the Way

The Greek that is often translated in English as “the Way,” referring to the young church in Acts, is translated in a number of ways:

  • Isthmus Mixe: “those who follow the good words about Jesus Christ”
  • Morelos Nahuatl; “the Jews who followed that man Jesus
  • Lalana Chinantec: “the people who took the trail of Jesus”
  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “all who believed on Jesus”
  • Rincón Zapotec: “those who had received as truth Christ’s word”
  • Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac: “those who walk in the road of the Lord”
  • Chichimeca-Jonaz: “who believed that message” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
  • Elhomwe: “those who lived according to the Way of the Lord” (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999): “Christian(ity)”

In the Mandarin Chinese Union Version, the most commonly used Protestant Chinese Bible, it is translated as zhèdào (这道) or “this way.” Note that dào (道) or “way” is the same word that is also used for Logos (usually “Word” in English) in John 1:1 and elsewhere (see Word / Logos).

complete verse (Acts 22:4)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 22:4:

  • Uma: “So, that’s why I tried my hardest at that time to oppose people that followed the Teaching of the Lord Yesus. There were some of them that I killed. Many of them I arrested and jailed, whether men or women.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “I persecuted the people following the teaching of Isa until some of them died,’ Paul said. ‘I seized them male and female and imprisoned them.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “That’s why I did bad things to the believers in Jesus, and I killed some of them. I seized men and women and I put them in prison.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because I mistreated-almost-to-death the believers in Jesus to-the-point that I had-some -killed. Men and women, I arrested them to put-them-in-jail.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Proof is, at that time, my anger was very great toward the people who were following that way/trail of salvation. I would capture/arrest them and tie them up and have then imprisoned. No distinction was made, female or male. I really hounded them. I really wanted that none be allowed to live.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Acts 22:4

Some commentators understand Paul’s statement that he persecuted to the death the people who followed this Way (see also 26.10) as a generalization of the incident mentioned in 7.54 ff. However, it is more natural to assume that Paul had other cases in mind than the single instance of Stephen’s martyrdom. The people who followed this Way (see 9.2) is literally “this Way”; but, of course, Luke means that Paul persecuted the people who followed this Way. Although Barclay correctly interprets the meaning of “the Way,” he misses the impact of the phrase persecuted to the death, when he translates “I was such a persecutor of the Way that I wished to put its followers to death.”

The expression I persecuted to the death may be rendered as “I persecuted the people and caused their death” or “I caused great trouble to the people, even to the point of causing their death.”

Threw them into prison may need to be translated as a causative: “I caused them to be thrown into prison” or “I ordered officers to put them into prison.” In some languages the equivalent of prison is “to be tied up.”

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 .