angel

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The Greek, Hebrew 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. )

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

complete verse (Acts 7:30)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 7:30:

  • Uma: “‘Forty years from there, an angel appeared meeting Musa in the wilderness [empty land] near Mount Sinai. That angel appeared in brush/bushes that flamed.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “‘So then,’ Estepan said, ‘after forty years had elapsed (which was) the-length-of-time Musa was there in that place Midiyan, an angel of God appeared to him in a flame of fire at/in a puhung tree. That was in a lonely place near the mountain Turusina.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Now a long time after that, forty years, an angel of God appeared to Moses in Sinai in a country where people did not live. Moses saw the angel of God in a very bushy thorny plant that was on fire.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “‘When forty years had-gone, there was an angel who appeared to Moses in a small burning tree that was in the rocky-area that was near the mountain Sinai.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “When Moises had been there in Madian for forty years, one day when he was at the foot of Mount Sinai which was in the wilderness place, he saw the Angel of God in/at a bush which was burning with leaping-flames.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Acts 7:30

In many languages one cannot say forty years had passed. One can, however, “live in a place for forty years,” and it is this latter expression which is often employed as a transitional device in this verse.

The literal expression “in a flame of fire of a bush” probably means, as the Good News Translation has it, in the flames of a burning bush (see also New English Bible, Jerusalem Bible, Phillips, An American Translation*). The place where the angel appeared to Moses was in the desert as most translations have it, not “in the wilderness.” The Old Testament narrative says this revelation took place at “a Mount called Horeb,” but in the biblical accounts Horeb and Sinai are identified as the same mountain.

It is difficult in some languages to translate the term desert since in some parts of the world a barren area is almost inconceivable. It is, therefore, better under such circumstances to translate this term as “an uninhabited area.” In many situations this is the closest natural equivalent.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Acts of the Apostles. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .