complete verse (2 Corinthians 11:33)

Following are a number of back-translations of 2 Corinthians 11:33:

  • Uma: “But my companions helped me. They lowered me in a basket through a hole in the wall, and I escaped.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But there were people who helped me. I was let down by them in a basket from a window there in the stone fence that surrounded that town. Then I was able to escape from him.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “However, there were some people who helped me and they placed me in a big basket and lowered me there through a window outside the high wall of the fort there of the town and I escaped.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But there were those-who-helped-me. They got a large basket (RL baskit), and they put-it-outside the window in order for me to ride-in-it. Then they lowered it from the high stone-wall that was the enclosure of the town so that I could escape.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But my companions put me inside a large-basket and then put it out through the window of the house in which I was staying, in order to lower-me -down on the other side of the city-wall. That’s how I was able to escape.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “But there where I was, I got in a basket and was lowered through an opening which was in the wall going around the city. Thus I got out of there and escaped.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

survive / escape / save

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “survive,” “escape,” “save,” or similar in English is translated in the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) in these verses with pulumuka, describing someone whose life was in danger but who has freed himself or herself. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

Translation commentary on 2 Corinthians 11:33

I was let down: in languages where an active formulation is required, one may say “some people let me down” or “my friends lowered me.”

The basket in which Paul was let down through the wall was apparently large enough to hold an adult man and may have been made out of braided ropes.

The wall refers to the wall that surrounded the city of Damascus. Translators should understand that dwellings were built into the city wall so that in some cases the window of a house would look out over the countryside surrounding the city. In this way it was possible to escape from the city without passing through the closely guarded gates. In some languages the word window may have to be translated “an opening [or, hole] in the wall.”

Escaped his hands: the word hands is, of course, used figuratively. See Good News Translation “escaped from him.” The idea is that Paul escaped from the forces of the governor. Moffatt, An American Translation, and Revised English Bible speak of escaping from “his clutches.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellingworth, Paul. A Handbook on Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on 2 Corinthians 11:33

11:33a But I was lowered in a basket through a window in the wall

But I was ⌊put⌋ in a basket and lowered from a window in the wall of the city
-or-
But friends ⌊tied a long rope to⌋ a ⌊large⌋ basket and ⌊put⌋ me ⌊in it and⌋ lowered it to the ground ⌊outside the town⌋ through a small opening in the wall,

11:33b and escaped his grasp.

and escaped from the ruler.
-or-
and I fled ⌊to safety⌋ from the governor/mayor.

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