Bible Dictionary
TRANSLATION
Translation can mean transfer from one place or condition to another. In Hebrews 11:5 it refers especially to Enoch’s being taken by God from earthly life without experiencing death, a truth also associated with Elijah and the promised transformation of believers.
Definition
Translation means transfer from one place or condition to another. In its distinctive biblical sense, it denotes removal from earthly life to the heavenly state without the intervening experience of death.
Biblical Usage
The term is applied especially to Enoch in Hebrews 11:5. The supplied material also connects the same kind of change with Elijah and with the transformation described in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52.
Historical Background
The verb is used once in the Old Testament in the sense of transfer and several times in the New Testament. Scripture records Enoch’s translation without explaining the accompanying circumstances or the precise nature of the change.
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>trans-la'-shun: The verb "translate" is found once in the Old Testament (2Sa 3:10 the King James Version, in the sense of "to transfer") and 3 times in the New Testament (Col 1:13, methistemi, where it means "to transfer"; twice in Heb 11:5, where it has the quasi-technical sense of removing one from the earthly to the heavenly state without the intervening experience of death).</p><p>The noun "translation" occurs only in Heb 11:5, metathesis, where it refers to the transition, the general nature of which has just been described in connection with the verb. With their customary reserve in regard to such matters, the Scriptures simply record the fact of Enoch's translation without commenting either upon the attendant circumstances, or upon the nature of the change involved in his experience. Doubtless what Paul says in 1Co 15:51,52 applied in the case of Enoch and also in that of Elijah (2Ki 2:11).</p><p>W. M. McPheeters</p>