complete verse (Acts 1:23)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 1:23:

  • Uma: “From there, two men were pointed-out. The name of one, Yusuf Barsabas, and one was Matias. (This Yusuf, there were also those who called him Yustus.)” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then two names were mentioned for them to choose from. One was Yusup, also named Barsabbas, (also called Justus) and one was Mattiyas.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And they chose out to males. Joseph Justus and Matthias. (One of the names here of this Joseph was Barsaba.)” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Then they told the names of two people to choose between, Jose Barsabbas who was also named Justus and Matias.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Therefore two people were chosen by them to be chosen between as to which was possible/acceptable, Matias and Jose Justo, who was called Barsabas.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Acts 1:23

Following Peter’s speech two men are nominated by the group: Joseph, who was called Barsabbas…, and Matthias. After the election of Matthias neither of these men is again mentioned in the New Testament.

The pronoun they refers undoubtedly to the entire group of believers. Accordingly, it is probably necessary to introduce the nominal expression at this point, for example, “the believers spoke the names of two men” or “the believers suggested the names of two men.”

The additional names of Joseph may need to be introduced in a somewhat different way in some languages, for example, “people also called him Barsabbas and they also called him Justus.” In other languages one may say, “he was also known as Barsabbas and some people called him Justus” or “he had two other names, Barsabbas and Justus.”

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Acts 1:23

Paragraph 1:23–26

1:23a

So they proposed two men: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as So is literally “and.” The Greek word indicates that the story continues. But Peter stopped talking and the people responded. So the Berean Standard Bible and the Good News Translation add the word So.

they proposed two men: The pronoun they probably refers to the entire group of believers (similar to what happened in 6:5–6). But since it is unclear to whom it refers here, some English versions avoid using the pronoun. For example:

Having nominated two candidates (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
Two names were put forward: (Revised English Bible)

proposed: This word is literally “put/placed.” It indicates that the group suggested these two men to replace Judas. Here are some other ways to translate this word:

put…before (New Century Version)
-or-
nominated (New Jerusalem Bible)

1:23b

Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus): People called Joseph by the name Barsabbas for a reason that the Greek does not say. It could mean “Son of Sabbas.” It could also mean “Son of the Sabbath,” indicating that he was born on a Sabbath day. Write the name as Barsabbas. Justus was his Roman name. Many men were named Joseph at that time, so Luke probably wrote these other two names so that people would know which Joseph he meant. This man was not Jesus’ mother’s husband.

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