Translation commentary on Acts 2:27

The pronoun you of verse 27 refers to God, and in many languages this must be made explicit, “you, God.”

As used in this context, the term for soul should identify that part of the individual which is regarded as going on to the next world—the immaterial portion of man, in contrast to his body, referred to in verse 27b.

For David the meaning of this verse was that God would save him from death, that is, God would not let him die and go down into the world of the dead. Peter has applied the verse to Jesus, and has given the meaning that God will not abandon the soul of Jesus in the world of the dead, that is, God will not let Jesus stay there.

Your devoted servant translates “your holy one,” which is used in the sense of one who belongs to and serves God. The translation of Greek hosion “holy one” is difficult, since it involves in this possessed form two principal components: (1) dependency and (2) dedication to. The Good News Translation has attempted to indicate these two components in the phrase devoted servant. In other languages, one may have “your loyal servant” or “the one who is dedicated to worship you.”

In many languages one cannot speak of a servant suffering decay. Rather, it is the body of such a person which decays; it is the person who dies and the body which rots. This means that in some languages this final clause would be rendered as “you will not permit the corpse of your devoted servant to decay.”

“Decay” is variously expressed in different languages. In some it is specifically associated with worms and maggots, for example, “you will not permit maggots to eat the corpse.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Acts of the Apostles. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

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