inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Acts 21:5)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, translators typically select the exclusive form (excluding the addressee).

Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.

pray / prayer

Click here to view graphically

The Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin, and Greek that is translated as “pray” (or “prayer”) in English is often translated as “talking with God” (Central Pame, Tzeltal, Chol, Chimborazo Highland Quichua, Shipibo-Conibo, Kaqchikel, Tepeuxila Cuicatec, Copainalá Zoque, Central Tarahumara).

Other solutions include:

  • “to beg” or “to ask,” (full expression: “to ask with one’s heart coming out,” which leaves out selfish praying, for asking with the heart out leaves no place for self to hide) (Tzotzil)
  • “to cause God to know” (Huichol)
  • “to raise up one’s words to God” (implying an element of worship, as well as communication) (Miskito, Lacandon) (source of this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Shilluk: “speak to God” (source: Nida 1964, p. 237)
  • Mairasi: “talk together with Great Above One (=God)” (source: Enggavoter, 2004)
  • San Blas Kuna: “call to one’s Father” (source: Claudio and Marvel Iglesias in The Bible Translator 1951, p. 85ff. )
  • Ik: waan: “beg.” Terrill Schrock (in Wycliffe Bible Translators 2016, p. 93) explains (click or tap here to read more):

    What do begging and praying have to do with each other? Do you beg when you pray? Do I?

    “The Ik word for ‘visitor’ is waanam, which means ‘begging person.’ Do you beg when you go visiting? The Ik do. Maybe you don’t beg, but maybe when you visit someone, you are looking for something. Maybe it’s just a listening ear.

    When the Ik hear that [my wife] Amber and I are planning trip to this or that place for a certain amount of time, the letters and lists start coming. As the days dwindle before our departure, the little stack of guests grows. ‘Please, sir, remember me for the allowing: shoes, jacket (rainproof), watch, box, trousers, pens, and money for the children. Thank you, sir, for your assistance.’

    “A few people come by just to greet us or spend bit of time with us. Another precious few will occasionally confide in us about their problems without asking for anything more than a listening ear. I love that.

    “The other day I was in our spare bedroom praying my list of requests to God — a nice list covering most areas of my life, certainly all the points of anxiety. Then it hit me: Does God want my list, or does he want my relationship?

    “I decided to try something. Instead of reading off my list of requests to God, I just talk to him about my issues without any expectation of how he should respond. I make it more about our relationship than my list, because if our personhood is like God’s personhood, then maybe God prefers our confidence and time to our lists, letters, and enumerations.”

In Luang it is translated with different shades of meaning (click or tap here to read more):

  • For Acts 1:14, 20:36, 21:5: kola ttieru-yawur nehla — “hold the waist and hug the neck.” (“This is the more general term for prayer and often refers to worship in prayer as opposed to petition. The Luang people spend the majority of their prayers worshiping rather than petitioning, which explains why this term often is used generically for prayer.”)
  • For Acts 28:9: sumbiani — “pray.” (“This term is also used generically for ‘prayer’. When praying is referred to several times in close proximity, it serves as a variation for kola ttieru-yawur nehla, in keeping with Luang discourse style. It is also used when a prayer is made up of many requests.”)
  • For Acts 8:15, 12:5: polu-waka — “call-ask.” (“This is a term for petition that is used especially when the need is very intense.”)

Source: Kathy Taber in Notes on Translation 1/1999, p. 9-16.

complete verse (Acts 21:5)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 21:5:

  • Uma: “But in spite of that, when the time came for our ship to depart, we (excl.) said that we (excl.) would go on to Yerusalem anyway. So, all our (excl.) companions escorted us (excl.) going outside the town, with their wives and children. At the edge of the sea, we (excl.) knelt together and prayed.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “When the day of our (excl.) departure came, they all accompanied us (excl.) outside the town, taking along their wives and their children. Then we (excl.) all stood with our (excl.) knees on the shore asking-of/praying-to God.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “However, when it was time for us to leave we left that village, and all the believers went along with us, men and women and their children, and we knelt down on the shore to pray.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But when our (excl.) staying there was finished, we (excl.) continued-on-the-way nonetheless. All of them who believed, along-with the women and their children, they escorted us (excl.) as-far-as the ocean that was at the boundary of their town/country. And we (excl.) knelt there at the edge of the ocean and we (excl.) prayed.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “and then we (excl.) took leave of them and sailed again. On our (excl.) leaving that city to go down to the sea, everyone of them accompanied us (excl.), women, men, even their children. And then before we left to sail, we (excl.) all knelt down on the beach and prayed.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Acts 21:5

Although this is a strange use of the Greek verb translated was over, scholars agree that this is its meaning in the present context. Most translators prefer to give a rather literal rendering to Luke’s words “when our time was over,” without indicating time spent with whom or where. The New English Bible refers this to time spent ashore, “but when our time ashore was ended,” while the Good News Translation relates this to time spent with the believers, but when our time with them was over. However, it is difficult in some languages to speak of our time … was over. It may be necessary to say “the time which we could spend with them was ended,” “we came to the end of the time we could stay with them,” or “finally we had to leave.”

On the basis of the definite article used before ship (literally the ship) in verse 6, commentators conclude that the same vessel is referred to in verse 3 as in verse 6. If this is true, what caused Paul’s time to be over was the fact that the ship had finished unloading its cargo and was now ready to continue on its voyage. The word used for beach (see also 27.39) refers to a sandy beach as opposed to a rocky shore.

For knelt down … and prayed see 20.36.

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 2:15

2:15a

These men are not drunk, as you suppose: The believers were not drunk. Peter corrected those who had said that the believers were drunk. Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

These people are not drunk, as some of you believe.
-or-
In spite of what you think, these men are not drunk (NET Bible)
-or-
You are wrong to think that these people are drunk. (Contemporary English Version)

These men: This phrase refers to the other believers. (Peter was not drunk either, which was clear by the way he acted in front of the crowd.)

The Greek here is just “these.” It can include both men and women.

drunk: This word refers to becoming intoxicated from drinking wine or another alcoholic beverage.

2:15b

It is only the third hour of the day: The Greek is literally “for it is the third hour of the day.” At that time of year in Jerusalem, this would refer to about 8:30am to 9:30am. This is the reason that Peter gave for why the believers were not drunk. Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

since it is only the third hour of the day; (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
it is only nine o’clock in the morning (New Century Version)
-or-
It is only the middle of the morning

At that time people typically got drunk at night. In many cultures people might get drunk any time of the day or night. If that is true in your culture, you may want to:

• Explain this statement in a footnote. Here is an example footnote:

At that time people in Jerusalem who got drunk typically only did so at a meal. The first meal was typically at ten o’clock. So being nine o’clock in the morning is a good reason for the believers not to be drunk.

• Explain this statement in your translation. For example:

It’s only nine in the morning ⌊and people are not drunk at this time⌋

© 2001, 2021 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Acts 2:15

21:5a–b

when our time there had ended: This clause in Greek is literally “when the days for us came to be finished/fulfilled.” Probably the captain had told Paul and the others that the sailors would unload their cargo and make the ship ready to sail again in seven days. At this time the seven days were finished. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

when our time was up (New International Version)
-or-
when the allotted time was over
-or-
when the time came for our ship to depart

we set out on our journey: This clause indicates that they left the homes of the believers in Tyre and continued their journey by going first to the ship. Other ways to translate this clause are:

we departed and began to travel again
-or-
we left ⌊their place/homes⌋ and resumed traveling ⌊by going back to the ship⌋

In some languages it is more natural to use only one verb here. For example:

we set off (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
we started on our way again (Contemporary English Version)

21:5c

knelt down: Kneeling in biblical cultures showed that people revered God and were humble before him. In some languages kneeling to pray has a different meaning. If that is true in your language, you may want to:

• Explain it in your translation. For example:

we knelt ⌊in humility⌋
-or-
we knelt ⌊reverently and humbly⌋

• Use the gesture in your culture that indicates that the person reveres God. You may then want to indicate the literal word in a footnote. An example footnote is:

Literally “knelt.” At that time, kneeling showed that they were reverent and humble.

• Translate literally and explain it in a footnote. An example footnote is:

At that time, kneeling showed reverence and humility.

See how you translated a similar clause (“he knelt down with all of them and prayed “) in 20:36.

beach: This refers to the strip of land at the edge of water, usually sandy rather than rocky.

to pray with us: The Greek word is literally “having prayed.” It indicates that they prayed at this time. For example:

and prayed

pray: The word pray refers to the event of speaking to God, either to praise Him, thank Him, or ask Him about something. See how you translated this word in 1:24 or 20:36.

© 2001, 2021 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.