6When they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some brothers and sisters before the city authorities, shouting, “These people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also,
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 now commonly-used English idiom “turned the world upside down” (for a drastic change in one’s outlook, circumstances, or way of life) was first coined in 1611 in the King James Version/Authorized Version (spelled as turned the world vpside downe) in Job 19:20. (Source: Crystal 2010, p. 266)
For other idioms in English that were coined by Bible translation, see here.
The name that is transliterated as “Jason” in English is translated in Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) with a combinations of the signs for “healing” (thee meaning of the name), “rob” (because his house was robbed — Acts 17:5, and a reference to the letter J. (Source: Missão Kophós )
The Greek that is translated in English as “brother” or “brother and sister” (in the sense of fellow believers), is translated with a specifically coined word in Kachin: “There are two terms for brother in Kachin. One is used to refer to a Christian brother. This term combines ‘older and younger brother.’ The other term is used specifically for addressing siblings. When one uses this term, one must specify if the older or younger person is involved. A parallel system exists for ‘sister’ as well. In [these verses], the term for ‘a Christian brother’ is used.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae)
In Matumbi is is translated as alongo aumini or “relative-believer.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
In Martu Wangka it is translated as “relative” (this is also the term that is used for “follower.”) (Source: Carl Gross)
In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is often translated as Mitchristen or “fellow Christians.”
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 17:6:
Uma: “So, since they did not find them, they vented their anger on Yason himself. They grabbed him along with several other believers in Yesus, and they dragged them to the town judges [sitters]. Upon arrival there, they hooted/jeered, they said: ‘Paulus and these companions of his are confusing people all over the world. Yet they have even come to our town.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “But because they did not find them, they dragged Jason and the other disciples of Isa to the officials. They shouted loudly, they said, ‘There have (people) arrived here in our (incl.) city who are troubling all-the-lands/places.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “However when they couldn’t find them, they seized Jason and some other believers, and they dragged them to the officials of the town and they shouted out saying, ‘As for these people, they have caused trouble everywhere, and now they are also here in our town.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “But they were not able-to-find them, so they dragged-resisting Jason and others who believed to take-them to the rulers of the town, and they said shouting, ‘The people who are disrupting the many-towns, they have also come here,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Well since they didn’t find Pablo-and-co there, the one they dragged instead was Jason and some others of the believers, for those are the ones they took to the officials. They were shouting out, saying, ‘Our place has now been reached by those people who are making trouble in each place they go to.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
The phrase which the Good News Translation has rendered Jason and some other brothers is literally “Jason and some of the brothers” (see Jerusalem Bible). The question is whether Jason was or was not a Christian. Considered solely upon the basis of the Greek text of this verse, one would conclude that Jason was not one of the “brothers.” However, when other passages are taken into consideration, there is sufficient evidence to indicate that Luke may have intended Jason to have been included among the “brothers.” For example, 1.14 mentions the women, and … Mary the mother of Jesus, with the evident indication that Mary is not to be excluded from among the women. Again, the expression the believers and the widows in 9.41 does not imply that the widows were not believers. One may also argue, from the casual way in which Luke has introduced Jason, that he probably should be considered as one of the believers. Otherwise, one would have expected that Luke would have indicated clearly Jason’s relationship to the believing community.
The city authorities (in Greek, the word appears only here and in 17.8) is a technical term used to describe the five or six members of the city council in a Macedonian city. These men have caused trouble everywhere is more literally translated by the New English Bible as “men who have made trouble all over the world.” The word translated “world” by the New English Bible is a word which refers to the civilized world (more specifically the Roman Empire) and is here used in an exaggerated sense. In the idiom of today everywhere seems much more natural.
The our in our city is, of course, inclusive since the Jews were addressing the city authorities.
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 .
dragged: The word dragged refers figuratively to the mob forcing Jason to go to the officials. In some languages a literal translation would wrongly indicate actually dragging him. If that is true in your language, translate the correct meaning. For example:
forced/pulled
17:6b
brothers: This refers to believers. See how you translated this word in 15:1 or 16:40.
the city officials: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the city officials is literally “city-rulers.” It refers to the top leaders in a city. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
the leaders of the city (New Century Version) -or-
the rulers of the city (King James Version)
shouting: The context implies that the mob arrived in front of the city officials and then shouted. Probably the leaders of the mob shouted to the city officials over the noise of the mob. For example:
and shouted (Good News Translation)
The speakers from the mob said exaggerated and misleading things. In some languages a literal translation would wrongly imply that all they said was true. If that is true in your language, you may want to indicate in your translation that the words of 17:6c–7c are misleading. For example:
shouted ⌊lies⌋ -or-
⌊deceitfully⌋ shouted
17:6c
These men who have turned the world upside down: This phrase refers to Paul and Silas. It does not refer to Jason and the other believers (17:7a). Translate in a way that clearly refers to Paul and Silas. For example:
Those men who have made trouble (God’s Word) -or-
Paul and Silas have caused trouble all over the world (New Living Translation (2004)) -or-
The people who have been turning the whole world upside down (New Jerusalem Bible)
The phrase probably indicates that the Jews leading the crowd thought that Paul and Silas were bad people.
who have turned the world upside down: The speakers from the mob misled the officials. Paul and Silas were not trying to cause trouble, but some people in some cities opposed them and caused trouble. In some languages a literal translation would wrongly indicate that Paul and Silas actually caused trouble. If that is so in your language, see the note above on “shouting.”
the world upside down: The speakers from the mob exaggerated. The word world probably refers to the Roman empire. Paul and Silas had been to some of the cities in one part of the Roman empire. In some languages a literal translation would wrongly imply that this phrase is true. If that is so in your language, you may want to indicate that this phrase is deceptive. See the note above on “shouting.”
You may also want to explain this phrase in a footnote. An example footnote is:
The word “world” refers to the Roman empire here. Paul and Silas had been to some of the cities in one part of the Roman empire. But the people exaggerated by shouting that Paul and Silas had been everywhere.
have now come here: This phrase in Greek is literally “are present here.” It indicates that Paul and Silas were in Thessalonica. For example:
and now they are here disturbing our city, too (New Living Translation (2004)) -or-
are here ⌊in our city⌋
But since Paul and Silas were not present before the city rulers, your translation should not indicate or imply that they were present before the city rulers.
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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