SIL Translator’s Notes on Acts 16:17

16:17a

This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting: The girl repeatedly shouted the words of 16:17b–c as they walked to the river.

the rest of us: This would include Silas, Luke, and Timothy and possibly others.

16:17b

These men are servants of the Most High God: The word servants often meant “slaves” at that time. It refers to people who serve and obey someone. Paul and the others served God and obeyed him by preaching, teaching, and serving him in other ways. Another way to translate this is:

These men serve the Most High God

the Most High God: This refers to the greatest God. To pagans it would refer to the god they believed was most powerful or ruled the other gods. For the Greeks, this would be the god Zeus. For the Romans, this would be the god Jupiter. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

the Highest/Greatest God
-or-
the most important god

16:17c

who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation: This clause tells the reader more about Paul and the others. In some languages a literal translation would wrongly indicate that the slave girl saw other servants of the most High God and only Paul and the men with him were telling the way to be saved. If that is true in your language, translate this clause so that it tells more about Paul and the others. One way to do that is to start a new sentence here. For example:

They are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.

the way of salvation: This phrase in Greek is literally “(a) way of salvation.” The phrase does not clearly indicate that this was the only way to be saved. For example:

how you can be saved (Good News Translation)

of salvation: This clause is passive. Some languages must use an active clause. For example:

for ⌊him/God⌋ to save you

salvation: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as salvation can refer to becoming healthy from a sickness, healing from injury, or rescue from danger, depending on the context. Here the girl is unclear as to which meaning is meant.

In some languages the usual translation of “save” includes information that makes it clearly refer to Christian salvation. If that is true in your language, make the saying more general like the meaning of the Greek word. For example, if the usual saying is “to be rescued from your sins,” shorten it to:

rescued

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