Translation commentary on Acts 15:3

The particle that Luke uses to begin this verse (see 1.6) suggests that this is the beginning of the story and that the previous two verses are merely introductory. The Good News Translation does not express this particle by the translation of any given word, but it is indicated stylistically by the introduction of a new paragraph. In a number of languages the appropriate transitional equivalent to introduce this paragraph would be “so” or “therefore,” since this second paragraph is a logical result of what had been described in the first paragraph.

In the expression “the conversion of the Gentiles” (see Revised Standard Version, New English Bible, Phillips) the word “conversion” obviously means “the turning (of the Gentiles) to God,” and is made explicit in the Good News Translation. Evidently there were Christian communities in Phoenicia as well as in Samaria, though Luke has told us nothing of a mission to Phoenicia. This is a reminder that Luke has been selective in what he has recorded and does not intend to give an exhaustive history of the Christian movement. Luke writes with definite purposes in mind, and one of his obvious goals is to point to the universal nature of the Christian faith.

It may be necessary in some languages to specify Christians as constituting the church, since it may not be possible to say “the church sent them on their way”; therefore an expression such as “the members of the church sent them on their way” or “the people of the church…”

It may be necessary to specify to whom Paul, Barnabas, and others reported the turning of the Gentiles to God—for example, “they reported to the believers there how the Gentiles had turned to God.” The expression turned to God may be rendered in some languages as “came to believe in God,” “became followers of God,” or “became worshipers of God.”

The phrase brought great joy to may need to be recast as a causative—for example, “this news caused all the fellow believers to be very joyful” or, in a more idiomatic manner, “this news caused all the fellow believers to have warm hearts.”

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 15:3

15:3a

15:3a starts with a Greek phrase that means “so then.” It indicates that the story continues and 15:3 (sending Paul and Barnabas and the other men) was a natural result of 15:2. Some ways to connect these verses are:

Then
-or-
And so
-or-
Therefore (New American Standard Bible)

In some languages it is more natural not to use a conjunction here.

Sent on their way by the church: In Greek, this is a passive clause. This keeps the focus on Paul and Barnabas. For example:

being sent on their way by the church, they… (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
They were sent on their way by the church (Good News Translation)

Some languages must use an active clause. For example:

The church/believers sent the two of them and they started traveling ⌊to Jerusalem⌋

Sent on their way: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Sent on their way implies that the believers at Antioch gave money and food to Paul, Barnabas and the others for their needs of their journey. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

sent them with help for the journey
-or-
as they left, they were helped by the believers
-or-
gave money to them ⌊for the journey⌋ and sent them

church: In the NT, the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as church refers to all the people who follow Jesus Christ as one group. Here it refers to the all the people in Antioch who follow him.

In the Bible this word never refers to church buildings. Other ways to translate this word are:

the community/group of believers ⌊there⌋
-or-
the believers ⌊who lived in Antioch⌋
-or-
the group of people who believe in Jesus

See how you translated this word in 5:11 or 14:27.

15:3b

they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria: The journey from Antioch to Jerusalem probably took ten or more days. Use a word that is fitting for a long journey.

Phoenicia and Samaria: These two names refer to regions that lie between Antioch and Jerusalem. They were not official Roman provinces at that time. If you want to make this clear to your readers, you could say:

the ⌊regions of/called⌋ Phoenicia and Samaria

15:3c

recounting: It is implied that Paul and Barnabas stopped to talk to the Gentile believers in the numerous villages along the way. Each visit may have been less than an hour, several hours, or overnight. In some languages it is more natural to make this meaning explicit. For example:

they ⌊visited the believers and⌋ told
-or-
they stopped-along-the-way to relate to the believers there

The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as recounting probably indicates giving a full report rather than a brief summary. Other ways to translate this word are:

reporting (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
describing in detail (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
told the whole story (God’s Word)

the conversion of the Gentiles: This phrase in Greek is literally “the turning/conversion of the Gentiles.” It describes the act of changing the religion that they follow. These Gentiles stopped worshiping their former gods and became followers of Jesus and worshipers of the true God. Each language has its own way of describing that change. You may need to make explicit what they turned from or turned to. Some examples are:

the turning of the non-Jews ⌊to God/Jesus⌋
-or-
about the non-Jews who abandoned their former beliefs and began to follow ⌊Jesus⌋
-or-
that the non-Jews had begun to believe/trust ⌊in Jesus⌋
-or-
how people who were not Jews had repented from their sins and believed ⌊in/on the Lord Jesus⌋

Some but not all Gentiles converted to following Jesus. Here the word the does not imply all of them. Consider how to translate the correct meaning. For example:

⌊some⌋ Gentiles had been converted
-or-
Gentiles were being converted

Gentiles: The word Gentiles refers to non-Jewish people. Some ways to translate this word are:

• Use a descriptive phrase. For example:

non-Jews
-or-
those who were not Jewish (New Century Version)

• Use a word or phrase from another language that is well known to the people in your language. If you choose this option, you may want to add a footnote. An example footnote is:

The Jews considered all other people and nations to be outside of God’s plan to save them. The word used here describes all people who were not Jews.

15:3d

bringing great joy to all the brothers: In Greek, this is literally “and they were making/causing great joy to all the brothers.” The news that Gentiles believed in Jesus caused the brothers to rejoice. In some languages a literal translation may imply that something else that Paul and Barnabas did caused the brothers to rejoice. So the Berean Standard Bible translates as it does to make clear what caused their joy. Other ways to translate this clause are:

this news brought great joy to all the believers (Good News Translation)
-or-
that caused all the fellow believers to be full of joy
-or-
and all the brothers were overjoyed to hear about it (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

brothers: Here the word brothers refers to believers in Jesus. In this context, it probably included both men and women. See how you translated it in 15:1.

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