en_tm/translate/figs-pastforfuture/01.md

### Description

The predictive past is a figure of speech that uses the past tense to refer to things that will happen in the future. This is sometimes done in prophecy to show that the event will certainly happen. It is also called the prophetic perfect.

### Reasons this is a translation issue:

Readers who are not aware of the past tense being used in prophecy to refer to future events may find it confusing.

### Examples from the Bible

>Therefore my people have gone into captivity for lack of understanding;
>their leaders go hungry, and their masses have nothing to drink. (Isaiah 5:13 ULB)

In the example above, the people of Israel had not yet gone into captivity, but God spoke of their going into captivity as if it had already happened because he had decided that they certainly would go into captivity.

>Now all the entrances to Jericho were closed because of the army of Israel. No one went out and no one came in. Yahweh said to Joshua, "See, I have handed over to you Jericho, its king, and its trained soldiers." (Joshua 6:1-2 ULB)

>For to us a child has been born, to us a son has been given;
>and the rule will be on his shoulder; (Isaiah 9:6 ULB)

In the examples above, God spoke of things that would happen in the future as if they had already happened.

>And about these people also Enoch, the seventh in line from Adam, foretold, saying, "Look, the Lord came with tens of thousands of his holy ones, (Jude 1:14 ULB)

Enoch was speaking of something that would happen in the future, but he used the past tense when he said "the Lord came.”

### Translation Strategies

If the past tense would be natural and give the right meaning in your language, consider using it. If not, here are some other options.

1. Use the future tense to refer to future events.
1. If it refers to something in the immediate future, use a form that would show that.
1. Some languages may use the present tense to show that something will happen very soon.

### Examples of Translation Strategies Applied

1. Use the future tense to refer to future events.

* **For to us a child <u>has been born</u>, to us a son <u>has been given</u>** ... (Isaiah 9:6a ULB)
  * For to us a child <u>will be born</u>, to us a son <u>will be given</u> ...  
  
1. If it refers to something that would happen very soon, use a form that shows that.

* **Yahweh said to Joshua, "See, I <u>have handed</u> over to you Jericho, its king, and its trained soldiers."** (Joshua 6:2 ULB)
  * Yahweh said to Joshua, "See, I <u>am about to hand</u> over to you Jericho, its king, and its trained soldiers."  
  
1. Some languages may use the present tense to show that something will happen very soon.

* **Yahweh said to Joshua, "See, I <u>have handed</u> over to you Jericho, its king, and its trained soldiers."** (Joshua 6:2 ULB)
  * Yahweh said to Joshua, "See, I <u>am handing</u> over to you Jericho, its king, and its trained soldiers."
combined tA into RCs 2017-04-14 23:13:59 +00:00			`### Description`
Fixes for blank lines around headers 2017-11-30 14:38:09 +00:00
combined tA into RCs 2017-04-14 23:13:59 +00:00			`The predictive past is a figure of speech that uses the past tense to refer to things that will happen in the future. This is sometimes done in prophecy to show that the event will certainly happen. It is also called the prophetic perfect.`

Standardized heading 2018-10-22 15:07:48 +00:00			`### Reasons this is a translation issue:`
Fixes for blank lines around headers 2017-11-30 14:38:09 +00:00
Removed trailing whitespace at end of lines 2017-11-29 21:40:43 +00:00			`Readers who are not aware of the past tense being used in prophecy to refer to future events may find it confusing.`
combined tA into RCs 2017-04-14 23:13:59 +00:00
Removed trailing whitespace at end of lines 2017-11-29 21:40:43 +00:00			`### Examples from the Bible`
combined tA into RCs 2017-04-14 23:13:59 +00:00
Issue 64 (Predictive Past) 2018-10-22 14:17:07 +00:00			`>Therefore my people have gone into captivity for lack of understanding;`
			`>their leaders go hungry, and their masses have nothing to drink. (Isaiah 5:13 ULB)`

			`In the example above, the people of Israel had not yet gone into captivity, but God spoke of their going into captivity as if it had already happened because he had decided that they certainly would go into captivity.`

combined tA into RCs 2017-04-14 23:13:59 +00:00			`>Now all the entrances to Jericho were closed because of the army of Israel. No one went out and no one came in. Yahweh said to Joshua, "See, I have handed over to you Jericho, its king, and its trained soldiers." (Joshua 6:1-2 ULB)`

Removed trailing whitespace at end of lines 2017-11-29 21:40:43 +00:00			`>For to us a child has been born, to us a son has been given;`
combined tA into RCs 2017-04-14 23:13:59 +00:00			`>and the rule will be on his shoulder; (Isaiah 9:6 ULB)`

			`In the examples above, God spoke of things that would happen in the future as if they had already happened.`

Deleted spurious spaces 2018-10-01 19:01:09 +00:00			`>And about these people also Enoch, the seventh in line from Adam, foretold, saying, "Look, the Lord came with tens of thousands of his holy ones, (Jude 1:14 ULB)`
combined tA into RCs 2017-04-14 23:13:59 +00:00
			`Enoch was speaking of something that would happen in the future, but he used the past tense when he said "the Lord came.”`

Removed trailing whitespace at end of lines 2017-11-29 21:40:43 +00:00			`### Translation Strategies`
combined tA into RCs 2017-04-14 23:13:59 +00:00
Removed trailing whitespace at end of lines 2017-11-29 21:40:43 +00:00			`If the past tense would be natural and give the right meaning in your language, consider using it. If not, here are some other options.`
combined tA into RCs 2017-04-14 23:13:59 +00:00
			`1. Use the future tense to refer to future events.`
			`1. If it refers to something in the immediate future, use a form that would show that.`
			`1. Some languages may use the present tense to show that something will happen very soon.`

Removed trailing whitespace at end of lines 2017-11-29 21:40:43 +00:00			`### Examples of Translation Strategies Applied`
combined tA into RCs 2017-04-14 23:13:59 +00:00
Fixes for ordered lists using parenthesis 2017-11-30 14:15:48 +00:00			`1. Use the future tense to refer to future events.`
combined tA into RCs 2017-04-14 23:13:59 +00:00
Conforming quote marks in examples. 2018-10-10 19:01:17 +00:00			`* For to us a child <u>has been born</u>, to us a son <u>has been given</u> ... (Isaiah 9:6a ULB)`
Final format fix 2018-10-13 13:39:26 +00:00			`* For to us a child <u>will be born</u>, to us a son <u>will be given</u> ...`
Second attempt to fix wrongly deleted spurious spaces, cont'd 2018-10-13 13:26:47 +00:00
Fixes for ordered lists using parenthesis 2017-11-30 14:15:48 +00:00			`1. If it refers to something that would happen very soon, use a form that shows that.`
combined tA into RCs 2017-04-14 23:13:59 +00:00
			`* Yahweh said to Joshua, "See, I <u>have handed</u> over to you Jericho, its king, and its trained soldiers." (Joshua 6:2 ULB)`
Final format fix 2018-10-13 13:39:26 +00:00			`* Yahweh said to Joshua, "See, I <u>am about to hand</u> over to you Jericho, its king, and its trained soldiers."`
Second attempt to fix wrongly deleted spurious spaces, cont'd 2018-10-13 13:26:47 +00:00
Fixes for ordered lists using parenthesis 2017-11-30 14:15:48 +00:00			`1. Some languages may use the present tense to show that something will happen very soon.`
combined tA into RCs 2017-04-14 23:13:59 +00:00
			`* Yahweh said to Joshua, "See, I <u>have handed</u> over to you Jericho, its king, and its trained soldiers." (Joshua 6:2 ULB)`
Unordered list indentation fixes 2017-11-30 14:46:49 +00:00			`* Yahweh said to Joshua, "See, I <u>am handing</u> over to you Jericho, its king, and its trained soldiers."`
Standardized indentation of all bullets 2017-06-27 05:36:26 +00:00