The Hebrew that is translated as “seer” in English is translated in Newari as “one who will say what will happen in the future” (source: Newari Back Translation).
In Mandarin Chinese it is translated as “one who sees first” (xiānjiàn / 先见) compared to “prophet” as “one who knows first” (xiānzhī / 先知). (Source: Zetzsche)
In Wolof in these verses as boroom peeñu or “possessor of visions.” In contrast, “prophet” is translated with the established term Yonent (app. “Send one”). (Source: Marilyn Escher)
Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)
The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).
For this verse, the Jarai and the Adamawa Fulfulde translation both use the exclusive pronoun, excluding the prophets.
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):
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)
“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 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)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 30:10:
Kupsabiny: “They tell my prophets, ‘Do no longer predict bad things/words, and do no longer speak to us righteous words. Only tell us good words, and we shall live like how we are.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “To those who see vision they say, "From now on [you] are not to see [lit.: must not see] vision! " They say to the prophets, "Do not tell us vision of matters that are true! Tell [us] only matters that are pleasing to us, tell [us] prophecy that is not true.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “They say to the prophets, ‘You (plur.) no-longer tell us (excl.) what God has-revealed to you (plur.). You (plur.) no-longer tell us (excl.) what is right. Tell us (excl.) the things that can-give-joy to us (excl.) and visions that will- not -happen.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Now Yahweh reveals how his people reject his teaching: they do it by refusing to accept the messages of his prophets. Revised Standard Version continues the sentence of the previous verse here, but for many languages it will be better to begin a new sentence, as in Good News Translation.
Who say to the seers, “See not”: Seers is another term for “prophet.” The word seers emphasizes that these people receive visions from Yahweh and communicate them to the people. However, the rebellious people of Judah do not wish to know what Yahweh has revealed to the seers. They even order the seers not to see visions at all. Of course, the seers cannot be prevented from seeing them. So the command See not means that the people want them to stop revealing what they see from Yahweh.
And to the prophets, “Prophesy not to us what is right: The verb say in the previous line may be repeated here for clarity by beginning with “and they say to the prophets….” The Hebrew noun for prophets and the verb for Prophesy (twice) come from a root that usually means “to see [a vision]” (see 29.10, where the word for prophets is rendered “seers”). So some commentators prefer the noun “visionaries” in place of the more common term prophets. Since the Hebrew words for seers and prophets have the same meaning, Good News Translation combines them. The people order the prophets not to reveal what is right, referring to things that are honest and straightforward. This implies they are not to disclose what Yahweh shows them. For the first two lines Revised English Bible has “They say to the seers, ‘You are not to see,’ and to those who have visions, ‘Do not produce true visions for us….’”
Speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions: Smooth things are actually “flattery,” complimentary words that people like to hear. Prophesy illusions is literally “see illusions.” The people prefer the prophets to have visions of unreal things rather than real warnings from Yahweh. They want to hear false things that will make them feel good. Good News Translation‘s translation is a good model here.
The direct speech of the people may be rendered indirectly if the language requires it. See the second example below.
Some translation examples for this verse are:
• They say to the seers, “Don’t see things!”
They tell the visionaries, “Don’t give us visions of what is true!
Tell us things that flatter,
see those things that will delude us.
• They tell the seers not to see things,
and tell the visionaries not to give visions of reality.
Instead, they tell them to say flattering things,
and to see things that are illusions.
Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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