The Greek that is transliterated as “Silas” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with a sign depicting “chains falling off,” referring to Acts 16:26. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
The Greek that is translated in English as “brother” or “brother and sister” (in the sense of fellow believers), is translated with a specifically coined word in Kachin: “There are two terms for brother in Kachin. One is used to refer to a Christian brother. This term combines ‘older and younger brother.’ The other term is used specifically for addressing siblings. When one uses this term, one must specify if the older or younger person is involved. A parallel system exists for ‘sister’ as well. In [these verses], the term for ‘a Christian brother’ is used.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae)
In Matumbi is is translated as alongo aumini or “relative-believer.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
In Martu Wangka it is translated as “relative” (this is also the term that is used for “follower.”) (Source: Carl Gross)
In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is often translated as Mitchristen or “fellow Christians.”
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 15:32:
Uma: “From there, Yudas and Silas also spoke a long time, strengthening the hearts of their one-faith relatives and advising them to keep believing in the Lord, because the two of them were prophets who carried the Word of the Lord God.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Judas and Silas were men who spread/made-known the word/message of God. For a long time they taught/preached-to the ones trusting in Isa who were there in Antiyok helping them so that their trust/faith would be strengthened and their livers encouraged.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And as for Judas and Silas, they were prophets of God. They spent a long time talking to the believers because they advised them so that the strength of their believing might be drawn tight.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “There-were-many-things also that Judas and Silas said to make-happy and strengthen their faith, because they were God’s spokesmen.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “As for Judas and Silas, because they were also prophets, they taught many other things too to the believers there, so that their believing/obeying would become sturdy.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Eugene Nida wrote the following about the translation of the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek terms that are typically translated with “prophet” in English:
“The tendency in many translations is to use ‘to foretell the future’ for ‘prophesy,’ and ‘one who foretells the future’ for ‘prophet.’ This is not always a recommended usage, particularly if such expressions denote certain special native practices of spirit contact and control. It is true, of course, that prophets of the Bible did foretell the future, but this was not always their principal function. One essential significance of the Greek word prophētēs is ‘one who speaks forth,’ principally, of course, as a forth-teller of the Divine will. A translation such as ‘spokesman for God’ may often be employed profitably.” (1947, p. 234f.)
Following is a list of (back-) translations from other languages (click or tap for details):
Ayutla Mixtec: “one who talks as God’s representative”
Isthmus Mixe: “speaker for God” (source for this and two above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Mezquital Otomi / Paasaal: “God’s messenger” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff. and Fabian N. Dapila in The Bible Translator 2024, p. 415ff.)
Noongar: Warda Marridjiny or “News Traveling” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Kutu: mtula ndagu or “one who gives the prediction of the past and the future” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Ebira: ọnịsẹ, a neologism that combines the prefix ọn for “a person” with ịsẹ for “prediction” (source: Scholz /Scholz 2015, p. 49)
French 1985 translation by Chouraqui: inspiré or “inspired one” (“someone in whom God has breathed [Latin: in + spiro]) (source: Watson 2023, p. 45)
In Ixcatlán Mazatec a term is used that specifically includes women. (Source: Robert Bascom)
“In some instances these spiritual terms result from adaptations reflecting the native life and culture. Among the Northern Grebo people of Liberia, a missionary wanted some adequate term for ‘prophet,’ and she was fully aware that the native word for ‘soothsayer’ or ‘diviner’ was no equivalent for the Biblical prophet who spoke forth for God. Of course, much of what the prophets said referred to the future, and though this was an essential part of much of their ministry, it was by no means all. The right word for the Gbeapo people would have to include something which would not only mean the foretelling of important events but the proclamation of truth as God’s representative among the people. At last the right word came; it was ‘God’s town-crier.’ Every morning and evening the official representative of the chief goes through the village crying out the news, delivering the orders of the chief, and announcing important coming events. ‘God’s town-crier’ would be the official representative of God, announcing to the people God’s doings, His commands, and His pronouncements for their salvation and well-being. For the Northern Grebo people the prophet is no weird person from forgotten times; he is as real as the human, moving message of the plowman Amos, who became God’s town-crier to a calloused people.” (source: Nida 1952, p. 20)
In British Sign Language it is is translated with a sign that depicts a message coming from God to a person (the upright finger) and then being passed on to others. (Source: Anna Smith)
“Prophet” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
The name that is transliterated as “Judas Barsabbas” in English is translated in Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) with a sign that combines “Sabbath ” (the meaning of “Barsabbas” is possibly “born on Sabbath”) and “chosen” because he was chosen to accompany the apostle Paul and Barnabas (see Acts 15:22). (Source: Missão Kophós )
Prophets in this particular context is primarily not a reference to “foretelling the future” but to “speaking on behalf of God.” It is this latter meaning which should be introduced at this point in the selection of a term for prophets.
Most translators take who were themselves prophets as a simple qualifying statement, while a few see in it the grounds for their actions, “for they themselves were prophets” (Barclay).
The phrase a long time may refer to the particular occasion when the letter was read and the subsequent explanation or confirmation by Judas and Silas. It may, however, refer to the fact that they stayed in Antioch for some time and exhorted their fellow believers on various occasions.
In many languages one cannot speak of “giving someone courage and strength.” One may, however, often use a causative, “caused them to be courageous” and “caused them to be strong.”
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 .
Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets: The Greek word that can mean “also” is in this phrase. It probably indicates that besides the Christian leaders choosing them to confirm the letter, they were also prophets. For example:
Judas and Silas, also being prophets themselves (New American Standard Bible)
But many English versions do not translate the Greek word.
prophets: A prophet was a person who received messages from God to tell people. The message from God may be in words or visions. See how you translated this word in 15:15.
15:32b
said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as said much probably refers to many messages that God gave to Judas and Silas as his prophets to tell the believers at Antioch. Other ways to translate this are:
said many things to encourage the believers and make them stronger (New Century Version) -or-
greatly encouraged and strengthened the brothers by many talks to them (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
It is implied that they already confirmed that the letter was truly from the apostles and elders in Jerusalem.
strengthen: Here the word strengthen refers to helping the brothers to believe in Jesus well and obey him wholeheartedly. In some languages a literal translation would wrongly refer only to physical strengthening. If this is true in your language, indicate that it refers to helping them to believe well. For example:
strengthen ⌊their faith⌋ -or-
helped them to believe even more ⌊in Jesus⌋
brothers: This refers generally to the believers in Antioch, both men and women. See how you translated this word in 15:1.
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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