The Greek that is translated as “soldier” in English didn’t have a direct equivalent in Enlhet so it was translated with “those that bind us” (source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. ) and in Noongar it is mammarapa-bakadjiny or “men of fighting” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
prison
The Greek that is translated in English as “prison” is translated in Dehu as moapokamo or “house for tying up people” (source: Maurice Leenhardt in The Bible Translator 1951, p. 97ff. ) and in Noongar as maya-maya dedinyang or “house shut” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
complete verse (Acts 12:4)
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 12:4:
- Uma: “They did arrest Petrus, and jailed him. They ordered four groups of soldiers to guard him, each group of soldiers consisting of four companions. The intention of Herodes was that when the Feast of Passover was past, Petrus’ case would be tried [lit., sat upon] in the eyes of the people and he would be condemned to death.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “After Petros was seized, he was commanded by the king to be imprisoned. Four groups of soldiers he commanded to guard Petros, four in each group. Herod planned that just after that celebration of the Yahudi, he would bring Petros out to the people to be judged.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And after Peter was arrested, Herod had him put in prison and turned him over to four groups of soldiers who would be the ones to guard him. Now there were four soldiers in each group. Herod thought that after the feast which is called the Feast of Passing By, he would investigate Peter in front of the Jews.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “When Pedro then was arrested, Herod had-him-jailed and he had-him-guarded by sixteen soldiers who were four-each taking-turns, because his plan was to judge and have-him -killed being spectated by the many-people when the fiesta was done.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “after arresting him, he just imprisoned him. He committed him to the soldiers, who would guard Pedro four by four. For Herodes was thinking, when that fiesta was finished, he would then cause Pedro to stand in the presence of the crowd of Jews and he would then sentence/judge him.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Translation commentary on Acts 12:4
After his arrest Peter was put in jail represents “whom also having arrested he put in prison.” The reader has no difficulty in understanding that Herod is the one who made the arrest; but inasmuch as a parenthetical statement has intervened since the last mention of Peter by name, it seems best to make “whom” explicit, that is, Peter.
Four groups of four soldiers each is the meaning of the Greek phrase (see New English Bible, Jerusalem Bible, Dios Habla Hoy, La Sainte Bible: Nouvelle version Segond révisée, Zürcher Bibel), but it is made clear by the Revised Standard Version and New American Bible (“four squads of soldiers”). One group of four men would be on guard duty for three hours, followed by the other groups who also would be on duty for periods of three hours each. Peter was chained to two of these guards, and evidently the two others stood on duty at the gate.
In rendering four groups of four soldiers each one may say “four groups of soldiers guarded him successively. Each group contained four soldiers.” Or “… one group after another. Each….”
Herod planned translates the participle “planning,” which a Greek reader could immediately recognize as referring back to Herod, but this is not immediately clear to the English reader, so the Good News Translation has made it explicit. Moreover, in order to avoid a long and complicated sentence structure, the Good News Translation has begun a new sentence here. Luke’s literal expression “to bring him out to the people” should probably be taken in the sense of “to put him on public trial” (so Barclay; also Jerusalem Bible “to try Peter in public”). In some languages this public trial of Peter can be rendered as “bring him out of jail so the people could condemn him to death” or “cause him to be tried where everybody could listen to his being condemned to death.”
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 .