SIL Translator’s Notes on Acts 21:5

21:5a–b

when our time there had ended: This clause in Greek is literally “when the days for us came to be finished/fulfilled.” Probably the captain had told Paul and the others that the sailors would unload their cargo and make the ship ready to sail again in seven days. At this time the seven days were finished. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

when our time was up (New International Version)
-or-
when the allotted time was over
-or-
when the time came for our ship to depart

we set out on our journey: This clause indicates that they left the homes of the believers in Tyre and continued their journey by going first to the ship. Other ways to translate this clause are:

we departed and began to travel again
-or-
we left ⌊their place/homes⌋ and resumed traveling ⌊by going back to the ship

In some languages it is more natural to use only one verb here. For example:

we set off (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
we started on our way again (Contemporary English Version)

21:5c

knelt down: Kneeling in biblical cultures showed that people revered God and were humble before him. In some languages kneeling to pray has a different meaning. If that is true in your language, you may want to:

Explain it in your translation. For example:

we knelt ⌊in humility
-or-
we knelt ⌊reverently and humbly

Use the gesture in your culture that indicates that the person reveres God. You may then want to indicate the literal word in a footnote. An example footnote is:

Literally “knelt.” At that time, kneeling showed that they were reverent and humble.

Translate literally and explain it in a footnote. An example footnote is:

At that time, kneeling showed reverence and humility.

See how you translated a similar clause (“he knelt down with all of them and prayed “) in 20:36.

beach: This refers to the strip of land at the edge of water, usually sandy rather than rocky.

to pray with us: The Greek word is literally “having prayed.” It indicates that they prayed at this time. For example:

and prayed

pray: The word pray refers to the event of speaking to God, either to praise Him, thank Him, or ask Him about something. See how you translated this word in 1:24 or 20:36.

© 2001, 2021 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

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