The Hebrew and Greek that is translated in many English versions as “Day of the Lord” was rendered in Bengali as “Day of Judgement” in order to avoid confusion with the Lord’s day in the sense of Sunday.
Elijah
The name that is transliterated as “Elijah” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language as “whirlwind” (according to 2 Kings 2:11) (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. )
“Elijah” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España
Click or tap here to see how other sign languages are translating “Elijah”
In American Sign Language it is translated with a depiction of being taken up to heaven with a chariot of fire. (Source: ASL Sign Language Directory )
“Elijah” in American Sign Language (source )
Likewise in Estonian Sign Language, but with a different sign (source: Liina Paales in Folklore 47, 2011, p. 43ff.)

“Elijah” in Estonian Sign Language (source )
In Finnish Sign Language it is translated with the sign signifying “fire” (referring to 1 Kings 18:38). (Source: Tarja Sandholm)
“Elijah” in Finnish Sign Language (source )
For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .
Following is a Russian Orthodox icon of Elijah from the late 13h century.

Orthodox Icons are not drawings or creations of imagination. They are in fact writings of things not of this world. Icons can represent our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. They can also represent the Holy Trinity, Angels, the Heavenly hosts, and even events. Orthodox icons, unlike Western pictures, change the perspective and form of the image so that it is not naturalistic. This is done so that we can look beyond appearances of the world, and instead look to the spiritual truth of the holy person or event. (Source )
The following is a stained glass window depicting Elijah by Endre Odon Hevezi and Gyula Bajo from 1965 for the Debre Libanos Monastery, Oromia, Ethiopia:

Photo by Timothy A. Gonsalves, hosted by Wikimedia Commons under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license
Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum )
Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Elijah .
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 (Malachi 4:5)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Malachi 4:5:
- Kupsabiny: “Listen (plur.), I am sending my prophet Elijah to come before my big and dreadful day.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
- Newari: “Behold! I will send Elijah, the prophet to you before that great and dreadful day of LORD comes. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
- Hiligaynon: “‘[You (plur.)] listen! Before the very frightening day that I will-punish arrives, I will-send to you (plur.) Prophet Elias.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “But I will-precede to send (i.e., will first send) Elias then that fearful day will arrive.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- English: “Listen to this: Some day I will send to you the prophet Elijah. He will arrive before the great and dreadful/terrible day when I, Yahweh, will judge and punish people.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)
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 choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
See also pronoun for “God”.
formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)
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 choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).
(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Translation commentary on Malachi 4:5
Behold, I will send Elijah the prophet: As in 2.3; 3.1 and 4.1, the particle translated Behold introduces a new subunit in the discourse. Whereas verse 4 dealt with the Law, verses 5-6 mention the prophetic side of God’s dealings with his people. The words Behold, I will send are clearly an echo of “Behold, I send” in 3.1. It is not clear why Revised Standard Version uses a different verb tense in the two places, because the Hebrew verb form is the same. Here as in 3.1, the sense is that the LORD will take action in the near future. The real difference between the construction here and that in 3.1 is that here I represents an emphatic pronoun and is not just an affix on the particle. So it would be appropriate to translate “See, I am the one who is going to send…” or “See, it is I who will send….” The effect of this is to emphasize that the same God who gave the Law to Moses is the one who will send Elijah.
Elijah the prophet is in one sense a representative of the whole prophetic movement; yet in another sense he is the individual prophet whose actions are related in 1–2 Kings. Elijah is particularly suitable to serve as a figure of the end time because of his mysterious departure from this world without dying (2 Kgs 2.1-11). It is not clear whether Malachi intends the reader to identify Elijah as the messenger mentioned in 3.1. Jewish tradition has tended to interpret them as separate figures (Verhoef). It is unlikely that translators will need to make any decision on this point, and indeed they should try to avoid doing so. In the New Testament, the promise of Elijah’s return is regarded as fulfilled in the ministry of John the Baptist (Matt 11.13-14; 17.10-13; Mark 9.10-13).
It is worth noting that Elijah, like Moses in verse 4, had links with the mountain called Horeb (1 Kgs 19.8-18), and that Moses and Elijah are also linked in the New Testament in the transfiguration (Matt 17.1-13; Mark 9.2-13; Luke 9.28-36), where scholars understand them to represent the Law and the prophets respectively.
Before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes: Although the phrase the day of the LORD has not previously occurred in Malachi, it nevertheless looks back to “the day” mentioned already in 3.2, 17 and 4.1. The Hebrew adjectives here translated great and terrible have also occurred together in 1.14 (where terrible was rendered “feared” in Revised Standard Version). This whole clause occurs in identical form in Joel 2.31 (3.4 in Hebrew), but it is not clear whether one prophet has borrowed from the other, or whether both are drawing on terminology commonly used by the prophets. Translators do not have to resolve such questions, though they should be careful either to translate identical passages consistently or to have strong reasons for not doing so based on differences in the contexts.
The idea behind the word translated terrible is “causing people to fear.” Other possible renderings are “dreadful” (Moffatt, New International Version, New Living Translation, New King James Version ), “awesome” (New Jerusalem Bible), and “fearful” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). The reason why people should be afraid is that the LORD will come in judgment. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 2. Edition makes this clear by adding “on which I, the LORD, will hold judgment.” Some translators in other languages may also find it helpful to mention judgment directly.
Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Malachi. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2002. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
SIL Translator’s Notes on Malachi 4:5
4:5a
Behold: As in 2:3a, 3:1a, 3:1e and 4:1a, the Hebrew word hinneh is again used to emphasize that the things the LORD stated next would definitely happen. This meant that the people of Israel needed to immediately change the way they behaved towards him.
Some ways to signal this urgency in English are:
Listen.
Be alert.
Be watchful.
I will send you Elijah the prophet: Although this mentions Elijah, it is actually a prophecy about John the Baptist (see Matthew 11:13–14). He was the messenger whose coming had already been predicted in Malachi 3:1. He would be like Elijah.
Elijah the prophet: Elijah was a well-known prophet in Israel. He lived a long time before Malachi. He never died but was taken up into heaven in a whirlwind. The people of Israel expected that he would return to the earth one day. See 1 Kings chapters 17–19, 1 Kings chapter 21; 2 Kings chapters 1 and 2, especially 2 Kings 2:1–11.
4:5b
the great and awesome Day of the LORD: This is the day which other prophets referred to simply as “the day of the LORD.” For example, see Amos 5:18, 5:20; Joel 1:15, 2:1, 3:14; Isaiah 13:6, 13:9; Zephaniah 1:7.
Elsewhere in Malachi, this same day has been referred to in other ways. For example: “the day of His coming” (3:2), “the day” (4:1), “the day is coming” (4:1), “the day I am preparing” (4:3).
In this verse the LORD himself is speaking. In some languages it may be necessary to use a first person pronoun to indicate this. For example:
the day when I, the LORD, ⌊will judge⌋.
great: This day is described as great because it is uniquely important. It is the day when the LORD will finally judge all people.
awesome: The day is described as awesome because it will cause terror and intense fear in human beings. Other words which could be used in English are “dreadful,” “terrifying,” or “fearsome.”
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