prophet

Eugene Nida wrote the following about the translation of the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek terms that are typically translated with “prophet” in English:

“The tendency in many translations is to use ‘to foretell the future’ for ‘prophesy,’ and ‘one who foretells the future’ for ‘prophet.’ This is not always a recommended usage, particularly if such expressions denote certain special native practices of spirit contact and control. It is true, of course, that prophets of the Bible did foretell the future, but this was not always their principal function. One essential significance of the Greek word prophētēs is ‘one who speaks forth,’ principally, of course, as a forth-teller of the Divine will. A translation such as ‘spokesman for God’ may often be employed profitably.” (1947, p. 234f.)

Following is a list of (back-) translations from other languages (click or tap for details):

  • San Blas Kuna: “one who speaks the voice of God”
  • Central Pame and Vai: “interpreter for God”
  • Kaqchikel, Navajo (Dinė), Yaka: “one who speaks for God”
  • Northern Grebo: “God’s town crier” (see more about this below)
  • Sapo: “God’s sent-word person”
  • Shipibo-Conibo, Ngäbere: “one who speaks God’s word”
  • Copainalá Zoque: “one who speaks-opens” (a compound meaning “one who discloses or reveals”)
  • Sierra Totonac: “one who causes them to know” (in the sense of “revealer”)
  • Batak Toba: “foreteller” (this and all the above acc. to Nida 1961, p. 7)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “one who is inspired of God” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Alekano: “the true man who descended from heaven” (source: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation June 1986, p. 36ff.)
  • Aguaruna: “teller of God’s word” (source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125)
  • Ekari: “person who speaks under divine impulse”
  • Mandarin Chinese: 先知 xiānzhī — “one who foreknows” (or the 1946/1970 translation by Lü Zhenzhong: 神言人 shényánrén — “divine-word-man”)
  • Uab Meto: “holy spokesman” (source for this and two above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Kouya: Lagɔɔ gbʋgbanyɔ — “the one who seeks God’s affairs” (source: Saunders, p. 269)
  • Kafa: “decide for God only” (source: Loren Bliese)
  • Martu Wangka: “sit true to God’s talk” (source: Carl Gross)
  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “word passer” (source: John Beekman in Notes on Translation November 1964, p. 1-22)
  • Obolo: ebi nriran: “one with power of divine revelation” (source: Enene Enene)
  • Mairasi: nonondoai nyan: “message proclaimer” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Highland Totonac: “speaker on God’s behalf”
  • Central Tarahumara: “God’s preacher” (source for this and above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
  • Coatlán Mixe: “God’s word-thrower”
  • Ayutla Mixtec: “one who talks as God’s representative”
  • Isthmus Mixe: “speaker for God” (source for this and two above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
  • Mezquital Otomi / Paasaal: “God’s messenger” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff. and Fabian N. Dapila in The Bible Translator 2024, p. 415ff.)
  • Noongar: Warda Marridjiny or “News Traveling” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Kutu: mtula ndagu or “one who gives the prediction of the past and the future” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Ebira: ọnịsẹ, a neologism that combines the prefix ọn for “a person” with ịsẹ for “prediction” (source: Scholz /Scholz 2015, p. 49)
  • French 1985 translation by Chouraqui: inspiré or “inspired one” (“someone in whom God has breathed [Latin: in + spiro]) (source: Watson 2023, p. 45)

In Ixcatlán Mazatec a term is used that specifically includes women. (Source: Robert Bascom)

About the translation into Northern Grebo:

“In some instances these spiritual terms result from adaptations reflecting the native life and culture. Among the Northern Grebo people of Liberia, a missionary wanted some adequate term for ‘prophet,’ and she was fully aware that the native word for ‘soothsayer’ or ‘diviner’ was no equivalent for the Biblical prophet who spoke forth for God. Of course, much of what the prophets said referred to the future, and though this was an essential part of much of their ministry, it was by no means all. The right word for the Gbeapo people would have to include something which would not only mean the foretelling of important events but the proclamation of truth as God’s representative among the people. At last the right word came; it was ‘God’s town-crier.’ Every morning and evening the official representative of the chief goes through the village crying out the news, delivering the orders of the chief, and announcing important coming events. ‘God’s town-crier’ would be the official representative of God, announcing to the people God’s doings, His commands, and His pronouncements for their salvation and well-being. For the Northern Grebo people the prophet is no weird person from forgotten times; he is as real as the human, moving message of the plowman Amos, who became God’s town-crier to a calloused people.” (source: Nida 1952, p. 20)

In American Sign Language it is a person who sees into the future:


“Prophet” in American Sign Language (source )

In British Sign Language it is is translated with a sign that depicts a message coming from God to a person (the upright finger) and then being passed on to others. (Source: Anna Smith)


“Prophet” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)

See also prophesy and prophesy / prophetic frenzy.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: How to Recognize a Biblical Prophet .

See also seer.

complete verse (Hosea 12:13)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Hosea 12:13:

  • Kupsabiny: “God was using a prophet to get Israel out of Egypt.
    (He) used that prophet to guard/care for them.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The LORD used a prophet to set the Israel free from the slavery of Egypt,
    and through a prophet He protected him.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Through the prophet Moises, I caused- you (plur.) who (are) Israelinhon -to-come-out-of Egipto and took-good-care-of you (plur.).” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Many years later, Yahweh enabled a prophet to bring the ancestors of you people of Israel here from Egypt;
    that prophet, Moses, took care of them.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Honorary "rare" construct denoting God (“protect”)

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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, mamo-rare-ru (守られる) or “protect” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Hosea 12:13

This verse begins with the Hebrew waw conjunction (literally “And” [King James Version]), which Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and most other versions omit. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh uses the connector “But” to render it since it may introduce a contrast with the previous verse. However, since there is simply a shift in focus here, it is better left untranslated.

By a prophet the LORD brought Israel up from Egypt, and by a prophet he was preserved: This verse returns to the subject of a prophet (see verse 10). This prophet was Moses. The repetition of the phrase by a prophet emphasizes his task. The phrase is matched by the double occurrence of “for a wife” in verse 12. By and “for” render the same Hebrew preposition, which clearly reinforces the poetic rhythm. This may be difficult to maintain in translation.

In poetic fashion Hosea continues to speak of Israel as a single person, which is clear from the use of the pronoun he. As the original readers understood it, by saving all the descendants of Jacob (Israel), Jacob himself was preserved. The Hebrew verb rendered was preserved is the same one translated “herded sheep” in the previous verse. The way Jacob took care of the sheep is matched by the way the prophet Moses took care of the people when they left Egypt.

These similarities and shifts show the beauty of Hebrew poetry as it carries these words and images forward while describing the history of Jacob and his descendants. Many languages cannot maintain these images of Israel as a single man representing a group of people, so they may have to follow something similar to that done by Good News Translation. Other meaning-based translations are more explicit; for example, Contemporary English Version says “I sent the prophet Moses to lead Israel from Egypt and to keep them safe,” and Bijbel in Gewone Taal has “But the Lord was faithful to the Israelites. He sent the prophet Moses. He led the Israelites out of Egypt and protected them.” These translations maintain very little, if any, of the original poetic flavor of the text.

Brought Israel up from Egypt is literally “caused Israel to go up from Egypt.” Good News Translation uses the expression “rescue the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt,” which shows the fuller meaning and significance of this event. Up from Egypt is a common expression in the Old Testament, since Egypt was next to the Nile River and close to sea level, while Canaan was mountainous, with many people living at higher altitudes. In the opposite way, people would speak of going “down” to Egypt.

An emphasis in this section is on how God used “prophets” in the history of the people of Israel. A normal translation will also show that emphasis without the need for making it even more emphatic. But translators should also be careful not to lose that emphasis in any way.

A translation model for this verse is:

• The LORD led Israel out of Egypt through a prophet,
and through a prophet he also cared for his people.

Quoted with permission from Dorn, Louis & van Steenbergen, Gerrit. A Handbook on Hosea. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2020. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Hosea 12:13

12:13

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

13a But by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt,

13b and by a prophet he was preserved.

This verse is the second part of the comparison/contrast of Jacob to prophets from 12:12. In Hebrew, 13a and 13b both start with the same phrase, literally “and by a prophet.” This phrase parallels the phrase “for a wife” in 12:12. The similar Hebrew grammatical forms is one indicator that this verse is connected to the previous one.

The New Living Translation (2004) adds the words “Then” and “Jacob’s descendants” to make the connection to 12:12 more explicit:

Then by a prophet the Lord brought Jacob’s descendants out of Egypt; and by that prophet they were protected. (New Living Translation (2004))

Use a natural way in your language to indicate the connection of this verse to 12:12.

12:13a

But by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt: This sentence refers to Moses, but it leaves the prophet’s name implied. It may be preferable to do the same in your translation. Here Moses is one example that shows how the LORD uses prophets to guide and care for Israel throughout its history.

12:13b

and by a prophet he was preserved: This clause may also refer to Moses. However, it could refer to another prophet, such as Samuel. It is preferable to leave the name of the prophet implied in your translation, as in 13a.

he was preserved: This phase is more literally “he was kept.” The Hebrew word for “he was kept” is a form of the same word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as “he tended (sheep)” in 12:12. The repetition of this word is a further indication that these two verses are closely connected.

Here the Hebrew word refers to the LORD’s care of the nation of Israel through Moses and other prophets.

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