50But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city and stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their region.
The Greek that is often translated as “evil” in English has the option of various terms in Luang with different shades of meaning.
For Acts 24:9 and Gen. 6:11, yata-hala (“bad-wrong”). “This term refers to evil behavior.”
For Acts 27:12, yota-yata (“bad-bad”). “This term refers to the evil results of behavior or to objects of poor quality. (In Acts 27:12 it refers to a bad harbor).”
For Acts 12:11 and 13:50, yatyatni (“its badness”). “This term is often used when evil comes on a person from an outside force.”
Source: Kathy Taber in Notes on Translation 1/1999, p. 9-16.
The term that is transliterated as “Barnabas” in English is translated in American Sign Language with a combination of the signs for the letter B and “encourage” (referring to Acts 11:23). (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Barnabas” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
The Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek terms that are often translated as “worship” (also, “kneel down” or “bow down”) are likewise translated in other languages in certain categories, including those based on physical activity, those which incorporate some element of “speaking” or “declaring,” and those which specify some type of mental activity.
Following is a list of (back-) translations (click or tap for details):
Obolo: itọtọbọ ebum: “express reverence and devotion” (source: Enene Enene)
Ngäbere: “cut oneself down before” (“This figure of speech comes from the picture of towering mahoganies in the forest which, under the woodman’s ax, quiver, waver, and then in solemn, thunderous crashing bury their lofty heads in the upstretched arms of the surrounding forest. This is the experience of every true worshiper who sees ‘the Lord, high and lifted up.’ Our own unworthiness brings us low. As the Valientes say, ‘we cut ourselves down before’ His presence. Our heads, which have been carried high in self-confidence, sink lower and lower in worship.)
Tzeltal: “end oneself before God.” (“Only by coming to the end of oneself can one truly worship. The animist worships his deities in the hope of receiving corresponding benefits, and some pagans in Christendom think that church attendance is a guarantee of success in this life and good luck in the future. But God has never set a price on worship except the price that we must pay, namely, ‘coming to the end of ourselves.'”) (Source of this and the one above: Nida 1952, p. 163)
Folopa: “die under God” (“an idiom that roughly back-translates “dying under God” which means lifting up his name and praising him and to acknowledge by everything one does and thanks that God is superior.”) (Source: Anderson / Moore, p. 202)
Chokwe: kuivayila — “rub something on” (“When anyone goes into the presence of a king or other superior, according to native law and custom the inferior gets down on the ground, takes a little earth in the fingers of his right hand, rubs it on his own body, and then claps his hands in homage and the greeting of friendship. It is a token of veneration, of homage, of extreme gratitude for some favor received. It is also a recognition of kingship, lordship, and a prostrating of oneself in its presence. Yet it simply is the applicative form of ‘to rub something on oneself’, this form of the verb giving the value of ‘because of.’ Thus in God’s presence as king and Lord we metaphorically rub dirt on ourselves, thus acknowledging Him for what He really is and what He has done for us.”) (Source: D. B. Long in The Bible Translator 1952, p. 87ff. )
In the German New Testament translation Fridolin Stier (1989) it is consistently translated as “bow (to someone) deeply” (tief verneigen)
In Luang it is translated with different shades of meaning:
For Mark 15:19 and Matt. 2:8 and 2:11: “uh’idma-rrama llia’ara” — “to kiss the fingernail and lick the heel”
For Acts 16:14: ra’uli-rawedi — “to praise-talk about”
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)
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.
“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 )
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 13:50:
Uma: “But the Yahudi people incited the elders of the town and the rich women who submitted to God, with the result that Paulus and Barnabas were persecuted and expelled from Antiokhia.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “But the Yahudi stirred up the leaders of that place and the prominent women who were not Yahudi but worshiped God, in order that they would oppose Paul and Barnabas. Therefore they sent/drove the two away from that place.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And the leaders there in the city of Antioch and the important women who worship God, (I have given ‘important women’ as the equivalent of one word in Manobo which means ‘the wife of a dat`u’. A dat`u could be any of the leading or important men of the town), the Jews caused them to be angry at Paul and Barnabas, and they drove those two out of the town.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “But the Jews who didn’t believe, they incited-to-wrongdoing the rich women who worshipped God and the respected/acknowledged leaders of the town to begin to cause-hardship to Pablo and Barnabas. And they drove-them -out of that town.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “But, what those Jews at Antioquia did was, they incited the women of high/important blood, who were devout-worshippers of God although they weren’t Jews. They also incited the men who were the most important in that city to oppose Pablo and Bernabe. What else but they expelled them from their place.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
There is usually no difficulty in finding an appropriate term for stirred up since this is such a normal kind of activity in so many societies. One can always employ some descriptive equivalent such as “caused them to oppose.”
Leading men indicates the chief citizens of the community and does not necessarily have any reference to the city officials. Such leading men may simply be “the important men” or “the big men of the city.”
Of high social standing (see Jerusalem Bible “of the upper classes”) translates a term which means “prominent” or “noble.” The word may also mean “rich,” as is suggested by comparing the use of this word in Mark 15.43 with its parallel in Matthew 27.57 where “rich” appears. The Greek text does not state whether the women … who worshiped God (“women sympathizers” New American Bible, “religious and respectable women” Phillips, and “devout women” Revised Standard Version, Jerusalem Bible) were Gentiles or Jews. From the context one would assume that these were Gentile women. In most languages the functional equivalent of high social standing would be represented by a phrase such as “rich women” or “women of rich families.”
Started a persecution may be equivalent to “caused the people to persecute” or “caused the people to attack Paul and Barnabas.”
Threw them out may be rendered as “caused them to flee” or “caused them to leave.” The phrase must not be translated in such a way as to imply literal throwing.
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 .
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
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