The Greek in Acts 16:16 that is translated in English as “(she had a) spirit of divination” or similar is translated in Morelos Nahuatl as “in that girl’s heart lived a demon. That demon could say what was going to happen before it happened,” in Lalana Chinantec as “she carried an evil spirit. Therefore she was able to make words ahead of time as to what would happen,” or in Coatlán Mixe as “she has a devil with her with which she foretells.” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
In Yalunka an existing local term for “spirit of divination” is used: ninginangana. (Source: Pruett 2014, p. 259)
See also divination
The Greek in Acts 23:3 that is translated in English as “(you) whitewashed wall” is translated in a number of ways:
- Lalana Chinantec: “you are like a masonry wall on which they have put white paint. It is no longer evident what it is like inside.” (Source: John Beekman in Notes on Translation, March 1965, p. 2ff.)
- Bariai: “a disintegrating wall and yet they applied paint to it so that it merely looks good” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
- Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac: “deceiver”
- Eastern Highland Otomi: “you talk up above (not from the heart)”
- Morelos Nahuatl: “you change words (you are a hypocrite)”
- Mezquital Otomi: “you two faced person”
- Rincón Zapotec: “you who make your face broad” (source for this and four above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
- Dan: “whitewashed tomb” (to highlight the hypocrisy) (Source: Don Slager)
- Mairasi: “you bad person and you liar trying to be like a clean person” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
See also complete verse (Acts 23:3) and complete verse (Matthew 23:37).
The Greek in Acts 1:25 that is translated “go to his own place” in English is translated as “go to hell” in Morelos Nahuatl, as “went to see the suffering of his sin” in Eastern Highland Otomi, as “arrived at an evil place” in Isthmus Mixe, and as “went to his own place in the dark place” in Rincón Zapotec. (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
The Greek in Acts 7:44 that is translated as “tent of testimony” or similar in English is translated as
- “a leather house which they could pack up again, where they remembered God” in Lalana Chinantec
- “cloth house where they worshiped God” in Eastern Highland Otomi
- “cloth house where God spoke to the people” in Chichimeca-Jonaz
- “house of God where they kept the stones on which were written the commandments of God” in Morelos Nahuatl
- “small holy house which was of the skins of animals, in it were the stones which contained the ten commandments” in San Mateo del Mar Huave
- “church inside which the slates on which God’s law was written were kept” in Teutila Cuicatec (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
- “Tent of meeting God” in Nigerian Fulfulde (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
- “the tent of the testimony showing that God is present” in Elhomwe (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
- “God’s shelter together with the box of the law which confirmed his talk” in Bariai (source: Bariai Back Translation)
- “Great Above One’s Cloth House” in Mairiasi (source: Enggavoter 2004)
See also tabernacle (noun) and tent of meeting.
The Greek in Acts 4:20 that is translated as “we cannot keep from speaking” or similar in English is translated as “it is not possible that we leave off this talking” in Coatlán Mixe, as “by all means we are going to tell” in Isthmus Mixe, and as “if it’s right or it isn’t right, we can’t shut out mouths” in Morelos Nahuatl. (Source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
The Hebrew and Greek that is often translated as “your blood be on your own heads” or similar in English is translated as
- “you have the guilt if you don’t receive eternal life” in Highland Popoluca
- “you are to blame if you lose your own souls” in Coatlán Mixe
- “you will be to blame yourselves when you do not go to a good place” in Isthmus Mixe
- “you will be lost but you are at fault yourselves” in Morelos Nahuatl
- “you are the ones who are guilty that you will be lost” in Lalana Chinantec (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
- “if you die in your bad deeds, it’s your own bad fault” in Bariai (source: Bariai Back Translation)
- “let your own blood alone eat you” in Kupsabiny (source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
- “You have killed yourselves with your own heart” in Chichewa (source: Wendland 1987, p. 28)
- “your blood will be to you” (existing idiom) in Kwere (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
The Greek that is often translated as “captain of the temple” in English is translated in the following ways:
- Desano: “captain of the temple chief of the persons who guard the big temple”
- Eastern Highland Otomi: “boss of the big church of the Jews”
- Chuj: “chief of the guards of God’s house”
- Isthmus Mixe: “church building leader”
- Lalana Chinantec: “boss of the soldiers of the church
- Ayutla Mixtec: “he who is over the soldiers of the temple”
- Morelos Nahuatl: “the chief of police of the big church” (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
The Greek in Acts 7:19 that is translated into English as “forced our ancestors to abandon their infants” or similar is translated as “commanded that the little boys should be thrown to a bad place” in San Mateo Del Mar Huave, as “as soon as their sons were born they were to go and throw them out” in Teutila Cuicatec, as “were ordered by force to carry away their children to die” in Isthmus Mixe, and as “made them leave their children to one side alone to die” in Morelos Nahuatl. (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
