spirit of divination

The Greek that is translated in English as “(she had a ) spirit of divination” or similar is translated in Morelos Nahuatl as “in that girl’s heart lived a demon. That demon could say what was going to happen before it happened,” in Lalana Chinantec as “she carried an evil spirit. Therefore she was able to make words ahead of time as to what would happen,” or in Coatlán Mixe as “she has a devil with her with which she foretells.” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)

In Yalunka an existing local term for “spirit of divination” is used: ninginangana. (Source: Pruett 2014, p. 259)

See also divination

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Acts 16:16)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, translators typically select the exclusive form (excluding the addressee).

Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.

pray / prayer

The Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin, and Greek that is translated as “pray” (or “prayer”) in English is often translated as “talking with God” (Central Pame, Tzeltal, Chol, Chimborazo Highland Quichua, Shipibo-Conibo, Kaqchikel, Tepeuxila Cuicatec, Copainalá Zoque, Central Tarahumara).

Other solutions include:

  • “to beg” or “to ask,” (full expression: “to ask with one’s heart coming out,” which leaves out selfish praying, for asking with the heart out leaves no place for self to hide) (Tzotzil)
  • “to cause God to know” (Huichol)
  • “to raise up one’s words to God” (implying an element of worship, as well as communication) (Miskito, Lacandon) (source of this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Shilluk: “speak to God” (source: Nida 1964, p. 237)
  • Mairasi: “talk together with Great Above One (=God)” (source: Enggavoter, 2004)
  • San Blas Kuna: “call to one’s Father” (source: Claudio and Marvel Iglesias in The Bible Translator 1951, p. 85ff. )
  • Ik: waan: “beg.” Terrill Schrock (in Wycliffe Bible Translators 2016, p. 93) explains (click or tap here to read more):

    What do begging and praying have to do with each other? Do you beg when you pray? Do I?

    “The Ik word for ‘visitor’ is waanam, which means ‘begging person.’ Do you beg when you go visiting? The Ik do. Maybe you don’t beg, but maybe when you visit someone, you are looking for something. Maybe it’s just a listening ear.

    When the Ik hear that [my wife] Amber and I are planning trip to this or that place for a certain amount of time, the letters and lists start coming. As the days dwindle before our departure, the little stack of guests grows. ‘Please, sir, remember me for the allowing: shoes, jacket (rainproof), watch, box, trousers, pens, and money for the children. Thank you, sir, for your assistance.’

    “A few people come by just to greet us or spend bit of time with us. Another precious few will occasionally confide in us about their problems without asking for anything more than a listening ear. I love that.

    “The other day I was in our spare bedroom praying my list of requests to God — a nice list covering most areas of my life, certainly all the points of anxiety. Then it hit me: Does God want my list, or does he want my relationship?

    “I decided to try something. Instead of reading off my list of requests to God, I just talk to him about my issues without any expectation of how he should respond. I make it more about our relationship than my list, because if our personhood is like God’s personhood, then maybe God prefers our confidence and time to our lists, letters, and enumerations.”

In Luang it is translated with different shades of meaning (click or tap here to read more):

  • For Acts 1:14, 20:36, 21:5: kola ttieru-yawur nehla — “hold the waist and hug the neck.” (“This is the more general term for prayer and often refers to worship in prayer as opposed to petition. The Luang people spend the majority of their prayers worshiping rather than petitioning, which explains why this term often is used generically for prayer.”)
  • For Acts 28:9: sumbiani — “pray.” (“This term is also used generically for ‘prayer’. When praying is referred to several times in close proximity, it serves as a variation for kola ttieru-yawur nehla, in keeping with Luang discourse style. It is also used when a prayer is made up of many requests.”)
  • For Acts 8:15, 12:5: polu-waka — “call-ask.” (“This is a term for petition that is used especially when the need is very intense.”)

Source: Kathy Taber in Notes on Translation 1/1999, p. 9-16.

complete verse (Acts 16:16)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 16:16:

  • Uma: “One other time, when we (excl.) went to the praying-place of the Yahudi, we (excl.) met a woman who was a slave [lit., who lived as a slave]. That woman had an anitu [familiar spirit]. From the power of that anitu, she was able to foretell what would happen before it happened. Her nobles received much money from her work.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “One day, while we were going to the place of prayer, we met a female slave who was possessed by a demon therefore she could tell the fortune. (magpayam) Her masters found/got much money because of her fortune-telling.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “One day about that time when we were going to the place where they prayed, we were met by a girl who was a slave who was inspired by a demon which allowed her to prophesy. Her owners were able to get much money through her prophesying.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “One day as-we (excl.) -were-going to the praying-place, there was a young-woman whom we (excl.) met who was a slave who was skilled in telling-fortunes, because an evil-spirit had possessed her. Because of that-aforementioned skill of hers, her slave owners were getting much money.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “There was another day when we (excl.) were going there to that prayer-place, when we (excl.) came across a female slave who was an predicter/astrologer/fortune-teller. What enabled her to predict was that she was indwelt by an evil-spirit. Her masters were really able to get money because, for each prediction, there was a charge.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Acts 16:16

The phrase the place of prayer is the same as the one referred to in verse 13. In the earlier verse one can render this as “a place where Jewish people habitually gathered together to pray to God.” In verse 16 a similar expression can be employed “a place where people habitually gathered to pray to God.” It may be necessary to specify habitual action and also the goal of prayer, namely, God. Otherwise the reader might assume that this was only a place where someone on some particular occasion happened to be praying.

We were met by a slave girl may, of course, be rendered in the active form as “a slave girl met us.” However, “met” must not be understood in the technical sense of becoming acquainted with, but simply “coming across” or “chance meeting up with.”

A slave girl may be rendered in some languages as “a girl who had been sold into slavery” or “a girl who had been bought as a slave.”

Who had an evil spirit in her that made her predict the future is literally “who had a python-spirit.” “Python” was originally the name given to the snake that guarded the sacred place at Delphi where divine oracles were given. Later, the word “python” was used of anyone who possessed the power to foretell the future. Looked at from the Christian point of view, this “python-spirit” would have been an evil spirit, and therefore the Good News Translation has rendered the phrase an evil spirit (in her) that made her predict the future. Predict the future may be rendered as “tell people what would happen in the future” or “tell people what was going to happen.”

Some persons have assumed that the owners were a man and his wife, but the incidents which took place later would seem to indicate that several men were involved as the owners of this slave girl.

Much money may also be taken in the sense of “much profit.” Telling fortunes (see New English Bible, Jerusalem Bible) better qualifies what she was doing than “foretelling the future” (Phillips). The word translated by telling fortunes appears only here in the New Testament, but when used in the Septuagint it never refers to true prophecy but is always used of lying prophets and of forbidden ways of seeking God’s will. In practically all languages there are expressions for telling fortunes—this is simply the practice of divination. But if there is no generally recognized term or expression for this practice, one can always translate “telling people what would happen to them in the future.”

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 16:16

Section 16:16–40

Paul and Silas were put in jail

In this section, Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke were still in Philippi. Paul cast an evil spirit out of a slave girl. Her owners were angry and dragged Paul and Silas to the city leaders. The leaders ordered their officers to beat them and then put them in prison. The jailer locked them in a secure cell.

About midnight, an earthquake shook the prison. The chains of Paul, Silas, and all the other prisoners fell off and the doors opened. The jailer saw the open doors and was frightened, because the city leaders would punish him greatly for letting prisoners escape. So he decided to kill himself. Paul told him not to do that. Then he and Silas told him and his household about Jesus and they became believers.

The next morning the city leaders sent word that Paul and Silas could be released. But Paul and Silas sent word back that they were Roman citizens and what the leaders had done was illegal. They wanted the leaders to come and apologize. They did so. Then Paul and Silas left the jail and visited Lydia and the other believers in Philippi and then left town.

Other examples of headings for this section are:

The Philippian leaders put Paul and Silas in jail
-or-
Paul and Silas cast a demon out of a girl and the city judges put them in jail

Paragraph 16:16–18

16:16a

One day: The Greek word can be translated literally as “It happened that.” It indicates that 16:16 occurred some time later, probably several weeks after 16:13–15. For example:

Once

the place of prayer: This is the same place beside the river (16:13).

16:16b

we were met by a slave girl: This clause is passive. The Greek clause is active. For example:

a slave-girl…met us (New American Standard Bible)

met: Paul and the others did not plan to meet her. The verse is not clear if the slave girl or the demon in her planned to meet Paul and the others.

a slave girl: The word slave indicates that the girl was owned by others. She served and obeyed her masters.

In some cultures, slaves are not known. In other cultures, the word for slave implies different customs than in biblical culture. If that is true in your language, some ways to translate this are:

a girl who belonged to others
-or-
a girl whom others owned
-or-
a girl under her masters/owners

16:16c

with a spirit: This phrase indicates that a spirit controlled the girl’s thoughts and actions. The spirit was an evil spirit or demon. Some ways to translate this are:

who had an evil spirit (Good News Translation)
-or-
controlled by an ⌊evil⌋ spirit
-or-
in whom an ⌊evil⌋ spirit lived

of divination: This evil spirit told the girl secret knowledge, including events that were going to happen in the future. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

that told fortunes (God’s Word)
-or-
of clairvoyance (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

16:16d

earned: The Greek tense probably indicates that she did this for some time and still did it for people when she met Paul. For example:

was bringing (New American Standard Bible)

fortune-telling: This refers to telling what would happen to someone. It can also refer to other things the person might want to know. Other ways to translate this word are:

revealing what would happen ⌊later
-or-
foretelling the future (New Jerusalem Bible)

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