The bodily transport of human beings from earth to heaven without experiencing death. The term was first used in this sense in Wycliffe’s translation of Heb. 11:5 : “Bei feith ennok was translatid: that he schulde not se deeth, and he was not founden, for the lord translited hym, for bifor translacioun he hadde witnessynge: that he plesid god.” The NT word metatitheµmi , “to translate,” means “to remove from one place to another,” “to transfer,” “to take up.” The only two specific examples of translation recorded in the Bible are those of Enoch ( Gen. 5:24 ; Heb. 11:5 ) and Elijah ( 2 Kings 2:11 ). At the second coming of Christ the living saints will be translated to heaven without seeing death ( 1 Thess. 4:17 ; 1 Cor. 15:51–53 ).
The transfiguration of Jesus provided a miniature representation of the Second Advent ( 2 Peter 1:16–19 ), while Elijah represented those who are to be translated without experiencing death, and Moses the resurrected saints. Translation includes the transformation of the mortal body into a spiritual body resembling the resurrected body of Christ ( 1 Cor. 15:51–53 ; Phil. 3:21 ; see Resurrection ), and a removal of these bodies to the heavenly realm to be united with Christ ( 1 Thess. 4:17 ). See Home of the Redeemed ; Second Advent .