9A young man named Eutychus, who was sitting in the window, began to sink off into a deep sleep while Paul talked still longer. Overcome by sleep, he fell to the ground three floors below and was picked up dead.
The name that is transliterated as “Eutychus” in English means “fortunate,” “happy,” “well off.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )
In Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) it is translated with a sign that combines “watching,” “sleeping,” and “falling.” (Eutychus was a boy who, while watching Paul preach, fell asleep and fell out of a window — see Acts 20:9). (Source: Missão Kophós )
The term that is transliterated as “Paul” in English means “little.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )
In American Sign Language it is translated with a sign that signifies the many letters he wrote. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Paul” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
In Spanish Sign Language it is translated with a sign depicting putting away a sword, referring to his conversion from a persecutor of Christians to a Christian leader. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
In Hungarian Sign Language it is translated with a sign that is based on contemporary depictions and refers to the presumed baldness of the top of his head. The description originates from the 2nd-century apocryphal text titled Acts of Paul and Thecla , which represents the earliest and most detailed physical characterization of the apostle in Christian tradition (see also the icon below). (Source: Jenjelvi Biblia and HSL Bible Translation Group)
“Paul” in Hungarian Sign Language — note that only the first part refers to “Paul,” the second part refers to “apostle” (source )
Orthodox Icons are not drawings or creations of imagination. They are in fact writings of things not of this world. Icons can represent our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. They can also represent the Holy Trinity, Angels, the Heavenly hosts, and even events. Orthodox icons, unlike Western pictures, change the perspective and form of the image so that it is not naturalistic. This is done so that we can look beyond appearances of the world, and instead look to the spiritual truth of the holy person or event. (Source )
Down below you’ll see an ivory carving that is located in the Musée national du Moyen-âge in Paris from the Byzantine empire of the 6th or early 7th century:
The following is a contemporary stained glass window from the Messiah Episcopal Church in St. Paul, Minnesota by Peter Dohmen. Individual glass pieces were made in Germany in accordance with Dohmen’s design, using a technique first developed by Irish monks in the 9th and 10th centuries.
“This window is dedicated to St. Paul, the great apostle and missionary, for whom our city is named. At the top of the window is a ship which symbolizes the many missionary journeys of Paul — the Church is our ship, which carries us over the way of life. In the lower section we see Paul on the road to Damascus when he saw a great light and heard our Lord’s voice, which called him to discipleship.”
Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum )
Click or tap here to see a short video clip about Paul (source: Bible Lands 2012)
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 20:9:
Uma: “In that gathering of ours(excl.), there was a young man, his name Eutikhus, sat in the window. Because Paulus did not stop teaching, that young man got sleepy and fell asleep, with the result that he fell to the ground. Yet that window was on the third level from the ground. His companions went-down to pick him up, they saw he was dead.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “There was a man still young named Utikus sitting on the window (sill). When Paul was making his speech long, that Utikus became very sleepy and eventually fell asleep. Then he fell from the third story of that house where we (excl.) were gathered to the ground. When they lifted him up, he was really dead.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “There was a young man, Eutichus, who was sitting in the window there on the third floor, and because Paul’s preaching was very long he became very sleepy and when he could no longer endure his being sleepy and he fell down to the ground. And when they picked him up, he was dead already.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “There was also a young-unmarried-man who was Eutikus who was seated in the window. When Pablo’s speaking lasted-a-long-time, he was sleepy, eventually he fell-asleep, and then he fell from the third story of the house. When they went to pick-him-up, he was already dead.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “There was a young man named Eutico who, there at the window was where he was sitting. When Pablo continued speaking, as for this Eutico, he was nodding-sleepily. When it had been a long time now, he fell sound asleep. Without anything further, he then fell to the ground. Because where he had fallen from was high up, when they picked him up he was already dead.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Teutila Cuicatec: “A young man called Eutychus was sitting on the window sill there in the third floor and as Paul continued preaching sleep grabbed him and when he was sleeping well he went over backwards and fell to the ground. They went and picked him up and he was already dead.” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Young man is a different word from the one used in verse 12 below. According to the classification of one ancient Greek writer, the word used in this verse would normally describe a man who was from 23 to 28 years of age, whereas the word used in verse 12 (translated “boy” by many translators) is taken to describe a person of 8 to 14 years of age. It is quite possible that Luke is simply describing a person who is somewhere between 20 and 30 years of age. The second Greek term which would normally suggest a person of younger age than the first term may, of course, imply some greater degree of endearment, but more probably it is simply used in the more general sense of a young person.
The Good News Translation has brought out the contrast that Luke has made between the Greek progressive tense got sleepier and sleepier and the Greek verb tense denoting instantaneous action finally went sound asleep.
The third story includes in its calculation the ground floor; therefore in some translations this would be equivalent to “the second story.” In Greek “he was taken up” is an impersonal passive construction equivalent in English to they picked him up. Luke actually says that he was dead (see Jerusalem Bible “he was picked up dead”). Had Luke intended to say that he only appeared to be dead, he could easily have done this. Therefore, such a translation as “was picked up as dead” (Phillips) or “was picked up for dead” (New English Bible) is misleading.
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 .
a certain young man: This phrase refers to a male human between perhaps sixteen years old and the usual age of marriage, perhaps twenty-five. Later Luke refers to Eutychus as a “boy,” so he was probably thirteen to nineteen years old.
seated in the window: Windows of that time did not have glass. There may have been shutters, but they would have been open. The walls were probably thick stone, so there would have been room to sit in the window opening.
20:9b
was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on: This clause tells the reader more about Eutychus. In some languages a literal translation would wrongly indicate that Luke was thinking of other men named Eutychus and only this one was sinking into a deep sleep. If that is true in your language, translate this information in a way that tells more about Eutychus. One way to do that is to start a new sentence here. For example:
He was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on.
was sinking into a deep sleep: This phrase refers to becoming very sleepy. For example:
got sleepier and sleepier (Good News Translation)
talked: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as talked refers to someone speaking to a group, teaching and encouraging them. It refers to the same event as Paul speaking in 20:7c.
on and on: This phrase in Greek is literally “for much (time).” The phrase “much time” probably indicates that Paul spoke from early evening until midnight. Eutychus probably fell out of the window about midnight. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
for a long time -or-
still longer (Revised Standard Version)
20:9c
When he was sound asleep: Here the phrase sound asleep means “completely asleep.”
20:9d
he fell: The Greek phrase is literally “he fell down.” Eutychus fell all the way to the ground from the third story window.
the third story: This phrase refers to the floor of the house two floors above the ground floor. In some languages this would be called the second story, because the first floor is the one above the ground floor.
20:9e
and was picked up dead: The context implies that some of the believers rushed downstairs to see what happened to Eutychus. Some languages must include that implied information. For example:
⌊people rushed downstairs⌋ and picked him up dead
was picked up dead: This clause is passive. Some languages must use an active clause. For example:
When they picked him up, he was dead (Good News Translation)
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