resurrection

The Greek and Latin that is translated as “resurrection” in English is translated in Chicahuaxtla Triqui and Pohnpeian as “live-up” (i.e. return to life) (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel) and in Iloko as panagungar: a term that stems “from the word ‘agungar,’ an agricultural term used to describe the coming back to life of a plant which was wilting but which has been watered by the farmer, or of a bulb which was apparently dead but grows again.” (Source: G. Henry Waterman in The Bible Translator 1960, p. 24ff. )

Likewise, in Matumbi yu’ya carries the meaning of “raise from the dead, resuscitate, come back from near death” and is used for dry plants that come back to life when you water them or sick children who revive after being healed. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)

In Estado de México Otomi, it is translated as “people will be raised from the dead,” in Teutila Cuicatec as “the dead having to come to life again,” in San Mateo del Mar Huave as “arose from the grave” (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), and in Kriol as gidap laibala brom dedbala or “get up alive from the dead” (source: Sam Freney in this article .)

See also resurrect / rise again (Jesus).

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Resurrection .

complete verse (Revelation 20:5)

Following are a number of back-translations of Revelation 20:5:

  • Uma: “That is the first rising of dead people. But other dead people were not as yet made to live again during that thousand years.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “That is the beginning of the being-made-alive again/resurrection of the dead. The other dead ones did not live again until those one thousand years were over.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Their being raised from the dead is the first raising from the dead. (And the rest of the dead people, they will not be raised until the thousand years are finished.)” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “This is the first living-again of people. The rest who have died-at-various-times, they will not live again until those one-thousand years are finished.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “This is what is meant by the first coming-alive of the ones who have died. The other ones who have died would be made alive only when these thousand years are ended.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “These are the people who were the first to resurrect. But the other dead people didn’t resurrect then, rather they will resurrect after the one thousand years had ended.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Revelation 20:5

The rest of the dead … were ended: only after the one thousand years do all the other dead people, Christians and non-Christians, come back to life. This bit of information interrupts the narrative, which is why Good News Translation places it within parentheses. This is intended to make clear to the reader that the rest of the verse is linked directly to verse 4. One may also translate “All the other people who had died….”

This is the first resurrection: that is, the resurrection of the martyrs in verse 4 is the first resurrection (as verse 6 makes clear). It is possible to render this clause as “This is the first time that God will raise people from death” or “… will cause people to come back to life.”

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 .