The Hebrew, Ge’ez and Greek that is typically translated as “confess” in English in the context of these verses is translated in a variety of ways. Here are some (back-) translations:
Huastec: “to take aim at one’s sin” (“an idiom which is derived from the action of a hunter taking aim at a bird or animal”) (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
Tabasco Chontal: “say, It is true, I’ve done evil” (source: Larson 1998, p. 204)
Central Pame: “pull out the heart” (“so that it may be clearly seen — not just by men, but by God”) (source: Nida 1952, p. 155)
Shipibo-Conibo: “say, It is true I have sinned” (source: Nida 1964, p. 228)
Obolo: itutumu ijo isibi: “speak out sin” (source: Enene Enene).
Tagbanwa: “testify that one would now drop/give-up sin” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 19:18:
Uma: “From there also, many believers in Yesus confessed in the eyes of the masses their deeds that were not appropriate.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Many also of those who trusted in Isa went, confessing openly the evil doings of theirs.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “There were many new believers there who told in front of all about the bad things which they had given up.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “And many were the believers who confessed to their companions what they had been doing as spirit-mediums,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “From that time, many were the believers who were like awakened. Therefore they exposed and repented of their sins in the presence of everyone.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Publicly admitting is taken by some commentators to mean “openly confessing (one’s sins).” Some translators combine the two verbs which the Good News Translation has translated separately, publicly admitting and revealing, and understand them to mean “openly confess” (New English Bible; see Phillips).
What (they) had done (so most translations) translates a noun which frequently refers to evil deeds; however, the noun is also used in the specialized sense of “magic spells,” and some translations reflect this interpretation (New English Bible, Moffatt, Jerusalem Bible).
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 .
Many who had believed now came forward, confessing: The Greek words indicate that this event occurred over a period of time. Another way to translate these clauses are:
many of those who believed began to come and confess
19:18a
This verse in Greek begins with a word that probably means “and” here. It indicates that the event of 19:18 probably occurred after the event of 19:17 and in connection to the event in 19:15–16. For example:
also (Revised Standard Version)
Many who had believed: The Greek form of the word believed indicates a prior event. These people already believed in Jesus when the event with the seven sons of Sceva occurred. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
many of those who had become believers (Revised English Bible) -or-
many of those who were already believers
now: The Berean Standard Bible adds this word. It helps to indicate that the believers started confessing after the event with the seven sons of Sceva.
19:18b
confessing and disclosing: The Greek words are literally confessing and disclosing. The word confessing indicates that they told other believers what they did. The word disclosing indicates that they made their magic secrets public. Other ways to translate the Greek words are:
confessing and divulging (Revised Standard Version) -or-
admitting and revealing (Good News Translation)
In Greek thought, making magic secrets public destroyed their power. In some languages it is necessary to include this implied information for the correct meaning. For example:
confessing their evil deeds ⌊of sorcery⌋ and telling their magic secrets publicly ⌊to ruin their power⌋
confessing: The believers probably confessed to other believers. But some of them may have also confessed to non-believers.
their deeds: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as their deeds probably refers to doing magic or sorcery. But as believers, these deeds were wrong for them to do. In some languages it is more clear to indicate the kind of deeds. For example:
their practices (Revised Standard Version) -or-
magical spells (God’s Word)
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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