6When they opposed and reviled him, in protest he shook the dust from his clothes and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the gentiles.”
The Hebrew and Greek that is often translated as “your blood be on your own heads” or similar in English is translated as
“you have the guilt if you don’t receive eternal life” in Highland Popoluca
“you are to blame if you lose your own souls” in Coatlán Mixe
“you will be to blame yourselves when you do not go to a good place” in Isthmus Mixe
“you will be lost but you are at fault yourselves” in Morelos Nahuatl
“you are the ones who are guilty that you will be lost” in Lalana Chinantec (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
“if you die in your bad deeds, it’s your own bad fault” in Bariai (source: Bariai Back Translation)
“let your own blood alone eat you” in Kupsabiny (source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
“You have killed yourselves with your own heart” in Chichewa (source: Wendland 1987, p. 28)
“your blood will be to you” (existing idiom) in Kwere (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
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).
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 18:6:
Uma: “But the Yahudi people in the town of Korintus continually disparaged him. That’s why he knocked-off the dust that was sticking to his clothes as a sign that he was leaving them. And he said to them: ‘If God punishes you, it’s not I who am responsible! It’s you yourselves! From now on, I am leaving you and am going to take the News of the Lord to people who are not Yahudi people!'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “But they contradicted him and spoke-evil-of/insulted him. So Paul shook-the-dust-of his clothes as a sign that he was through/finished with them. He said to them, ‘If you perish in hell, it’s not because of me. From now on, I am changing-over to proclaim to the people of other tribes.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And when they would not believe because they spoke against him, Paul shook out his shirt as a sign that he was done with them, and he said, ‘It is no longer my sin if you are punished by God. And now I will preach the word of God to the Gentiles.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “But when the Jews opposed/contradicted and spoke-evil-about him, he shook-out his clothes in order that they would thus-know that they were responsible for their punishment and he said, ‘If God punishes you, it is certainly what you deserve (lit. your reward)! It’s not my fault (lit. sin). Starting-from now, I am going to teach Gentiles.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “But well, Pablo was opposed and insulted by those Jews. Therefore, when it was now like that, Pablo dusted off his clothes as a sign that he was giving up on them now. And he said, ‘Well, if it’s like that, you can take responsibility. If you fall into punishment, it won’t be my sin, just yours. Today, the people who aren’t Judio are whom I will teach.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin that is often translated as “gentiles” (or “nations”) in English is often translated as a “local equivalent of ‘foreigners,'” such as “the people of other lands” (Guerrero Amuzgo), “people of other towns” (Tzeltal), “people of other languages” (San Miguel El Grande Mixtec), “strange peoples” (Navajo (Dinė) (this and above, see Bratcher / Nida), “outsiders” (Ekari), “people of foreign lands” (Kannada), “non-Jews” (North Alaskan Inupiatun), “people being-in-darkness” (a figurative expression for people lacking cultural or religious insight) (Toraja-Sa’dan) (source for this and three above Reiling / Swellengrebel), “from different places all people” (Martu Wangka) (source: Carl Gross).
Tzeltal translates it as “people in all different towns,” Chicahuaxtla Triqui as “the people who live all over the world,” Highland Totonac as “all the outsider people,” Sayula Popoluca as “(people) in every land” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Chichimeca-Jonaz as “foreign people who are not Jews,” Sierra de Juárez Zapotec as “people of other nations” (source of this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), Highland Totonac as “outsider people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Uma as “people who are not the descendants of Israel” (source: Uma Back Translation), “other ethnic groups” (source: Newari Back Translation), and Yakan as “the other tribes” (source: Yakan Back Translation).
In Chichewa, it is translated with mitundu or “races.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).
The verb protested is rendered in some languages as “answered back strongly,” “said in response,” or “declared with strong words.”
By shaking the dust from his clothes is literally in Greek “shaking his clothes.” Although the same verb is used here as appears in 13.51, no “dust” is specifically mentioned in this Greek text, and here “clothes” are specified, not “feet.” However, it is natural to relate these two expressions and to assume that the words of Paul which immediately follow reflect the correct interpretation of this gesture. Also, the meaning of the idiom “shaking his clothes” is indicated by the verb protested. Therefore, there should be little difficulty for the reader in understanding the meaning of this action. It is always possible to introduce at this point a marginal note to explain such a gesture and to refer to other parallel expressions in the Scriptures. Some translators may prefer to employ a receptor language idiom at this point—for example, “waved his arms” or “turned his back,” while in some cases indicating the idiom of the Greek text in the margin.
If you are lost, you yourselves must take the blame for it translates the Jewish formula “your blood (be) on your own head” (see 2 Samuel 1.16; Matthew 27.25). This expression means that the person upon whose head the blood comes must assume responsibility for the decision and/or action. Although most translators render this literally, it would seem best to express the meaning of the passage rather than to reproduce a verbal correspondence, since it is doubtful whether many people would understand the true significance of the phrase unless they had been conditioned by a good background in biblical terminology. In fact, the literal rendering of this Semitic idiom is often quite meaningless; and if people do try to assign meaning to it they frequently misunderstand its implications. It should certainly never be translated literally without some kind of marginal note. At the same time, the expression if you are lost may likewise be somewhat misleading, unless one understands a good deal of biblical teaching about being lost. In some translations this expression can be rendered as “if you are lost from God,” “if you cut yourselves off from God,” “if you cause yourselves to perish,” or “if you cause yourselves to be condemned by God.” All of these expressions relate in one way or another to a person’s final condemnation and separation from God.
I will go to the Gentiles should not mean merely that Paul was leaving his present residence and going to live in the house of a Gentile. It may be necessary, therefore, to render this final sentence of verse 6 as “From now on I will go and preach to the Gentiles” or “From now on I will leave you and go preach to the Gentiles.”
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 .
they opposed and insulted him: The Greek words are literally “they opposing and slandering.” Both verbs refer to what the Jews did to Paul. Other ways to translate this clause are:
they opposed him and said evil things about him (Good News Translation) -or-
they turned against him and started to insult him (New Jerusalem Bible)
insulted him: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as insulted him refers to saying things about someone in order to hurt their reputation. Other ways to translate the Greek word are:
reviled (Revised Standard Version) -or-
slandered
18:6b
he shook out his garments: Paul shook out the garments he was wearing. At the time Jews wore loose fitting clothes.
This is a symbolic action that indicates breaking a relationship. The Jews in Corinth rejected Paul and his message about Jesus, so he in turn indicated here that he was finished with them. In particular, he was finished trying to convince them that Jesus was the Christ. He would no longer go to the synagogue.
In some languages a literal translation would not have the correct meaning. If that is true in your language, you may want to:
• Translate the clause literally and explain the meaning in a footnote. An example footnote is:
This is a symbolic action that indicates breaking the relationship between Paul and the Jews. -or-
This was a warning to show that Paul was finished talking to the Jews in that city. (New Century Version) -or-
The meaning is, “I am done with you!” (NET Bible)
• Explain the meaning in your translation. For example:
he shook out his clothes in protest (New International Version) -or-
he shook out his clothes ⌊to indicate he was giving up talking to them⌋ -or-
he shook out ⌊the dust from⌋ his clothes ⌊to show he was ending his relationship with them⌋
• Translate the symbolic meaning. For example:
he indicated that he had given up talking to them -or-
he showed them that he was ending his relationship with them
You may then want to indicate the literal words in a footnote. For example:
Literally: “he shook out his clothes.”
This is similar to the symbolic action of “shaking the dust from their feet” that Paul and Barnabas did in 13:51.
18:6c
Your blood be on your own heads: The phrase blood be on your…heads is metaphor that refers to being guilty of someone’s death. Here the judgment the Jews will receive will be a result of their own actions and not Paul’s, because they rejected his teaching.
In some languages a literal translation would not have the correct meaning. If that is true in your language, you may want to:
• Translate the words literally and explain it in a footnote. An example footnote is:
This refers to them rejecting the message about Jesus. God will judge them guilty and send them to hell for that.
• Translate the meaning of the metaphor. For example:
you are guilty before God ⌊for your rejection of Jesus⌋
You may then want to indicate the literal words. For example:
Literally: “Your blood be on your own heads.”
• Use a metaphor or idiom in your language that means “being guilty of your own death.”
I am innocent of it: The Greek words are literally “I (am) clean.” By saying this Paul declared that God will not call him guilty for causing the judgment they will receive, because they rejected his teaching about Jesus. Other ways to translate this Greek word are:
I am innocent. (Revised Standard Version) -or-
I am not to blame (Contemporary English Version) -or-
I have done all I can do! (New Century Version)
18:6d
From now on I will go to the Gentiles: This clause indicates that in Corinth Paul would only preach to the non-Jews from that time forward. For example:
From now on I will go preach to the Gentiles. (New Living Translation (2004))
This clause does not imply that Paul would ignore Jews or shun them. His aim was to now preach to the Gentiles. But if a Jew was interested, Paul would talk to him about Jesus.
Paul’s plan was to always tell the gospel to the Jews as well as to other people (19:8–10). But here he tells the Jews in Corinth that he would stop telling the gospel to them. In some languages a literal translation would wrongly imply that Paul would not preach to the Jews in other cities either. If that is true in your language, indicate that this statement refers only to this visit in this city. For example:
For the rest of the time ⌊I am in Corinth,⌋ I will ⌊only⌋ go ⌊and preach the message about Jesus⌋ to the Gentiles.
Gentiles: The word Gentiles refers to non-Jewish people. Some ways to translate this word are:
• Use a descriptive phrase. For example:
non-Jews -or-
those who were not Jewish (New Century Version)
• Use the common language word. This may be an appropriate option if many people are already familiar with the term.
See how you translated this word in 4:27 or 15:19.
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