The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated as “elders” in English is translated in the DanishBibelen 2020 as folkets ledere or “leaders of the people.”
Martin Ehrensvärd, one of the translators, explains: “The term ‘elder’ turned out to pose a particularly thorny problem. In traditional bibles, you can find elders all of over the place and they never pose a problem for a translator, they are just always elders. But how to find a contemporary term for this semi-official, complex position? This may have been our longest-standing problem. A couple of times we thought we had the solution, and then implemented it throughout the texts, only to find out that it didn’t work. Like when we used city council or village council, depending on the context. In the end we felt that the texts didn’t work with such official terms, and throughout the years in the desert, these terms didn’t make much sense. Other suggestions were ‘the eldest and wisest’, ‘the respected citizens’, ‘the Israelites with a certain position in society’, ‘the elder council’ –- and let me point out that these terms sound better in Danish than in English (‘de fremtrædende borgere,’ ‘de mest fremtrædende israelitter,’ ‘alle israelitter med en vis position,’ ‘de ældste og de klogeste,’ ‘ældsterådet’). In the end we just said ‘leaders of the people.’ After a lot of hand-wringing, it turned out that we actually found a term that worked well. So, we had to give up conveying the fact that they were old, but the most important point is that they were community leaders.” (Source: Ehrensvärd in HIPHIL Novum 8/2023, p. 81ff. )
The Germandas Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022) translates likewise as “leader of the people” (Anführer des Volkes).
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 9:15:
Kupsabiny: “The heads of Israel are the leaders and those powerful men who were feared. And the tails are those prophets that tell people lies.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “The elders and the honor people are the head, and the prophets who teach falsehoods [lit. matters that are not true] are the tail.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “The head was the ones-who-rule and the honorable people, and the tail was the lying prophets.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “But I, Yahweh, say that an axe certainly cannot boast about being stronger than the person who uses it, and a saw is not greater than the person who uses it. A rod cannot control the one who holds it , and a wooden club cannot lift up a person. So the king of Assyria should not boast that he has done these things with his own wisdom and strength.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
The elder and honored man is the head: This verse explains some of the figures used in the previous verse. The elder and honored man as the head, include all the respected community leaders, the leaders of the people. An elder is usually an older person, though not always very old (see the comments at 3.2). It is a term of respect. Honored man is literally “one whose face is lifted up,” that is, one who is respected. New American Bible has “noble,” while New Jerusalem Bible says “man of rank.” Both elder and honored man are probably masculine rather than generic terms. Even though these terms are singular in Hebrew, they may be rendered as plurals (so Good News Translation) since they refer to all the secular leaders.
And the prophet who teaches lies is the tail: Here the religious leaders as the tail are in view. The next verse accuses the leaders of misleading the people. This is the sense of the phrase the prophet who teaches lies. The lies refer to false teaching about Yahweh or about the situation in the community.
New Jerusalem Bible and Revised English Bible place this verse between parentheses (similarly New American Bible with square brackets), suggesting that it is a note or an explanatory comment added at a later date. It is not necessary to do this.
Translation examples for this verse are:
• The head stands for the elders and honored men;
the tail stands for the lying prophets.
• The elder and honored person is the head,
and the prophet who teaches falsely is the tail.
Contemporary English Version provides a helpful model for verses 14-15: “14 In one day he cut off their head and tail, their leaves and branches. 15 Their rulers and leaders were the head, and the lying prophets were the tail.” If necessary, these verses may be combined as follows:
• So in one day Yahweh [will] cut off from Israel the elder and honored man who is the head, as well as the lying prophet who is the tail. He [will] cut off palm branch and reed.
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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