complete verse (Acts 20:34)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 20:34:

  • Uma: “You yourselves know, relatives, how I worked with my own hands so I could buy whatever my needs were, and the needs of my friends.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “You, you know very well that I worked so that I (lit. we (excl.)) and my companions had (money for our) expenses.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “You know that I continued on working so that I might get what I and my companions needed.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “You know that I myself am the one who has-been-working to get my-needs and the needs of my fellows who are my traveling-companions.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “but on the contrary, you observed what my persevering was like so that I could find what I would live on, including what my companions would live on.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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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).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Acts 20:34

The Greek text of this verse is rather awkward, though the Good News Translation has translated it in such a way as to agree with most of the commentaries. In order to understand a problem in the next verse, it is necessary to point out something which the Good News Translation has done here. Provided everything … needed is literally “provided for (our) needs.” The first word in the Greek text of verse 35 is “all things,” and it has been taken by the Good News Translation and most other translations as related to the verb shown, that is, I have shown you in all things. According to this interpretation, Paul means that in every way possible, both by example and by teaching, he has shown them that by working hard in this way (they) must help the weak (v. 35). The translators of the New English Bible have evidently taken “all things” as the object of the verb “provided” or “earned” (v. 34), and so have translated: “these hands of mine earned enough for the needs of me and my companions.”

In most languages it is quite possible to say “I have worked with my hands,” but in other languages this seems to be a very strange and even meaningless combination, since as one works more than just the hands are involved. Therefore, it may be necessary to translate merely as “I have worked.” This combination of working and providing everything needed may be best expressed in some languages as “I have worked and earned enough money to buy what my companions and I have needed.” Otherwise, it might appear that Paul himself had personally made and grown all that was needed for this rather primitive community of people.

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 20:34

20:34

Paul wanted to show that he did not desire to be paid for his ministry, so he reminded them here that he worked to pay for his own needs while he was with them. Some languages need to indicate that kind of connection with a word or phrase. For example:

⌊On the contrary,⌋ you yourselves know…
-or-

⌊Indeed⌋ you yourselves know…

these hands of mine have ministered to my own needs and those of my companions: Paul probably referred to his work as a tentmaker here. By making tents he earned money. He used that money to buy the things that he and the others with him needed. Other ways to translate this clause are:

these hands of mine have worked to supply the needs of me and those who were with me
-or-
I have worked with these hands of mine to provide everything that my companions and I have needed (Good News Translation)
-or-
I worked to support myself and those who were with me (God’s Word)
-or-
I have worked to earn enough money to meet my needs and those of my companions

these hands of mine: This phrase refers to Paul working hard with his hands. In some languages it is more natural to translate it differently. For example:

I
-or-
I, with my own hands,

have ministered to my own needs and those of my companions: This phrase refers to buying food, paying rent for rooms to stay in, and other daily needs. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

earned money so that I and my companions could pay for things we needed ⌊to live⌋
-or-
worked so that I and my companions had money for our expenses

Some languages will have to list the kinds of needs. For example:

have earned money to pay for food, rooms/lodging/shelter, and whatever else my companions and I needed

my companions: This phrase in Greek is literally “the (people) being with me.” This group probably included Timothy and Erastus (Acts 19:22). There may have been other people who were Paul’s companions. They were his companions because they traveled with him as partners in preaching about Jesus. Other ways to translate this word are:

those who were with me (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
my coworkers

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