is better to use direct discourse, with a colon or comma and quotation marks to begin the message of the angel (as most translations do). This avoids the ambiguity of should of Revised Standard Version, which can be taken to mean “there ought not to be any more delay.” New Revised Standard Version reads “There will be no more delay, but in the days when the seventh angel is to blow his trumpet, the mystery of God will be fulfilled, as he announced to his servants the prophets.”
If the impersonal form “there will be no more delay” of the Greek and the English is difficult or unnatural in other languages, the translation can be “God will not wait any longer.” New Jerusalem Bible translates “The time of waiting is over”; this is a good model to imitate.
An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• And he solemnly stated, using the name of God who never dies and who created the universe, that he was speaking the truth. He said, “God will not wait any longer to do what he has planned….”
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Revelation to John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
swore by Him: The word swore refers to calling upon someone greater to be a witness that what the speaker was saying is true. It is implied that this other being will punish the speaker if what he said is not true. It does not indicate that the speaker is using bad or inappropriate words.
Here the angel called on God to witness that his statement of 10:6e–7c was true. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
spoke a vow that his words are true according to him -or-
promised with an oath calling the name of him -or-
called for support for his words from him
Him who lives forever and ever: This phrase refers to God. He lives eternally. For example:
God who lives forever (Contemporary English Version)
forever and ever: The Greek phrase is literally “into the ages of the ages.” The word “age” refers to a very long time. So the phrase “the ages of the ages” refers to eternity. For example:
the living one of the timeless ages (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
10:6b–d
who created heaven and everything in it, the earth and everything in it, and the sea and everything in it: This clause tells the reader more about God. In some languages a literal translation would wrongly indicate that there are other gods that John was thinking of and only this one created heaven and all other things. If that is true in your language, translate this clause so that it tells more about the only true God. One way to do that is to start a new sentence here. For example:
He created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it.
Also see the General Comment at 10:6e about reordering the information in this verse.
10:6b
created: This word means “made.” God made all these things from nothing. For example:
made (New Jerusalem Bible)
heaven and everything in it: The Greek words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as heaven and it are singular. But the phrase refers to the sky and everything in it, such as the stars, the moon, and the planets. For example:
the skies and all that is in them (New Century Version) -or-
the sky and space and all that is in those things
10:6c
the earth and everything in it: This phrase refers to the world and all the animals and plants that live here.
10:6d
the sea and everything in it: This phrase refers to all the seas and oceans of the world. It includes everything that lives in them; for example, fish, animals, and plants.
10:6e
There will be no more delay: The word delay refers to a time of waiting. This clause indicates that the final events are about to occur. For example:
The time of waiting is over (New Jerusalem Bible)
General Comment on 10:6a–e
10:6a indicates that an angel made an oath. It also describes God. 10:6b–d also describes God. 10:6e then begins to tell what the angel said. His words was supported by his oath in 10:6a.
In some languages it is more natural to separate the description from the main event. If that is true in your language, you may want to translate this verse as more than one sentence. You may also want to reorder those sentences. For example:
6a And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, 6b who created the heavens and all that is in them, 6c the earth and all that is in it, 6d and the sea and all that is in it.6e ⌊Finishing the oath,⌋ ⌊the angel,⌋ said, “There will be no more delay! -or-
6a And he made an oath, asking the eternal God to be a witness to what he said.6b God is the one who created the heavens and all that is in them.6c ⌊He created⌋ the earth and all that is in it.6d ⌊He created⌋ the sea and all that is in it.6e ⌊After making that oath, the angel⌋ said, “There will be no more delay! -or-
6a God lives for ever and ever. 6b He created the heavens and all that is in them, 6c the earth and all that is in it, 6d and the sea and all that is in it.6a In the name of God, the angel made an oath 6e and said, “There will be no more delay!
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