three men

The Greek that is translated as “three men” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) with “two men.” The translators note (p. 530) that “just as in Acts 10:7 the soldier has only been sent for protection and does not count.”

In Acts 11:11 Berger/Nord have “two messengers and one soldier.”

vision

Click here to view graphically

The Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin and Greek that is translated as “vision” in English is translated in a variety in the following languages:

  • Chol: “as if in a dream” (source: Robert Bascom)
  • Obolo: ilaak ọkpọchieen̄ or “dreaming awake” (source: Enene Enene)
  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “a showing like dreams”
  • Desano: “see in a dream what God will send”
  • Rincón Zapotec: “see what God shows”
  • Mayo: “see things from God as in a dream”
  • Lalana Chinantec: “dream how it is going to be”
  • Chuj: “like dreaming they see”
  • San Mateo del Mar Huave: “understand what they see as if in a dream”
  • Ayutla Mixtec: “see that which will happen” (source for this and seven above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
  • Tagbanwa: “being caused to dream by God” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Chichewa: azidzaona zinthu m’masomphenya: “they will see things as if face-to-face” (interconfessional translation, publ. 1999) (Source: Wendland 1998, p. 69)
  • Mandarin Chinese: yì xiàng (异象 / 異象), lit. “different (or: strange) appearance.” (Source: Zetzsche)

The Greek in the books of Revelation and Acts is translated as obq-rmwible: “look-dream” in Natügu. Brenda Boerger (in Beerle-Moor / Voinov, p. 162ff.) tells the story of that translation: “In the book of Revelation, the author, John, talks about having visions. Mr. Simon [the native language translator] and I discussed what this meant and he invented the compound verb obq-rmwible ‘look-dream’ to express it. Interestingly, during village testing no one ever had to ask what this neologism meant.”

See also see a vision.

Peter

Following is a Armenian Orthodox icon of Peter (found in the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in Shusha, Azerbaijan).

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 )

Following is a hand colored stencil print on momigami of Peter by Sadao Watanabe (1970):

Image taken with permission from the SadaoHanga Catalogue where you can find many more images and information about Sadao Watanabe. For other images of Sadao Watanabe art works in TIPs, see here.

In Finnish Sign Language it is translated with the sign signifying “key” (referring to Matthew 16:19). (Source: Tarja Sandholm)


“Peter” or “Cephas” in Finnish Sign Language (source )

In Swiss-German Sign Language it is translated with the sign for “rock,” referring to the meaning of the Greek word for “Peter.”


“Peter” in Swiss-German Sign Language, source: DSGS-Lexikon biblischer Begriffe , © CGG Schweiz

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

See also Peter – rock.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Peter .

complete verse (Acts 10:19)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 10:19:

  • Uma: “While Petrus was still thinking, the Holy Spirit said to him like this: ‘Listen! there are three people here looking for you (sing.).” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “During that time Petros was still there thinking as to what the meaning was of what he had seen. Then God’s Spirit said to him, ‘Listen. There are three men there looking for you.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And Peter, at that time, was still thinking about what was to be understood by what he had seen, and then the Holy Spirit said to him, ‘There are three men looking for you.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Pedro, he was still continuing-to-think-about the significance of what God had shown him, so the Spirit of God said to him, ‘There are three people looking-for you (sing.).” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “As for Pedro, he was still trying-to-understand what had been shown to him. The Espiritu Santo said to him, ‘Pedro, listen well. There are three people looking for you.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Lalana Chinantec: “As Peter was meditating what he had dreamed about, the Great Spirit spoke to Peter: ‘Three Gentiles who are looking for you have arrived at your house.'” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)

Honorary "are" construct denoting God ("say")

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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, iw-are-ru (言われる) or “say” is used.

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

Spirit (of God) (Japanese honorifics)

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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-tama (御霊) or “Spirit (of God)” in the referenced verses.

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

See also Holy Spirit

Translation commentary on Acts 10:19

The simultaneous character of certain events is clearly marked by the clauses Peter was still trying to understand.

It may be necessary in this context to use the full expression “Holy Spirit” rather than merely Spirit since the relationship of Spirit to visions might imply in some languages not the Holy Spirit but some other kind of spirit.

The introductory particle often translated “behold” is far more accurately rendered in this context as Listen!

Three men, that is, the two household servants and the soldier, appears in some manuscripts as “two men” (meaning the two servants without reference to the soldier escorting them), and in others by “some” as New English Bible and Jerusalem Bible. The manuscript evidence favors three and, if it were original, the change to “two” may be explained as the work of a scribe who sought to make the text conform with what he read in verse 7, where the two servants are understood as messengers and the soldier as a guard to accompany them. The rendering “some” appears to be an attempt not to face the problem occasioned by the inclusion of numeral.

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 .