The Greek that is often translated as “ruler” in English has the option of various terms in Luang with different shades of meaning.
For Acts 16:22 and 17:6, maktorna lodna-hairi (“one who holds the rod and the flag”). “The focus of this term is on national or government authorities.”
For Mark 10:42, makkukma-kto’ma (“the one who pinches you”). “An unjust ruler.”
For Acts 4:26, maktorna-makrautu (“one who holds — one who scratches”). “The focus of this term is on the manpower a ruler controls, such as a large army.”
For Acts 5:31, maktoranreria krita o’tani-hairi wuwannu (“one who holds the octopus’s head – the flag’s top”). “This term refers to a ruler of the highest level. This is what God has raised up Jesus to be. The word ‘octopus’ in this natural doublet contains the idea of supreme control. An octopus has so many arms it can be in control of everything at the same time.”
Source: Kathy Taber in Notes on Translation 1/1999, p. 9-16.
The Greek in Acts 16:22 that is translated as “the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) with “the magistrates tore their own clothes to demonstrate their disgust.”
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated with “clothes” or similar in English is translated in Enlhet as “crawling-in-stuff” (source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1971, p. 169ff. ) and in Noongar as bwoka or “Kangaroo skin” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
In Gbaya, the notion of rising up in large numbers in the referenced verses is emphasized in with the ideophone gɛrɛm.
Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 16:22:
Uma: “The people also joined in the accusing. So, those rulers ordered that the clothes of Paulus and Silas be removed from their bodies and they be beaten.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “The people who gathered there joined also opposing them. So-then the officials tore off the clothes of Paul and Silas and commanded them to be whipped.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then many people testified to these accusations against Paul and Silas, and as for the officials, they ripped off the clothing of Paul and Silas, stripping them naked, and they commanded that those two be beaten.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Meanwhile the many-people joined in shouting to accuse them. That being so, the judges stripped-them -naked and had-them -whipped.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “When the crowd of people who had gathered round heard, they all also really became angry at Pablo-and-companion. What those highest officials did was, they caused the clothing of Pablo-and-companion to be stipped off by tearing and then caused them to be beaten.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Joined the attack against refers not to verbal charges made against the two men, but to an attempt on the part of the crowd to do them physical harm. Joined the attack may be translated as “also started hitting.”
The officials tore the clothes off Paul and Silas translates an ambiguous expression in Greek. It is possible to understand this to mean that the officials tore their own clothes (as Jews did when someone committed blasphemy), but most translators and commentators understand it in the sense that the Good News Translation renders it. It was not the custom for Romans to tear their clothes under such circumstances, and the context suggests that the officials themselves tore the clothes off Paul and Silas so that they could have them whipped. On the other hand, it is more likely that the Roman officials ordered the clothes of Paul and Silas to be torn off by soldiers who no doubt would be standing nearby.
The word translated whipped literally means “to be beaten (with a stick),” but it is possible that some other instrument, such as a whip, was used. It may be necessary to stipulate precisely who received the orders and who did the whipping—for example, “ordered soldiers to whip Paul and Silas.” One may, of course, employ a general term for “beating,” implying that they were beaten with sticks or some type of instrument.
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 .
The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas: This clause in Greek is literally “The crowd rose up together against them.” There were usually many people in a marketplace. So this crowd joined the owners in being against Paul and Silas. Here in front of the magistrates, the crowd only yelled at Paul and Silas, rather than physically hitting them. Other ways to translate this clause are:
The crowd rose up together against them (New American Standard Bible) -or-
The crowd joined in and showed its hostility to them (New Jerusalem Bible) -or-
the many-people joined in shouting to accuse them
16:22b
the magistrates ordered that they be stripped and beaten with rods: The clause they be stripped and beaten is passive. Some languages must use an active clause. Probably men whose job was to give punishment for the magistrates did this. In Latin, these men are called “lictors.” (See note on “officers” at 16:35a.) For example:
the magistrates ordered guards to strip them and beat them ⌊and they did so⌋
magistrates: This is the same word as in 16:20a.
stripped: This word refers to forcefully removing clothes from others. Here it would be the cloak and tunic (something like a shirt without buttons but going below the knees or perhaps to the ankles). It is not clear whether this includes the undergarment at the hips. Some ways to translate it are:
forced their clothes off -or-
stripped-them -naked
beaten with rods: Here this word probably refers to hitting someone with a rod, heavy stick, or cane. This was a common Roman punishment for non-Romans as a warning to stop doing something. The point was to make the blows hurt very much. For example:
beat them with sticks (God’s Word)
The Roman custom was to beat the person until the judge decided he was beaten enough. The guard doing the beating would look to the judge to see if he signaled to end the punishment. If the judge did not signal to end, the guard continued beating. The Greek tense probably indicates that the judge did not end the beating until the guard had checked several times. If possible indicate this. For example:
beaten. ⌊The judges signaled to continue the beating several times.⌋
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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