37But Paul replied, “They have beaten us in public, uncondemned, men who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison, and now are they going to discharge us in secret? Certainly not! Let them come and take us out themselves.”
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 anyone except Paul and Silas).
Source: SIL International Translation Department (1999).
The Greek that is translated in English as “prison” is translated in Dehu as moapokamo or “house for tying up people” (source: Maurice Leenhardt in The Bible Translator 1951, p. 97ff. ) and in Noongar as maya-maya dedinyang or “house shut” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
The term that is transliterated as “Paul” in English is translated in American Sign Language with a sign that signifies the many letters he wrote. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Paul” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
In Spanish Sign Language it is translated with a sign depicting putting away a sword, referring to his conversion from a persecutor of Christians to a Christian leader. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
Orthodox Icons are not drawings or creations of imagination. They are in fact writings of things not of this world. Icons can represent our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. They can also represent the Holy Trinity, Angels, the Heavenly hosts, and even events. Orthodox icons, unlike Western pictures, change the perspective and form of the image so that it is not naturalistic. This is done so that we can look beyond appearances of the world, and instead look to the spiritual truth of the holy person or event. (Source )
The following is a contemporary stained glass window from the Messiah Episcopal Church in St. Paul, Minnesota by Peter Dohmen. Individual glass pieces were made in Germany in accordance with Dohmen’s design, using a technique first developed by Irish monks in the 9th and 10th centuries.
“This window is dedicated to St. Paul, the great apostle and missionary, for whom our city is named. At the top of the window is a ship which symbolizes the many missionary journeys of Paul — the Church is our ship, which carries us over the way of life. In the lower section we see Paul on the road to Damascus when he saw a great light and heard our Lord’s voice, which called him to discipleship.”
Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum )
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 16:37:
Uma: “But Paulus said to the police: ‘We(excl.) here are Romans. Our(excl.) case had not-yet been tried according to the laws of the Roma government, we (excl.) were right-away beaten in front of the crowd [lit., in the eyes of the crowd] and jailed. Yet now they want to make us (excl.) leave secretly / without saying anything. We(excl.) don’t want to! You tell them there, that they must come themselves and free us (excl.).'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “But Paul said to the policemen, ‘Yesterday we (excl.) were whipped by them in the midst of the people although we (excl.) had not been investigated. And-what’s-more we (excl.) here are people of Roma. Then they imprisoned us (excl.) yet. And now they want to send us (excl.) away in secret? It cannot be,’ Paul said. ‘Those officials shall come and let us (excl.) out.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then Paul didn’t accept this and he said to the police, ‘It cannot be because we are towned under the law of the town of Rome, and they have broken the law of the Romans because they did not investigate us and we have not broken the law. But they caused us to be beaten before all the people and they put us in jail. And now you would hide our being sent away? It is not possible because it is necessary that the ones to come and set us free are your bosses, the Roman officials.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “But Pablo said to the police, ‘They had-us (excl.) -whipped with the many-people spectating without first trying-us (excl.), then they imprisoned-us (excl.), and we (excl.) are emphatically Romano. And here-now they want us (excl.) to keep-quiet in leaving? It is emphatically not possible! Let-the judges come (here) -instead (lit. even-if …come) so that they will be the ones to escort us (excl.) to leave.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “But Pablo replied to those sent ones, ‘Expl! What kind of talk is that, since, although we (excl.) have Romanoship, we (excl.) have been beaten publicly, without even being interrogated/tried, and then imprisoned too? Well now, they want us (excl.) to be released without people’s awareness. We(excl.) really can’t accept that. It’s necessary that they, the highest officials, come here for they will be the ones to release us (excl.).'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Note that in the first clause of verse 37 Paul is not responding to what the jailer has told him but is speaking directly to the police officers. Evidently he had demanded from the jailer the opportunity of speaking to the police officers.
The adjective which the Good News Translation has rendered not found guilty of any crime (New English Bible “not been found guilty”) may be understood in this sense, or it may mean “without a trial” (Phillips, An American Translation*, Barclay). Were not found guilty may need to be restructured in some languages as “the authorities could not prove that we were guilty of a crime” or “the authorities did not prove that we were guilty.”
They whipped us must be understood as a causative “the authorities caused us to be whipped in public” or “they ordered the police authorities to whip us in public.”
In public may be rendered as “with all the people looking on” or “with everyone there present.”
It is essential to set off in some contrastive manner the clause and we are Roman citizens. This is done in the Good News Translation by a dash and followed by an exclamation mark. In many languages, however, one must introduce this expression by some kind of contrastive particle—for example, “but we are Roman citizens.”
Translating Roman citizens is not easy in some languages. In fact, an entire clause may be required, and it may also be necessary to have some marginal note. One may render Roman citizens as “we are just like those who live in Rome,” “we have the same privileges as those who live in Rome,” or “we are to be treated just like those who come from Rome.”
On the basis that the context expresses purpose or intent, the Good News Translation has rendered the verb expression “they are sending us away” as they want to send us away (so also Phillips; see Jerusalem Bible “and then think they can push us out”). Not at all represents a very strong rejection of their proposal by Paul.
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 .
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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