20As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
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. )
The Greek that is often translated as “church” in English is translated into Avaric as imanl’urazul ahlu: “the community of believers” or “the believing people.”
Magomed-Kamil Gimbatov and Yakov Testelets (in The Bible Translator 1996, p. 434ff. ) talk about the genesis of this term (click or tap here to read more):
“The word ‘Church’ presents particular difficulties, as we might expect when we think that even many Christians do not understand it correctly. When people today say ‘church,’ they often mean a particular building, or an organization consisting chiefly of clergy (priests and monks). It is even harder to find a word or combination of words which adequately translates the meaning for people unfamiliar with Christianity. Surprisingly, the Greek word ekklesia, indicating in the classical language ‘an assembly of the people,’ ‘a gathering of citizens,’ has come into Avar and other Dagestani languages in the form kilisa. This, like the word qanch (‘cross’), is an ancient borrowing, presumably from the time before the arrival of Islam, when Dagestan came under the influence of neighboring Christian states. In modern usage, however, this word indicates a place of Christian worship. Thus it is completely inappropriate as a translation of its New Testament ancestor ekklesia.
“We were obliged to look at various words which are closer to the meaning of the Greek. Some of these words are dandel’i (‘meeting’), danderussin (‘assembly’), the Arabic-derived mazhlis (‘meeting, conference’), zhama’at (‘society, community’), ahlu (‘race, people, family, group of people united by a common goal or interest’, as in the Arabic phrase ahlu-l-kitab ‘people of the Book’ or ‘people of the Scriptures’), which describes both Jews and Christians, and ummat (‘people, tribe’). In Islamic theology the phrase ‘Mohammed’s ummat’ means the universal community of Muslims, the Muslim world, in the same way as the Christian world is known as ‘Isa’s ummat.’ None of these descriptions on their own, without explanation, can be used to translate the word ‘Church’ in the New Testament. Thus, after long consideration, we adopted the phrase imanl’urazul ahlu, meaning ‘the community of believers,’ ‘the believing people,’ This translation corresponds closely to New Testament teaching about the Church.
“It is interesting that the same word ahlu with the meaning ‘tribe, community’ has been used by translators for different reasons in the introduction to the Gospel of Luke in order to translate the expression in the original Greek pepleroforemenon en hemin pragmaton (πεπληροφορημένων ἐν ἡμῖν πραγμάτων), which the Russian Synodal translation renders ‘about the events well-known amongst us’ (Luke 1:1). The expression ‘amongst us’ cannot be translated literally into Avar, but has to be rendered ‘among our people’; and here the same term was used as for the word ‘church’, literally ‘among our tribe, community (ahlu).'”
In Kamo “church” is fang-balla (“owners of writing-people”) when referring to the church community and “house of writing-people” when referring to a church building. David Frank explains: “In Kamo culture, Christianity was associated with writing, so Christianity is called balla, which they say means ‘people who write.’ Christianity is balla, and Christians are called fang-balla, which means ‘owners of Christianity.’ That is the term that is used for the church, in the sense of people, rather than a building. In Philemon 1:1b-2a, Paul says he is writing ‘To our friend and fellow worker Philemon, and to the church (fang-balla ‘owners of Christianity) that meet in your house.’ The word fang “owner’ is very productive in the Kamo language. A disciple is an ‘owner of learning,’ an apostle is an ‘owner of sending,’ a believer is an ‘owner of truth,’ a hypocrite is an ‘owner of seeing eyes.’ The expression ‘house of writing-people’ is used in Matthew 16:18, which reads in Kamo, ‘And so I tell you Peter, you are a rock, and on top of this rock foundation I will build my house of writing-people, and never even death will not be able to overcome it.” (See also Peter – rock)
In Bacama there also is a differentiation between the building (vɨnə hiutə: “house of prayer”) and the community (ji-kottə: “followers”) (source: David Frank in this blog post ).
In 16th-century Classical Nahuatl, a transliteration from Spanish (Santa Yglesia or Santa Iglesia) is typically used rather than a translation, making the concept take on a personified meaning. Ottman (p. 169) explains: “The church building, or more precisely the church complex with its associated patio, has a Nahuatl name in common usage — generally teopan, something like ‘god-place,’ in contradistinction to teocalli, ‘god-house,’ applied to a prehispanic temple — but the abstract sense is always Santa Iglesia, a Spanish proper name like ‘Dios’ or ‘Santa María’, and like ‘Santa María’ often called ‘our mother.’ As a personified ‘mother,’ in the European tradition as well as in Nahuatl, She instructs Her children or chastises them; as Bride of Christ, She both longs for Her heavenly rest and bears witness to it, in the ‘always-already’ of eschatological time; as successor to the Synagogue, the blindfolded, broken-sceptred elder sister who accompanies Her in painting and sculpture, She represents the triumphant rule of truth. ‘The Church’ can mean the clerical hierarchy; it can also, or simultaneously, mean the assembly of the faithful. It dispenses grace to its members, living and dead, yet it is also enriched by them, living and dead, existing not only on earth but in purgatory and in heaven.”
In Lisu the building (“church”) is called “house of prayer” (source: Arrington 2020, p. 196) whereas in Highland Totonac the community is referred as “those who gather together” (source: Hermann Aschmann in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 171ff. ), in Huehuetla Tepehua as “those who gather together who have confidence in Christ” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), in Uma as “Christian people” (source: Uma Back Translation), in Kankanaey as “the congregation of God’s people” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation), and in Tagbanwa as “you whom God separated-out as his people because of your being-united/tied-together with Jesus Christ” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation).
In American Sign Language, “church” (as in the community of believers) is made up of the combination of the signs for “Jesus-into-heart” (signifying a believer), followed by the sign for “group.” (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Church” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
While British Sign Language also uses a sign that focuses on a group of people believing in Jesus (see here ), another sign that it uses combines the signs for “ringing the (church) bells” and a “group of people.” (Source: Anna Smith)
“Church” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
Following are a number of back-translations of Revelation 1:20:
Uma: “As for the seven stars that you (sing.) see in my right hand and the seven gold lampstands, you (sing.) do not yet know the meaning. So, I’ll make it clear to you (sing.): the seven stars are a figure-of-speech [walatu: hidden talk, speaking in allusions or images rather than just saying what you mean plainly] for the angels who take care of my followers who live in the seven villages. And the seven lampstands are a figure-of-speech for my followers in the seven villages.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “I will tell now as to what the meaning is of the seven stars in my right hand and the meaning of the seven golden lampstands that has not been known formerly. This is the meaning: the seven stars, they are the ones in charge of (antan) the seven gatherings of people belonging to me. And the seven lampstands they are the seven gatherings of people belonging to me.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “I will cause you to understand the meaning of the seven stars which you saw that I hold in My right hand and the meaning of the seven golden lamps. The seven stars, they represent the seven angels of God who watch over the seven groups of believers, and the seven lamps, they are the seven groups of believers.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “The seven stars that you (sing.) saw in my right hand and the seven gold places-on-which- lights -are-put, their meaning/significance was not made-known previously, but I hereby make-it-known to you now. The seven stars, they are the angels who watch-over the seven congregations. The seven places-on-which- lights -are-put, they for-their-part are the seven congregations.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Now I will cause you to comprehend the meaning of the seven stars which you saw which are being held in my right hand and these seven lampstands made of pure gold. These seven stars, these are a picture/representation of the seven messengers who oversee the believers there in these seven places. And this, these seven lampstands, these are the believers there in these seven places.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Now I will tell you what is meant by the seven stars you have seen in my right hand and also what is meant by the seven candle holders of gold around me. These seven stars stand for seven of God’s workers who lead there where the believers are in each of the seven cities. These seven candle holders you have seen stand for the seven groups of the believers.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
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.
As for (Good News Translation “Here is”) points forward to the content of this verse, and translators should choose a word or phrase that functions in this way; for example, “The following is about…” or “What I say next is about….”
The mystery of the seven stars: the Greek word for mystery here means “the secret meaning” (Good News Translation, Bible en français courant, New American Bible, Revised, Revised English Bible, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje, An American Translation, Barclay, Phillips). In the New Testament a mystery is a secret truth or event that is not grasped by the human mind but is disclosed by God (see Eph 3.1-11). The Arndt and Gingrich Lexicon defines it as follows: “The secret thoughts, plans, and dispensations of God that are hidden from the human reason … and hence must be revealed to those for whom they are intended.” It may also be expressed as “that which was not known before.” The genitive phrase of the seven stars means “about the seven stars” or “concerning the seven stars”; it does not mean “belonging to the seven stars.” This whole clause may be expressed as “The following is the secret meaning concerning (or, of) the seven stars.”
You saw: this is how the great majority of translations render the verb; Good News Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, and Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje have “you see.” A decision for either the past or the present tense must be made in the light of the context. The latter seems to be the most likely, as John was obviously still seeing these things.
For the translation of lampstands see the comments on verse 12 .
The angels of the seven churches: Every one of the seven letters in chapters 2–3 begins “To the angel of the church in….” There is no unanimity on what or whom the “angel” represents: either the pastor (or, presbyters) of the church, or some other representative of the church, or the guardian angel of each church, or, as Beasley-Murray puts it, “the heavenly counterparts of the earthly congregations.” Most probably it refers to the heavenly guardian or representative of each church, just as there are of nations (Dan 10.13, 20; 12.1) and individuals (Matt 18.10; Acts 12.15). In certain languages it will not be appropriate to say “angels of”; rather, translators must make the role of the angels explicit and say “the seven stars represent (or, stand for) the angels (or, heavenly messengers) who guard (or, watch over) the seven churches.”
The word “angel” appears seventy-seven times in this book and, with the possible exception of “the angels of the seven churches,” is always specifically a supernatural messenger, either of God or of Satan. Regardless of the interpretation readers will give, the translation should use the same word used elsewhere in the Bible to speak of God’s heavenly messengers. On the translation of angels see Rev. 1.1. And for the translation of churches see Rev. 1.4.
Instead of following the order of the Greek sentence, a translation may say “This is what the seven stars … and the seven lampstands mean…” or “The meaning of … is this.”
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Revelation to John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
This is the mystery…: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: The word This and the colon (:) at the end of 1:20b indicate that 1:20c–d describes the mystery in 1:20a–b. Some other ways to indicate this connection are:
20a–b This is the secret meaning of the seven stars you saw in my right hand, and of the seven gold lamps:20c–d the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches… (Revised English Bible) -or-
20a–b I will explain the mystery of the seven stars that you saw at my right side and the seven gold lampstands.20c–d The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches… (Contemporary English Version) -or-
20a–b Here is the secret of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands:20c–d The seven lampstands are the seven churches… (New Century Version)
1:20a
mystery: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as mystery refers to truth or knowledge that people have not discovered on their own. Someone else reveals it to them. John did not know the symbolic meaning of the seven stars and the seven lampstands, but Jesus told him in 1:20c–d. Other ways to translate this word are:
the secret meaning (Good News Translation) -or-
The hidden meaning (God’s Word)
of the seven stars: Here the word of means “about” or “concerning.”
1:20b
of the seven golden lampstands: Here the word of means “about” or “concerning.”
1:20c
The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: This clause indicates that each star represented an angel. There was one angel for each church. Other ways to translate this clause are:
The seven stars represent the angels of the seven churches -or-
The seven stars represent seven angels, one for each of the seven churches
the angels of the seven churches: Each angel has some kind of relationship with a church. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
the angels belonging to the seven churches -or-
the angels associated with the seven churches
angels: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as angels can also be translated as “messengers.” It refers here to spirit beings who serve God. The English versions usually translate the Greek word as angels. See how you translated this word in 1:1.
1:20d
and the seven lampstands are the seven churches: This clause indicates that each lampstand represents a church. In some languages a literal translation will not have that meaning. If that is true in your language, translate the correct meaning. For example:
the seven lampstands are ⌊symbolic of⌋ the seven churches
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.