Paul

The term that is transliterated as “Paul” in English is translated in American Sign Language with a sign that signifies the many letters he wrote. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“Paul” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

In Spanish Sign Language it is translated with a sign depicting putting away a sword, referring to his conversion from a persecutor of Christians to a Christian leader. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)


“Paul (and Saul)” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

Click or tap here to see a short video clip about Paul (source: Bible Lands 2012)

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

Following is a Georgian Orthodox icon of Paul the Apostle from the 14th century (located in the Art Museum of Georgia, Tbilisi).

Orthodox Icons are not drawings or creations of imagination. They are in fact writings of things not of this world. Icons can represent our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. They can also represent the Holy Trinity, Angels, the Heavenly hosts, and even events. Orthodox icons, unlike Western pictures, change the perspective and form of the image so that it is not naturalistic. This is done so that we can look beyond appearances of the world, and instead look to the spiritual truth of the holy person or event. (Source )

The following is a contemporary stained glass window from the Messiah Episcopal Church in St. Paul, Minnesota by Peter Dohmen. Individual glass pieces were made in Germany in accordance with Dohmen’s design, using a technique first developed by Irish monks in the 9th and 10th centuries.

Source for the image and description below: The Stained Glass Windows of Messiah Episcopal Church

“This window is dedicated to St. Paul, the great apostle and missionary, for whom our city is named. At the top of the window is a ship which symbolizes the many missionary journeys of Paul — the Church is our ship, which carries us over the way of life. In the lower section we see Paul on the road to Damascus when he saw a great light and heard our Lord’s voice, which called him to discipleship.”

Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum )

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Paul .

complete verse (1 Corinthians 3:4)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Corinthians 3:4:

  • Uma: “One says: ‘I, I am on-the-side of Paulus.’ Another says: ‘I am on-the-side of Apolos.’ Isn’t this the behavior of people who don’t-yet know the Lord?” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “When some of you say, ‘It is Paul whom I follow,’ others say, ‘As for me, it is Apollos whom I follow,’ you are still opposing each other like the people who do not follow God.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “When there are some of you who say that you are my disciples, and if there’s another one who says that he, by contrast, is a disciple of Apollos, it’s very clear that you are still like people who have not believed.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because if one says, ‘Pablo is the one I follow’ while another says, ‘Apollos for-my-part is the one I follow,’ surely your behavior is the same as that of people who don’t believe, is it not so?” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “For look at this, one person says, ‘As for me, Pablo’s teaching is what I like.’ Another person says, ‘Not me. Apolos (is my choice).’ Is it not so that, deeds like this, they are just like those of people who haven’t yet believed/obeyed?” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Because some of you say, ‘I follow the word Paul says.’ Others say, ‘I follow the word Apollos says.’ Therefore it is apparent that you do like the people do who live here on earth.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on 1 Corinthians 3:4

This verse expands and illustrates the meaning of verse 3, but does not do it logically. So Revised Standard Version‘s For is a weak connection. It may be omitted in translation (so New International Version, Revised English Bible).

I belong can be rendered in many languages as “I am a disciple of.” See also the comments on 1.12.

The last part of the verse needs expansion in some languages, including English. The literal answer to the question are you not merely men? is clearly “Yes, we are.” But verse 3 has shown that the question is not intended literally; it is a rhetorical question. It describes a purely human way of life lived apart from the Holy Spirit. For this reason Fee renders this clause as “… are you not acting like mere men?” One may also translate this clause as a statement; for example, “you are acting like worldly people!” or “you are acting according to human standards!”

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, 2nd edition. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1985/1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on 1 Corinthians 3:4

3:4a For when one of you says, “I follow Paul,”

For if one of you says, “I listen to Paul,”
-or-
When some people say that they are following my/Paul’s teaching,
-or-

⌊I say that⌋ because some of you say, “As for us (excl.), Paul is our teacher,”

3:4b and another, “I follow Apollos,”

while another of you says, “I listen to Apollos,”

and other people say that they are following Apollos’s teaching,
-or-
but others of you are saying, “As for us (excl.), Apollos is our teacher.”

3:4c are you not mere men?

are you not just like the rest of the world?
-or-
you are behaving like people who do not know God.
-or-
That behavior/talk of yours shows that you are no different from the people of this world.

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