the second death

The Greek that is translated as “the second death” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) as der zweite, endgültige und unwiderrufliche Tod or “the second, final and irrevocable death.”

See also second death.

lake of fire

The Greek that is typically translated int English as “lake of fire” is translated in Enga as “the place where big fire continually burns.”

Adam Boyd (on his blog) explains:

“The difficulty in Enga is that there is no traditional concept or imagery of a lake that is made out of fire. Lakes are made out of water, not fire. And there is not even really one word for lake. Instead Enga people literally say water depression. Now the word depression is not referring to an emotional state in which a person is feeling sad, but rather it means ‘a sunken place or hollow on a surface.’ In other words it refers to an area where there is an indentation in the ground. And when the word depression is preceded by the word water, it indicates that the indentation in the ground is filled with water.

“So, knowing that the Enga people say water depression to talk about a lake, I of course suggested that we should translate lake of fire by saying fire depression. In other words, a sunken place or indentation on the surface of the earth that is filled with fire instead of water. Well, as often happens when I think that I have made a brilliant suggestion, I was met with blank stares. In Papua New Guinean cultures, people will often not disagree with you directly, but they will show their disagreement by simply ignoring what you say. Not only that, but it can be difficult to articulate why something doesn’t sound quite right. The translators knew that fire depression didn’t sound right, but they might not have been able to articulate right away why that was the case. English speakers also have the same problem. For example, a typical English speaker would immediately be able to recognize that goed is not the past tense of go, but if they had to explain why, they would run into difficulty. (It is because the past tense went is actually from the verb wend as in wend your way through a crowd.) So just as English speakers know when something does not sound right but can’t always explain why, Enga speakers also encounter difficulties in explaining why something sounds wrong, especially since most Enga speakers have never had any formal training in their own language. Well as we continued pondering the best translation, I kept ignoring the nonverbal cues and pushing for fire depression as our answer. Finally, it dawned on our lead translator Maniosa why fire depression did not sound right. He said, ‘Do you know what a fire depression is? It is the little fire pit that we have in our homes that we cook over.’

“What I was hoping would mean lake of fire actually just meant fire pit. Big difference! So the terminology that I was suggesting would have people envisioning that the lake of fire, which is supposed to be an intimidating image of the ultimate end for untold numbers of those whose names are not written in the book of life, was nothing more than the little fire pit where people cook food in their homes. In fact, if more than one or two people were thrown into a lake of fire like that, they would probably smother the fire and put it out, which is not quite what Jesus had in mind when he talked about the ‘fire that is not quenched.’ So we had to abandon the idea of using the term fire depression and translate lake of fire as the place where big fire continually burns. The idea that this fire is burning in a depression or indentation in the ground had to be left out because that concept created the wrong image of a fire pit where one cooks food in the house. And fire pits are considered to be useful things that help people cook. They are not places of punishment.”

In Chol it is translated as “big fire.” (Source: John Beekman in Notes on Translation, March 1965, p. 2ff.)

complete verse (Revelation 20:15)

Following are a number of back-translations of Revelation 20:15:

  • Uma: “All the people whose names were not written in the Book of Life were thrown into the sea of fire. After that, there is no longer death, there is no longer a place of the dead, because all people whose names are not written in the Book of Life had been thrown into the sea of fire. That is what is called the second death, punishment in the sea of fire.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then all those whose names were not listed in the book for writing the names of the people who have life without end were also thrown into the sulphur fire large as a lake.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Anyone at that time whose name was not listed in the Book of Life, he was thrown in the flaming lake.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “And anyone whose name was not written in the book in which were written the names of those who had life that has no end, he was thrown into that place of flaming fire.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “And those whose name was not written in that in which are written those who would be given life without ending, were also thrown there.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “All whose names were not found written in the book which says who meet up with the new life were all thrown in the lake which burns fiercely with fire.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Revelation 20:14 – 20:15

Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire: they suffer the same fate as that of the beast and the false prophet (19.20; 20.10).

This is the second death, the lake of fire: for comments on the second death, see 2.11; 20.6; for comments on the lake of fire, see 19.20. The expression “the first death” is not used; it is clear from the context in which the second death appears that it is the final, eternal death of the wicked, as opposed to the temporal death of all living beings. A translation may choose to say “final death” if this should prove easier to understand.

If any one’s name was not found written in the book of life, he: in many languages it is better to use the gender-inclusive plural form, “all those whose names were not written … were thrown,” or else the singular indefinite “anyone whose name was not found written … was thrown” (New Revised Standard Version).

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 20:15

20:15a

And if anyone was found whose name was not written in the Book of Life: The verbs found and written are both passive. Some ways to translate them are:

Use a passive clause or clauses. For example:

If anyone’s name was not found/seen written in the Book of Life
-or-
any whose names were not to be found in the Book of Life (Revised English Bible)

Use an active clause or clauses. God or someone on his behalf looked in the Book of Life. For example:

If ⌊God⌋ did not find/see someone’s name in the Book of Life
-or-
If ⌊God⌋ saw that he had not written someone’s name in the Book of Life

Translate the meaning only implying “find” and “write.” For example:

If someone’s name was not in the Book of Life

whose name was not written in the Book of Life: The phrase not written indicates that the name did not exist in the Book of Life.

20:15b

he was thrown into the lake of fire: This clause is passive. Some languages must use an active clause. For example:

the angels⌋ threw him into the lake of fire
-or-

someone/God⌋ threw/sent him into the burning lake
-or-

someone,⌋ threw/sent him into the burning lake ⌊at God’s command

Use the same person or persons here as you did in 20:14.

thrown into the lake of fire: This phrase indicates that the person received the punishment of suffering in the lake of fire at this time.

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