The Greek, Latin and Hebrew that is translated as “naked” in English is translated in Enlhet with a figure of speech: “(one’s) smoothness.” (Source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. )
In Elhomwe the word for “naked” is “shameful to use, and would never be used by a preacher in church.” Therefore “without clothes” is used. (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
In Cherokee it is translated as “being in a bodily state.” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 30)
In the Catholic Mandarin ChineseSigao version and the Protestant Union Version, historical Chinese idioms are used: chìshēn lòutǐ (赤身露體 / 赤身露体) or chìshēn luǒtǐ (赤身裸體 / 赤身裸体): “bare and uncovered body.” (Source: Toshikazu S. Foley in Hong Kong Journal of Catholic Studies, 2011, p. 45ff.)
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 19:16:
Uma: “From there, the person who was indwelt by the demon threw-himself-forward and hugged/wrestled them. They were not strong enough to oppose him, because he was indeed strong. They fled from inside the house, wounded and naked because he had shredded/ripped-off their clothes.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Immediately those men were jumped upon and (had their) clothes-torn-in-shreds by the man who had the demon. They were not able to fight/challenge. They all ran from the house of that person wounded and already naked.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then the person who was afflicted by the demon, he jumped at them and beat them and tore off their clothing. Because of this they were afraid and they ran away from the house naked and wounded.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Right-then the one possessed by the spirit suddenly-caught them, and extreme was the way he fought them until they were all defeated. And-so they escaped-from his house stripped-naked and wounded.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “What else but that possessed person then rushed at those seven people and kept on hitting/hurting them. There was nothing they could do, they were defeated. They couldn’t take-care-of-themselves when they left the house. They were in a state of undress and multiply-wounded too.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
With such violence that he defeated them actually translates a verb and a particle which are almost equal in meaning. The Good News Translation understands the participle as intensifying the force of the verb, and so has translated it in this way. (Note Jerusalem Bible “overpowered … and handled them so violently.”)
In some languages it is preferable to invert the order of events in the last sentence of verse 16—for example, “He wounded them and tore their clothes off and then they ran away from his house.”
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 .
the man with the evil spirit: This phrase in Greek is literally “the man in whom the evil spirit was.” This phrase indicates that the evil spirit controlled the man. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
The man who had the evil spirit in him (Good News Translation) -or-
the man possessed by the evil spirit (God’s Word)
jumped on them and overpowered them all: The evil spirit caused the man to attack the sons of Sceva and overpower them. In some languages it is more natural to include this implied information. For example:
⌊was made to⌋ attack them and overpower them ⌊by the evil spirit⌋ -or-
⌊which/who caused him to⌋ attack them and overpower them
19:16c
The attack was so violent: The Greek words are literally “he was strong against them.” The words probably imply violence as well as strength here. For example:
handled them so violently (New Jerusalem Bible) -or-
attacked them with such violence (New Living Translation (2004))
they ran out of the house: This phrase in Greek is literally “to flee from that house.” The sons of Sceva fled from the man with the evil spirit. Other ways to translate this clause are:
They ran away from his house (Good News Translation) -or-
they fled from that house (New Jerusalem Bible)
naked: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as naked may refer to:
(1) all clothes removed,
(2) only the outer layer of clothes removed. Such a person would still be wearing his underclothes.
If possible translate in a way that allows either interpretation. For example:
stripped of clothing (New Jerusalem Bible) -or-
with their clothes torn off their backs (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
wounded: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as wounded refers to being wounded. It can imply cuts, bleeding, broken bones, or bruising. For example:
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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