angel

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The Greek, Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Aramaic that is translated as “angel” in English versions is translated in many ways:

  • Pintupi-Luritja: ngaṉka ngurrara: “one who belongs in the sky” (source: Ken Hansen quoted in Steven 1984a, p. 116.)
  • Tetela, Kpelle, Balinese, and Mandarin Chinese: “heavenly messenger”
  • Shilluk / Igede: “spirit messenger”
  • Mashco Piro: “messenger of God”
  • Batak Toba: “envoy, messenger”
  • Navajo (Dinė): “holy servant” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida 1961; Igede: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
  • Central Mazahua: “God’s worker” (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.)
  • Saramaccan: basia u Masa Gaangadu köndë or “messenger from God’s country” (source: Jabini 2015, p. 86)
  • Mairasi: atatnyev nyaa or “sent-one” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Shipibo-Conibo: “word bringer” (source: James Lauriault in The Bible Translator 1951, p. 32ff. )
  • Apali: “God’s one with talk from the head” (“basically God’s messenger since head refers to any leader’s talk”) (source: Martha Wade)
  • Michoacán Nahuatl: “clean helper of God” (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
  • Noongar: Hdjin-djin-kwabba or “spirit good” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Wè Northern (Wɛɛ): Kea ‘a “sooa or “the Lord’s soldier” (also: “God’s soldier” or “his soldier”) (source: Drew Maust)
  • Iwaidja: “a man sent with a message” (Sam Freney explains the genesis of this term [in this article ): “For example, in Darwin last year, as we were working on a new translation of Luke 2:6–12 in Iwaidja, a Northern Territory language, the translators had written ‘angel’ as ‘a man with eagle wings’. Even before getting to the question of whether this was an accurate term (or one that imported some other information in), the word for ‘eagle’ started getting discussed. One of the translators had her teenage granddaughter with her, and this word didn’t mean anything to her at all. She’d never heard of it, as it was an archaic term that younger people didn’t use anymore. They ended up changing the translation of ‘angel’ to something like ‘a man sent with a message’, which is both more accurate and clear.”)

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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) is used as in mi-tsukai (御使い) or “messenger (of God).” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Bender / Belt (2025, p. 2f.) report about the translation of “angel” in Cherokee: “In John, the concept of angel is translated using a descriptive neologism rather than a semantic extension, suggesting the lack of a ready parallel. The plural is dmikahnawadidohi, ‘the law-givers’ or ‘those who go around looking after the medicine.’ Cherokee speakers argue that the Cherokee word for ‘law,’ dikahnawadvsdi, expresses the intent to maintain social, physical, and spiritual health and has at its core the word for ‘medicine,’ mwoli, which encompasses all aspects of social and spiritual well-being, including balance and order (Altman and Belt 2009), much more than the English word. Thus, the Cherokee word for ‘angel’ represents a new perspective on this category of spiritual beings named in the Bible. It does not derive from the concept of messenger present in both its Greek (angelos) and Hebrew (malak) antecedents perhaps because the Cherokee word for ‘messenger,’ atsinvsidasdi, is widely used to translate the foreign lexeme ‘servant.'”

See also angel (Acts 12:15) and this devotion on YouVersion .

Son of God

The Greek and Latin that is translated as “Son of God” in English is translated in Shipibo-Conibo as “God’s Child” and in Garifuna as “God’s offspring.” (Source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)

Nida (1984, p. 113) remarks on this “It was a common expression in Hebrew to say that someone was the ‘Son of…’ something to express that they shared characteristics with that thing etc. E.g. ‘son of peace’ ‘son of thunder.’ Therefore ‘Son of God’ meant that Jesus shared characteristics with God. This wasn’t carried over into Greek and was interpreted more biologically.”

In San Mateo Del Mar Huave it is translated as “Son of Father God,” where “Father” is a term of respect. (Source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)

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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御) is used as in mi-ko (御子) or “son (of God)” in the referenced verses. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also Son of Man and Sons of Thunder.

church

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The Greek that is often translated as “church” in English is translated into Avaric as imanl’urazul ahlu: “the community of believers” or “the believing people.”

Magomed-Kamil Gimbatov and Yakov Testelets (in The Bible Translator 1996, p. 434ff. ) talk about the genesis of this term (click or tap here to read more):

“The word ‘Church’ presents particular difficulties, as we might expect when we think that even many Christians do not understand it correctly. When people today say ‘church,’ they often mean a particular building, or an organization consisting chiefly of clergy (priests and monks). It is even harder to find a word or combination of words which adequately translates the meaning for people unfamiliar with Christianity. Surprisingly, the Greek word ekklesia, indicating in the classical language ‘an assembly of the people,’ ‘a gathering of citizens,’ has come into Avar and other Dagestani languages in the form kilisa. This, like the word qanch (‘cross’), is an ancient borrowing, presumably from the time before the arrival of Islam, when Dagestan came under the influence of neighboring Christian states. In modern usage, however, this word indicates a place of Christian worship. Thus it is completely inappropriate as a translation of its New Testament ancestor ekklesia.

“We were obliged to look at various words which are closer to the meaning of the Greek. Some of these words are dandel’i (‘meeting’), danderussin (‘assembly’), the Arabic-derived mazhlis (‘meeting, conference’), zhama’at (‘society, community’), ahlu (‘race, people, family, group of people united by a common goal or interest’, as in the Arabic phrase ahlu-l-kitab ‘people of the Book’ or ‘people of the Scriptures’), which describes both Jews and Christians, and ummat (‘people, tribe’). In Islamic theology the phrase ‘Mohammed’s ummat’ means the universal community of Muslims, the Muslim world, in the same way as the Christian world is known as ‘Isa’s ummat.’ None of these descriptions on their own, without explanation, can be used to translate the word ‘Church’ in the New Testament. Thus, after long consideration, we adopted the phrase imanl’urazul ahlu, meaning ‘the community of believers,’ ‘the believing people,’ This translation corresponds closely to New Testament teaching about the Church.

“It is interesting that the same word ahlu with the meaning ‘tribe, community’ has been used by translators for different reasons in the introduction to the Gospel of Luke in order to translate the expression in the original Greek pepleroforemenon en hemin pragmaton (πεπληροφορημένων ἐν ἡμῖν πραγμάτων), which the Russian Synodal translation renders ‘about the events well-known amongst us’ (Luke 1:1). The expression ‘amongst us’ cannot be translated literally into Avar, but has to be rendered ‘among our people’; and here the same term was used as for the word ‘church’, literally ‘among our tribe, community (ahlu).'”

In Kamo “church” is fang-balla (“owners of writing-people”) when referring to the church community and “house of writing-people” when referring to a church building. David Frank explains: “In Kamo culture, Christianity was associated with writing, so Christianity is called balla, which they say means ‘people who write.’ Christianity is balla, and Christians are called fang-balla, which means ‘owners of Christianity.’ That is the term that is used for the church, in the sense of people, rather than a building. In Philemon 1:1b-2a, Paul says he is writing ‘To our friend and fellow worker Philemon, and to the church (fang-balla ‘owners of Christianity) that meet in your house.’ The word fang “owner’ is very productive in the Kamo language. A disciple is an ‘owner of learning,’ an apostle is an ‘owner of sending,’ a believer is an ‘owner of truth,’ a hypocrite is an ‘owner of seeing eyes.’ The expression ‘house of writing-people’ is used in Matthew 16:18, which reads in Kamo, ‘And so I tell you Peter, you are a rock, and on top of this rock foundation I will build my house of writing-people, and never even death will not be able to overcome it.” (See also Peter – rock)

In Bacama there also is a differentiation between the building (vɨnə hiutə: “house of prayer”) and the community (ji-kottə: “followers”) (source: David Frank in this blog post ).

In 16th-century Classical Nahuatl, a transliteration from Spanish (Santa Yglesia or Santa Iglesia) is typically used rather than a translation, making the concept take on a personified meaning. Ottman (p. 169) explains: “The church building, or more precisely the church complex with its associated patio, has a Nahuatl name in common usage — generally teopan, something like ‘god-place,’ in contradistinction to teocalli, ‘god-house,’ applied to a prehispanic temple — but the abstract sense is always Santa Iglesia, a Spanish proper name like ‘Dios’ or ‘Santa María’, and like ‘Santa María’ often called ‘our mother.’ As a personified ‘mother,’ in the European tradition as well as in Nahuatl, She instructs Her children or chastises them; as Bride of Christ, She both longs for Her heavenly rest and bears witness to it, in the ‘always-already’ of eschatological time; as successor to the Synagogue, the blindfolded, broken-sceptred elder sister who accompanies Her in painting and sculpture, She represents the triumphant rule of truth. ‘The Church’ can mean the clerical hierarchy; it can also, or simultaneously, mean the assembly of the faithful. It dispenses grace to its members, living and dead, yet it is also enriched by them, living and dead, existing not only on earth but in purgatory and in heaven.”

In Lisu the building (“church”) is called “house of prayer” (source: Arrington 2020, p. 196) whereas in Highland Totonac the community is referred as “those who gather together” (source: Hermann Aschmann in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 171ff. ), in Huehuetla Tepehua as “those who gather together who have confidence in Christ” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), in Uma as “Christian people” (source: Uma Back Translation), in Kankanaey as “the congregation of God’s people” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation), and in Tagbanwa as “you whom God separated-out as his people because of your being-united/tied-together with Jesus Christ” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation).

In American Sign Language, “church” (as in the community of believers) is made up of the combination of the signs for “Jesus-into-heart” (signifying a believer), followed by the sign for “group.” (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


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

While British Sign Language also uses a sign that focuses on a group of people believing in Jesus (see here ), another sign that it uses combines the signs for “ringing the (church) bells” and a “group of people.” (Source: Anna Smith)


“Church” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Ekklesia .

complete verse (Revelation 2:18)

Following are a number of back-translations of Revelation 2:18:

  • Uma: “The Lord Yesus also said to me: ‘Write like this to the angel who takes care of my followers in the village of Tiatira: ‘These are the words of the Child of God, whose eyes shine like blazing fire, and whose feet sparkle like brass that has just been polished.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then he also said to me, ‘Write to the one in charge of the church in the place Tatira and write this: ‘This message is from me, the Son of God. My eyes are like flames of fire and my feet shine/are brilliant like polished brass.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And He said again, ‘Write to the angel whom God causes to watch over the believers in the town of Thyatira, and say, ‘I Who am speaking am the Son of God. My eyes seem as if they are on fire and my feet seem to be like brass which has been filed.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Then he said, ‘What you (sing.) are to write to the angel who is watching-over the congregation at Tiatira, it is this. ‘I am the Child of God whose eyes are like flaming fire and the brilliance of whose feet/lower-legs is like polished copper. This is what I say to you.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “‘You are to put this in the letter which will be sent to the overseer of the believers in me in Tiatira. Say, ‘This is what he who is the Son of God wants told, he whose eyes are like the burning of fire and his legs/feet glow like polished bronze/copper.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Write a letter to send to God’s worker who leads where the believers are in the city of Thyatira. Here are the words you will write: ‘Thus is the word of God’s Son, he whose eyes shine like they are lit with flames of fire. His feet shine like metal which has been well polished. He says:” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Revelation 2:18

See the similar opening statements at 2.1, 8, 12. Thyatira was, according to one commentator, the least important of the seven cities. It was southeast of Pergamum, halfway between it and Sardis. It was an industrial center, and one of the main industries was that of dyeing and manufacturing woolen goods (see Acts 16.14). The city had many trade guilds, which were usually somewhat religious in nature.

The words of : see 2.1, 8, 12.

The Son of God: this title appears only here in this book. Some languages have a general term for male or female children, and add “male” when a distinction has to be made between sons and daughters. See A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew, page 472, for a more detailed discussion of this problem.

Who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze: this description is taken from 1.14-15, which see. There is one slight difference in Greek: in 1.14 the word for “flame” is singular; here it is plural. As Revised Standard Version shows, there is no difference in meaning. The symbolism is clear: with such eyes the Son of God can see into the most distant and darkest places, and with such feet he can stamp out all opposition to his rule.

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Revelation 2:18

Section 2:18–29

Jesus spoke to the church at Thyatira

In this section, Jesus spoke to the people who believed in him at Thyatira. He saw that they had grown in their faith. Jesus warned them about allowing an immoral woman named Jezebel to remain among them. He encouraged the believers who had not followed Jezebel’s sinful teachings to remain faithful. Lastly, he gave a promise for any believer who persevered in his faith.

Translate this heading as you did for the other messages to the churches.

Paragraph 2:18–19

2:18a

To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: You should translate this introduction the same way you did in 2:12. You only need to change the name to Thyatira.

2:18b–d

These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like a blazing fire and whose feet are like polished bronze: This statement is an introduction to Jesus’ words in 2:19–29. Translate the clause These are the words of in a similar way to 2:1.

Jesus spoke these words about himself. He continues to speak in 2:19 with “I.” In some languages a literal translation would wrongly indicate that Jesus was talking about someone else here. If that is true in your language, indicate that Jesus spoke about himself. For example:

These are my words, ⌊I,⌋ the Son of God. My eyes are like blazing fire and my feet are like burnished bronze.

2:18b

the Son of God: This phrase is a title for Jesus. This title was often used to refer to a savior who would be a descendant of King David. God would send this savior to rescue his people. This person was often referred to as the “Messiah” or “Christ.”

The title the Son of God also indicates that Jesus has the same nature and character as God. The relationship between God the Father and Jesus, his Son, is similar in some ways to the relationship between human fathers and sons. God the Father does not have a physical body. He did not have a sexual relationship with Mary that resulted in her becoming pregnant and giving birth to Jesus. The Son of God existed eternally as the Son with his Father.

In areas where people do not understand the title the Son of God in this way, you may want to include a footnote that explains the correct meaning. Here is a suggested footnote:

This title refers to Jesus. It indicates that Jesus has the same nature and character as God. It does not mean that God the Father had a sexual relationship with Mary that resulted in her becoming pregnant and giving birth to Jesus. Mary became pregnant with Jesus in a miraculous way by the Holy Spirit of God.

In some languages, it is natural to speak of a son as a “child” without specifying whether male or female. If that is true in your language, you may use a more general term, such as:

the Child of God

Other verses will usually make clear that Jesus was a male child. If you use a phrase such as “the male child of God,” be sure that it does not imply that God had another child who was female.

2:18c–d

whose eyes are like a blazing fire and whose feet are like polished bronze: These clauses tell the reader more about the Son of God. In some languages a literal translation would wrongly indicate that there are other Sons of God and, only this one had eyes…like a blazing fire and…feet…like polished bronze. If that is true in your language, translate these clauses so that they tell more about the Son of God. One way to do that is to start a new sentence here. For example:

His eyes are like a blazing fire and his feet are like burnished bronze.

2:18c

eyes are like a blazing fire: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as a blazing fire is literally “a flame of fire” (as in the Revised Standard Version). This simile probably refers to the brightness of his eyes. You should translate this in a similar way to “eyes were like a blazing fire” in 1:14. For example:

eyes looked like flames of fire (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
eyes were/are as bright as fire

2:18d

feet are like polished bronze: This simile indicates that his feet were similar in color to polished bronze. You should translate this in a similar way to “feet were like polished bronze” in 1:15.

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