complete verse (Acts 16:38)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 16:38:

  • Uma: “Those police returned and brought-back the words of Paulus to the rulers. When the rulers heard that Paulus and Silas were actually Roma people, they were afraid.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “The policemen told the officials those words of Paul. When they heard that Paul and Silas had papers that they were Romans, they were afraid.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then the police went and told this to the officials what Paul had said. And when they had learned this, that Paul and Silas were subjects of the town of Roma, they were afraid.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “The police went to report-the-negative-news to the judges, and they became-afraid upon hearing that Pablo and Silas were Romano.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Therefore the pulis then returned to those who had sent them, and related what Pablo had said. When those highest officials heard that apparently Pablo and Silas had Romanoship, they became very afraid.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Acts 16:38

Reported these words may be rendered as “the police officers told the Roman officials what Paul and Silas had told them.” It is also important to make perfectly clear that the final they of verse 38 refers to the Roman officials and not simply to the police officers. These Roman officials were justifiably afraid, since severe penalties were often placed upon persons who violated the rights of Roman citizens.

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 16:38

16:38a–b

the officers relayed this message to the magistrates: It is implied that the officers went back to the magistrates. In some language it is more natural to include the implied information. For example:

the officers ⌊returned⌋ to the magistrates and reported this to them

16:38c

who were alarmed: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as alarmed means “be afraid.” The magistrates were afraid because they knew that they would be punished if Paul and Silas reported to higher authorities that the magistrates had treated them unjustly. In some languages the reason for their fear will not be clear. If that is true in your language, you may want to explain it in a footnote. An example footnote is:

Roman law required severe punishment for judges who beat Roman citizens without a trial. These judges could have been permanently removed from the work of judge, publicly shamed, or even killed.

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