Ayutla Mixtec: “see that which will happen” (source for this and seven above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Tagbanwa: “being caused to dream by God” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Chichewa: azidzaona zinthu m’masomphenya: “they will see things as if face-to-face” (interconfessional translation, publ. 1999) (Source: Wendland 1998, p. 69)
The Greek in the books of Revelation and Acts is translated as obq-rmwible: “look-dream” in Natügu. Brenda Boerger (in Beerle-Moor / Voinov, p. 162ff.) tells the story of that translation: “In the book of Revelation, the author, John, talks about having visions. Mr. Simon [the native language translator] and I discussed what this meant and he invented the compound verb obq-rmwible ‘look-dream’ to express it. Interestingly, during village testing no one ever had to ask what this neologism meant.”
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 Zechariah 13:4:
Kupsabiny: “On that day those prophets of lies will get/find/meet with shame on account of their revelations, so that they do not put on the clothes of prophets wanting/trying to deceive.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his prophetic vision, and he will not wear a garment made of hair that a false prophet wears to deceive others. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “That prophets will-be-ashamed of their saying of the vision. They will-wear no more/longer the prophet’s clothes that (are) made from fur/hair of animal(s) in-order-to deceive/trick,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “At that time, the false prophets will be ashamed that they claimed to have received messages from me in their visions and prophesies that they told to people. They will no longer deceive people by wearing the clothes that prophets usually wear, clothes made of animals’ hair.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
On that day again represents the longer Hebrew formula, as in 12.9 and 13.2, and thus indicates the beginning of another new paragraph. The topic, however, continues to be false prophets and there is no need for another section heading. In verses 2-3 the focus was on the false prophet in relation to his own family; in verses 4-6 the focus widens to the false prophet in relation to the community more generally.
Every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies: Revised Standard Version is not clear about the relationship in time between the prophesying and the shame. There are several possible ways to understand the sentence:
(1) Revised Standard Version and New Revised Standard Version seem to imply that the false prophets will continue their activity, but will be ashamed of it (compare Bible de Jérusalem, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible);
(2) New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh interprets the clause to mean that the false prophets will be ashamed of the prophetic visions they had in the past;
(3) Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, New American Bible, and probably New Jerusalem Bible assume that the false prophets will continue to have visions, but because of their shame, will be reluctant to proclaim them openly, though they may perhaps do so secretly;
(4) Bible en français courant, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, and Contemporary English Version take the vision and the prophecy to refer to the same event and understand that the false prophets will be too ashamed to prophesy and thus reveal their visions at all. Contemporary English Version has “Those prophets will be ashamed of their so-called visions.”
Good News Translation has avoided the question and it is not clear how it has understood the Hebrew text.
The first option above does not seem to fit the context and should be avoided. The other three options all make good sense, but in our judgment, the fourth one offers the best sense. Model renderings could be “the [false] prophets will be ashamed to prophesy and tell their visions,” “… to speak out, revealing their visions,” and even “… to speak the messages they claim that the LORD has revealed to them in a vision [or, dream].” In the Old Testament it is often difficult to distinguish visions from dreams, and in many cultures visions will be thought of as dreams where a god or spirit reveals a message. In the present context the prophets will be ashamed that they claimed to have received a message from the LORD in a dream (or, vision).
He will not put on a hairy mantle in order to deceive: A hairy mantle means “a robe of coarse hair” (compare Matt 3.4). This kind of garment was apparently the typical clothing of a prophet, such as Elijah (2 Kgs 1.8) or Elisha (1 Kgs 19.19; 2 Kgs 2.12-13). It was regarded almost as a badge of office, and could be adopted by anyone claiming to be a prophet.
There is another problem of interpretation in this verse, though it seems to have escaped the attention of most commentators. This concerns the relationship of the final phrase in order to deceive with the rest of the verse. Most scholars seem to assume that it is related to putting on the coarse robe. This understanding could be expressed more fully as “No longer will false prophets put on the coarse robes they use to deceive people into thinking they are genuine prophets”; that is to say, they will no longer make false claims about their status. This makes sense, but it is not obvious that it is the sense that best fits the context. The thrust of verses 4-6 is that the false prophets will not merely give up claiming authority, but that they will deny any connection with prophecy. Thus the rendering of New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh “In order to deceive, he will not wear a hairy mantle” has the advantage of fitting the context better. The false prophets will give up the typical clothing of a prophet in order to deceive people into thinking that they have no links with prophecy at all. Even in giving up their false claims, they act in character by continuing to deceive. The Hebrew is certainly capable of carrying this interpretation, and we recommend it to translators. A model rendering is “In order to deceive people, the [false] prophets will give up wearing the coarse robes made of animal hair, such as prophets usually wear.”
A possible alternative translation model for this verse is:
• At that time every false prophet will be ashamed to prophesy and tell his so-called visions [or, dreams]. In order to deceive people, the false prophets will stop wearing the coarse robes that true prophets usually wear.
Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Zechariah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2002. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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