In many languages, “events which are implied in a chronological sequence need to be inserted in the translation (…) In Acts 1:4 Jesus says, ‘Do not leave Jerusalem , but wait . . . ‘; in Gadsup the words ‘and then go’ were added at the end, otherwise the readers will think the injunction was never to leave.”
complete verse (Acts 1:4)
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 1:4:
- Uma: “One time, while he was meeting with them, he gave them this command. He said to them: ‘Don’t leave Yerusalem yet. For now wait here until my Father gives you what he promised, what I said to you previously.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “Once while they were gathered, he instructed them, he said, ‘Do not depart yet (dahu’) from Awrusalam. You wait first for what my Father promised which I told you about.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And one day when they were gathered together he said to them, ‘Do not go away from here, from the town of Jerusalem, but rather wait until (the end of the time) you are not yet given that which our father God promised. I told you about this before.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “One-time when they were gathered-together, Jesus commanded them, ‘Juan, he baptized people with water, but in-the-future you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Therefore do not leave here in Jerusalem but rather wait for the Holy Spirit who will be given-as-a-gift (lit. gifted) to you, because he is the one whom I told you before that my Father promised.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “Once when the apostles were gathered together, Jesus commanded that they were not to leave Jerusalem yet. He said, ‘Wait for what the Father promised, which I have already told you.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
- Morelos Nahuatl: “While he was still with them he ordered them not to go from Jerusalem. He said: ‘Wait until the word happens which our Father God spoke in time past. I have already told you about that.'”
- Teutila Cuicatec: “During the time that he was still with these apostles, he told them: ‘Don’t leave the city of Jerusalem. Wait until the day comes when what God the Father established about his Holy Spirit descending will be fulfilled. It was about this I spoke to you in former days.'”
- Lalana Chinantec:” When he was living with his sent ones, Jesus said: ‘Don’t go out of the town of Jerusalem. Stay put. Because it is necessary that you wait for the Great Spirit whom God my Father will send as I have told you. Because God my Father says that he will send you his Great Spirit.'” (Source for this and two above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Jerusalem
The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:
“Jerusalem” in French Sign Language (source: La Bible en langue des signes française )
While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)
“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Jerusalem .
Father (address for God)
The Greek that is translated with the capitalized “Father” in English when referring to God is translated in Highland Totonac with the regular word for (biological) father to which a suffix is added to indicate respect. The same also is used for “Lord” when referring to Jesus. (Source: Hermann Aschmann in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 171ff. )
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. In the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017, God the Father is addressed with mi-chichi (御父). This form has the “divine” honorific prefix mi– preceding the archaic honorific form chichi for “father.”
If, however, Jesus addresses his Father, he is using chichi-o (父を) which is also highly respectful but does not have the “divine” honorific. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
See also Lord and my / our Father.
1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)
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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 choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
See also pronoun for “God”.
Honorary "rare" construct denoting God ("order/command")
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 morphemes rare (られ) or are (され) are 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, meiji-rare-ru (命じられる) or “order/command” is used.
(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Translation commentary on Acts 1:4
The verb which is translated when they came together may have two different meanings. It may be derived from a stem meaning “eat salt together with” and thereby have reference to a meal: “while he was eating a meal with them.” On the other hand, it may come from a root meaning “camp out with” or “stay with,” and so be translated “while he was staying with them.” The most generic manner of dealing with this verb is to translate it as “while he was with them.” It may be necessary to employ some temporal modifier, for example, “still” or “yet,” as in “while he was still with them.”
The original manuscripts were left without any type of punctuation. For this reason, translations many times differ in details of punctuation. For example, the Good News Translation places in direct discourse everything beginning with do not leave Jerusalem down to the end of verse 5. Other punctuation alternatives are possible, and one may compare, for example, the Revised Standard Version and the New English Bible, both of which punctuate differently. However, it is very useful to introduce the direct discourse as in the Good News Translation, so that the relationship may be quite explicit. The phrase gave them this order may be variously rendered, for example, “he ordered them in this way,” “he commanded them with these words,” “he ordered them,” or “he told them strongly.”
The Good News Translation translates “to wait for the promise of the Father” by wait for the gift my Father promised. This has been done since the meaning is clearly that the disciples are to wait for that which the Father had already promised, namely, the Holy Spirit. They were not told to wait for the Father to promise them something.
Some translators have wanted to introduce “Father God” here, but it is not necessary—certainly not at this point in the development of the New Testament narrative. The addition of “God” would seem to remove some of the personal character of the expression.
The clause that I told you about may be rendered as an independent (but closely linked) sentence, for example, “I have told you about it.” If it is advisable in the receptor language to keep the disciples in focus, one may translate as “which you heard me mention” or “you heard me speak about this.”
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 1:4
Paragraph 1:4–5
1:4a–d
And while they were gathered together, He commanded them: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift the Father promised, which you have heard Me discuss.”: The Greek has 1:4b–c as indirect speech. For example:
4aAnd while staying with them he charged them 4bnot to depart from Jerusalem, 4cbut to wait for the promise of the Father, 4dwhich, he said, “you heard from me, (Revised Standard Version)
However, it may be easier for your readers to begin the direct quote with 1:4b, as in the Berean Standard Bible.
1:4a
And: Some English versions add the phrase “On one occassion” here to make it clear that 1:4a–5b occurred during the 40 days (1:3d). However, the Berean Standard Bible does not do this. If it would be natural in your language to include this implied information, here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
On one occasion… (New International Version)
-or-
Once, (God’s Word)
while they were gathered together: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as gathered together is rarely used and its meaning is not clear. There are four main interpretations of this verb:
(1) It means was together with. Here is another way to translate this:
And when they came together (Good News Translation)
(Good News Translation, God’s Word, NET Bible, Revised English Bible, King James Version, New American Bible, Revised Edition)
(2) It means eat with. Here is another way to translate this:
Once when he was eating with them (New Century Version)
(New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New Century Version, New Living Translation (2004))
(3) It means stay with. Here is another way to translate this:
And while staying with them (Revised Standard Version)
(Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version)
(4) It means gather. For example:
Gathering them together (New American Standard Bible)
(Berean Standard Bible, New American Standard Bible)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).
1:4b
Do not leave Jerusalem: This command is further explained in 1:4c. Jesus wanted them to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came. For example:
Don’t leave Jerusalem yet. (Contemporary English Version)
1:4c–d
but wait for the gift the Father promised: The word gift refers to the Holy Spirit. God had already promised to send the Holy Spirit to the believers. It is like a gift, because there is nothing they can do to require God to give it. In some languages people would not think a literal translation would refer to the Holy Spirit. If that is true in your language, you may want to:
• Explain the meaning in your translation. For example:
wait for the gift my Father promised, ⌊namely the Holy Spirit⌋
-or-
wait for the gift ⌊of the Holy Spirit⌋ that my Father promised
• Explain the meaning in a footnote. Here is an example footnote:
The word “gift” refers to the Holy Spirit here.
the Father: This phrase refers to God here. In some languages people would think that a literal translation refers to someone else. If that is true in your language, you may want to explain in your translation. For example:
⌊God⌋ my Father
General Comment on 1:4b–d
In some languages it is more natural to have the positive command first, then the negative command. For example:
4cWait in Jerusalem for the gift my Father promised, 4dwhich you have heard me speak about. 4bDo not leave.
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