complete verse (Acts 16:27)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 16:27:

  • Uma: “When the head of the jail woke up, what should he see but that all the doors were open. He unsheathed his sword wanting to commit suicide, because he said/thought that all the prisoners had fled.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then the guard woke up and when he saw that all the prison doors were open, he thought-mistakenly that the prisoners had escaped. Therefore he pulled out his sword (bessi) and was about to kill himself.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then the watcher of the prison woke up, and when he saw that the doors of the prison were all open, he supposed that the prisoners had all run away. So he pulled out his sword. He wanted to stab himself because he would commit suicide.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “When the guard then woke-up and saw that the doors were already-open, he drew his sword to kill himself koma, because he thought that all the prisoners had escaped.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “The overseer of the jail awoke. When he saw that the doors were open, he unsheathed his blade to commit suicide, for he mistakenly-thought that the prisoners inside had already been able to run away.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Acts 16:27

The jailer was about to kill himself either for a point of military honor or, more likely, because of the reason given in 12.19: that a jailer who allowed prisoners to escape would receive the same punishment due the prisoners. It may be useful to have at this point some marginal note to explain that the jailer’s intention to kill himself was based upon the fact that in ancient times a jailer who allowed prisoners to escape would receive their punishment, and, in view of the fact that evidently some of the prisoners were slated for capital punishment, the jailer assumed that he himself would be killed. Otherwise, such an action would be regarded as quite incomprehensible in some societies.

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 .