The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:
While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)
“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
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.'”
The name that is transliterated as “Judah” or “Judea” in English (referring to the son of Jacob, the tribe, and the territory) is translated in Spanish Sign Language as “lion” (referring to Genesis 49:9 and Revelation 5:5). This sign for lion is reserved for regions and kingdoms. (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. and Steve Parkhurst)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Zechariah 1:19:
Kupsabiny: “Then I asked that angel who was speaking to me, ‘What do these horns mean/stand for?’ He answered me, ‘They stand for those communities that scattered the people of Judah, Israel and those of Jerusalem.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “I asked the angel who had been talking with me, "What is the meaning of this horn?" He answered me, "these horns are the nations that have scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “I asked the angel who was-talking-together with me, ‘What is the meaning of these horns?’ He answered me, ‘These horns (are) the nations that caused-to-scatter the ones from-Israel and from-Juda, including the ones from-Jerusalem.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “I asked the angel who had been speaking to me, ‘What are those horns?’ He replied, ‘Those horns represent the armies that forced the people of Jerusalem and other places in Judah and Israel to go to other countries.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
And I said to the angel who talked with me: This is the same angel as mentioned in verses 9, 13, 14. Translators should use the same expression to describe him as they used in the earlier verses (compare Revised Standard Version).
What are these?: If the question is translated as direct speech, it will probably be better to repeat the noun “horns,” as in Good News Translation “What do these horns mean?” In some languages it may sound more natural to use indirect speech, and in this case it may not be necessary to mention the “horns.” Compare “I asked the angel who spoke with me what these were” (New American Bible) and “I asked the angel who talked with me what they were” (New English Bible/ Revised English Bible).
These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem: The angel seems to take it for granted that the prophet knows that the horns stand for nations, and simply explains what nations are intended. Modern readers do not share the prophet’s background with regard to the use of horns as a symbol of strength and power (see the comments on verse 18), and Good News Translation has therefore made the symbolic meaning clear by saying, “They stand for the world powers that….” Most translators will find it best to follow this example. “World powers” is a modern political expression in English. In other languages it could be translated as “strong gentile nations” or “powerful peoples.”
Scattered refers to the dispersion of the people by exile. Scattered in some languages will need to have a causative expression; for example, “caused … to scatter” or “caused … to go in every direction.” The Hebrew mentions only the names of the places, but Good News Translation has made it clear that “the people” of these places are referred to. The order of the names, Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem, is unexpected. Since Jerusalem was in the southern kingdom of Judah rather than in the northern kingdom of Israel, it would be acceptable to put these two names next to each other and say “Israel, Judah, and Jerusalem” if that sounded more natural. “Jerusalem, Judah, and Israel” would also be possible. Some scholars, such as those who translated New English Bible, omit the word Israel, but there is no good reason for this, and Revised English Bible has included it.
Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Zechariah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2002. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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