The Greek in Acts 12:20 that is translated as “chamberlain” or “high official” or similar in English is translated as “an authority for the king” in Morelos Nahuatl or as “worker who had much power” in Eastern Highland Otomi. (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Language-specific Insights
footstool
The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is typically translated as “footstool” in English is translated as “(put your enemies) underneath your feet like grass” in Enxet. (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
In Upper Guinea Crioulo it is “(put your enemies) under your feet so you can rest your feet on them.” (Source: David Frank in this blog post )
In Whitesands is is “door-cloth.” “This would be that rag at the door that you use to wipe your feet after walking in the dirt or mud. Similar to a doormat. The point of comparison would be that a door rag is so low in value/position compared to the one using it.” (Source: Greg Carlson)
Non-metaphorical ways to translate this include:
- Chuj: “become ruler above”
- Teutila Cuicatec: “humble (your enemies)”
- Isthmus Mixe: “give authority to gain the victory over (your enemies)”
- Morelos Nahuatl: “deliver (your enemies) into your hands”
- Rincón Zapotec: “make (your enemies) subject to you” (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
member of the court
The Greek in Acts 13:1 that is translated as “(Manean, a) member of the court (of Herod)” or similar in English is translated as “who grew up with Herod as a child” in Sierra de Juárez Zapotec, as “was brought up together with Herod” in Morelos Nahuatl, or “used to live with Herod” Eastern Highland Otomi. (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
serve tables, wait at tables
The Greek in Acts 6:2 that is often translated as “serve tables” or “wait at tables is translated in the following ways:
- Desano: “feed the people”
- Lalana Chinantec: “distribute what (the widows) will eat”
- San Mateo del Mar Huave: “distribute food”
- Ayutla Mixtec: “arrange that which we eat”
- Morelos Nahuatl: “feed our brothers”
- Tepeuxila Cuicatec: “give that they eat”
- Eastern Highland Otomi: “give what to eat to the people”
- Chichimeca-Jonaz: “watch over the tables”
- Garifuna: “attend to these things” (Source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
council
The Greek that is translated as “council” or “Council” in English is (back-) translated in a variety of ways:
- Tzeltal: “officials who gather together”
- Copainalá Zoque: “those who think together”
- Amaganad Ifugao: “those who take charge of the affairs” (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
- Ekari: “place for speech-making/discussion”
- Tae’: “great assembly”
- Sranan Tongo, Javanese: “(high) tribunal”
- Marathi: “assembly of their Judgement-court” (source for this and three above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
- Lalana Chinantec: “the people who judge”
- Chichimeca-Jonaz: “the elders who give them advice”
- Morelos Nahuatl: “junta”
- Sierra de Juárez Zapotec: “assembly of the rulers of the Israelites”
- Isthmus Mixe: “church judges”
- San Mateo del Mar Huave: “big meeting” (source for this and five above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Cyprus
The place name that is transliterated as “Cyprus” in English is translated more specifically as “the island of Cyprus” in some languages. Eastern Highland Otomi for instance has “the land of Cyprus, the little land it sits in the water,” Morelos Nahuatl has “the land-rise of Cyprus,” or Lalana Chinantec has “land in the middle of the water which is called Cyprus.” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
In Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) it is translated with a sign that depicts the shape of the island and “blossoming flower” (a possible meaning of the name). (Source: Missão Kophós )
“Cyprus” in Libras (source )
See also complete verse (Acts 13:4) and Samothrace.
For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see this article in Christianity Today .
grain
The Greek and Hebrew that is translated in English as “grain” (or: “wheat”) is translated in Kui as “(unthreshed) rice.” Helen Evans (in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 40ff. ) explains: “Padddy [unthreshed rice] is the main crop of the country and rice the staple diet of the people, besides which [grain] is unknown and there is no word for it, and it seemed to us that paddy and rice in the mind of the Kui people stood for all that corn meant to the Jews.” “Paddy” is also the translation in Pa’o Karen (source: Gordon Luce in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 153f. ).
Other translations include: “wheat” (Teutila Cuicatec), “corn” (Lalana Chinantec), “things to eat” (Morelos Nahuatl), “grass corn” (wheat) (Chichimeca-Jonaz) (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), “millet” (Lambya) (source: project-specific notes in Paratext), “food” (Nyamwezi) (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext) or ntimumma lujia / “seeds for food” (Lokạạ — “since Lokạạ does not have specific terms for maize and rice that can be described as grains”) (source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )
the nation that they serve
The Greek in Acts 7:7 that is translated as “the nation that they serve” is translated as “that nation which treats your children as though they were animals” in Morelos Nahuatl. (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)