The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “adultery” in English (here etymologically meaning “to alter”) is typically understood as “marital infidelity.” It is (back-) translated in the following ways:
Toraja-Sa’dan: “to measure the depth of the river of (another’s) marriage”
North Alaskan Inupiatun: “married people using what is not theirs” (compare “fornication” which is “unmarried people using what is not theirs”) (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
The Greek, Ge’ez, Latin and Hebrew that is often translated as “repent” or “repentance” is (back-) translated in various ways (click or tap here to see the rest of this insight):
Embu: “change heart” (“2 Cor. 7:10 says ‘For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief produces death.’ In ordinary speech the terms ‘repent’ and ‘regret’ are used interchangeably in Embu, so that this verse comes out as: ‘godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no repentance,’ which is contradictory. The problem was solved by using ‘changing heart’ in the first, and ‘sadness’ in the second.”) (source: Jan Sterk)
Muna: dofetompa’ao dhosa bhe dodoli ne Lahata’ala: “radically-end sin and to turn to God” (source: René van den Berg)
Bacama: por-njiya: “fetch sand” (“Before the coming of Christianity 100 years ago, when the elders went to pray to the gods, they would take sand and throw it over each shoulder and down their backs while confessing their sins. Covering themselves with sand was a ritual to show that they were sorry for what they had done wrong, sort of like covering oneself with sackcloth and ashes. Now idol worship for the most part is abandoned in Bacama culture, but the Christian church has retained the phrase por-njiya to mean ‘repent, doing something to show sorrow for one’s sins’” — source: David Frank in this blog post .)
Enlhet “exchange innermosts.” “Innermost” or valhoc is a term that is frequently used in Enlhet to describe a large variety of emotions or states of mind (for other examples see here). (Source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. )
Isthmus Zapotec: “heart becomes soft” (source for this and above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
Cherokee: “change one’s thinking” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 23)
Sabaot: “give one’s neck” — relating to traditional legal proceedings where someone who is convicted of a crime kneels before the aggrieved person who can either behead the accused or completely forgive (source Danny Foster in this recording )
Kâte: maŋ bârisiezo or “turn the insides around” (source: Renck 1990, p. 108)
Merina Malagasy: fifonana, deriving from mifona “meaning ‘to completely uproot so that something new can grow’ (a term also used for the loss of a baby tooth)” (source: Brigitte Rabarijaona)
“In Tzotzil two reflexive verbs to communicate the biblical concept of repentance are used. Xca’i jba means to know or to reflect inwardly on one’s self. This self inquiry or self examination is similar to the attitude of the prodigal son where Luke 15:17 records that ‘he came to his senses.’ Broke, starving, and slopping hogs, the prodigal admitted to himself that he was in the wrong place. The second reflexive verb ‘jsutes jba’ means turning away from what one is and turning to something else. In a sense, it is deciding against one’s self and toward someone else. It is similar to the attitude of the prodigal son when he said, ‘I will get up and go to my father’ (Luke 15:18).” (source: Aeilts 2009, p. 118)
Following are a number of back-translations of Revelation 2:22:
Uma: “So, I will strike her with a disease, and people who follow her deeds I will strike with big suffering, if they do not stop following those deeds of hers.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Listen, I will send her a sickness that will lay her on her back. All her companions who committed fornication/adultery (with her) I will also cause great/severe difficulties. If they don’t regret and leave their doings with that woman, I will really send this soon to them.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And now I will make her lie down because I will punish her with sickness. And you who join her in her vulgar behavior, I will punish you also with bitter torment if you do not abandon the works of this woman.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Therefore I will make-her extremely -sick so that she is not able-to-get-up from her bed. I will also exceedingly hardship those who have sinned-with her if they don’t repent of their having joined in her filthy (i.e. immoral/indecent) behavior.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Therefore I will now punish her. She will become diseased. So will those people who are her companions in doing those disgusting things. Really hard is what I will cause them to experience as long as they don’t repent and let go of those evil things they are doing.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Therefore I will cause that she will be put in bed and will be sick. I will cause that very much will be her suffering. And concerning all whom she deceived to commit fornication, if they do not turn their hearts to separate from the evil they do, I will also cause them to suffer very much.” (Source: Tenango Otomi 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 choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
Behold: see 1.7. New Revised Standard Version now has “Beware, I am throwing her on a bed,” which is a rather strange use of the verb “Beware.” Probably “Look now” or “Pay attention” would be better. However, in English and many other languages, it will be stylistically more natural to omit an attention-getting word or phrase in this context and say something like Good News Translation, “And so,” “Therefore,” or something similar.
I will throw her on a sickbed: the Greek text says only “I throw her on a bed,” but this is obviously a punishment in the form of an illness; Revised English Bible translates “a bed of pain.” The Greek present tense of the verb “to throw” indicates that this will happen soon. It may be better to translate “I will punish her with an illness” or “I will make her sick.”
And those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation: in the Greek text the verb “to throw” is not repeated but is clearly implied. As the Revised Standard Version literal equivalence shows, the text may be read as two separate actions: “I will throw her on a bed and (I will throw) into great suffering those who commit adultery with her.” But it is possible that the text means that Christ will inflict the same punishment on Jezebel and on those who commit adultery with her. So Traduction œcuménique de la Bible “Look, I throw her on a bed of sharp distress, as well as her partners in adultery” (so also Good News Translation, Phillips). In other languages this will be expressed as “I will make her sick, and I will cause the ones who commit adultery with her to suffer terribly” or “I will throw both her and those who sleep with her onto a sleeping mat where they will suffer terribly.”
Again, it is possible that commit adultery here is worship of idols (as the related Greek word translated “practice sexual immorality” in 2.14 can mean); but the translation must be “commit adultery.” For the word translated tribulation see 1.9; it means suffering or distress.
Unless they repent of her doings: for repent see 2.5. The text, strictly speaking, refers only to Jezebel’s lovers, and they are told to repent of her evil doings. It is impossible for one person to repent of another’s sin. Her doings here refers to what they, at her bidding, are doing with her. So Barclay translates “unless they realize how wrong her conduct is, and stop participating in it.”
Alternate translation models for this verse are:
• Look! I will throw her on a bed (or, sleeping mat) where she will become ill. And I will cause those who commit adultery with her to suffer terribly, unless they are willing to stop (or, repent of) the evil things they are doing (with her).
Or:
• Therefore, I will cause her to become ill, and those who sleep with her to suffer terribly unless they repent of the evil things….
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 .
Behold: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Behold is literally “look.” The word emphasizes or calls attention to the words that follow. This word is not a command to look at something.
If you have a word or phrase with that meaning, you may want to use it here. Some examples are:
Look, (New Jerusalem Bible) -or-
Beware, (New Revised Standard Version) -or-
Indeed/Hey,
I will cast her onto a bed of sickness: The Greek clause is literally “I am throwing her on a bed.” It is probably a Hebrew idiom that means “I will now cause her to become sick/ill.” The Berean Standard Bible adds the words of sickness in order to indicate this meaning. Other ways to translate this clause are:
I will throw her on a sickbed (Revised Standard Version) -or-
I will cause her to become so ill that she cannot get out of bed
In some languages a literal translation would not have the correct meaning. If that is true in your language, translate the meaning of the idiom. For example:
I will cause her ⌊body⌋ to suffer
I will cast: The Greek grammar here is the present tense. Here the present tense indicates “immediately” or “as I speak.”
2:22b
those who commit adultery with her will suffer great tribulation: The Greek words are literally “those who commit adultery with her into great suffering.” The main verb is from 2:22a—“I will cast.” Other ways to translate this clause are:
all her partners in adultery to great hardship (New Jerusalem Bible) -or-
those who committed adultery with her will suffer terribly (Good News Translation) -or-
those who commit adultery with her I am throwing into great distress (New Revised Standard Version)
commit adultery: This phrase refers to sexual immorality of all kinds. It has the same meaning as “commit sexual immorality” in 2:14e.
2:22c
unless they repent of her deeds: There are two issues here.
Issue 1—The Greek text
There is a textual issue here:
(1) The earliest Greek manuscripts have her. For example:
her (Good News Translation)
(2) Some later Greek manuscripts have their. For example:
their (King James Version)
It is recommended that you follow option (1), because the UBS Handbook Greek NT 4 apparatus recommends it.
This phrase indicates that the people were acting the same as the woman. In some languages it is not possible to say that people must repent of someone else’s deeds. In some languages it is more natural to refer to doing the same things. For example:
repent and stop acting as she does
Issue 2—Meaning
This phrase indicates that if these people repented, then they would not have to suffer. If they stopped committing adultery and eating food sacrificed to idols, God would forgive them. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
if they do not turn away from the wrongs she does (New Century Version) -or-
unless they repent and turn away from her evil deeds (New Living Translation (2004))
General Comment on 2:22b–c
The cause (2:22c) is stated after the consequence (2:22b). In some languages it is more natural to have the cause first. For example:
22c Unless they repent of her deeds, 22b those who commit adultery with her suffer great tribulation. -or-
22c If they do not repent of her deeds, 22b those who commit adultery with her suffer great tribulation.
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
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