complete verse (Acts 22:23)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 22:23:

  • Uma: “As they shouted like that, they tossed their shirts and scattered dust in the air, because they were carried away by the irritation of their anger.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “They kept shouting and they were waving their clothes and they threw dust upward because of their anger.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “They were shouting and waving their shirts and throwing dirt overhead.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “They continued shouting while-simultaneously they were-waving their clothes, and they were-tossing dust up-in-the-air to show their anger.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “They kept on calling out like that. What they did too was, they took off a layer of their clothes and threw them up in the air, and kept on picking up handfuls of dust and throwing it in the air, due to the big-size of their anger.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Acts 22:23

There is a question as to whether the word translated waving means “to wave” or “to tear off” (see King James Version “cast off” and Phillips “ripping”). Moffatt takes the word in the sense of “to throw” (“threw their clothes into the air”). In 14.14, the tearing of clothes is the response that the people make to what they consider blasphemy. Here also the waving (or tearing) of clothes and the throwing of dust into the air must be looked upon as expressions of horror at what the Jews consider to be blasphemy on the part of Paul. At this point it may be useful to have marginal note to explain the behavior of the crowd.

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 22:23

Paragraph 22:23–25

22:23a–24a

As they were shouting and throwing…and tossing…, the commander ordered: 22:23a–b describes what the crowd was doing when the commander ordered his soldiers to take Paul into the barracks. What the crowd was doing caused the commander to order his soldiers to take Paul to the barracks. Other ways to translate that meaning are:

They were shouting ⌊those things⌋ and ⌊began⌋ throwing…and flinging dust into the air. 24⌊So⌋ the commander ordered…
-or-
The mob was yelling, taking off their coats, and throwing dirt into the air. 24So the officer ordered… (God’s Word)

22:23a

As they were shouting: This clause refers to the things the crowd said in 22:22c. They probably shouted other things as well.

throwing off their cloaks: There are several ways to interpret the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as throwing off. The two main ways are:

(1) It means throw. The people in the crowd forcefully removed their own outer garments. For example:

threw off their coats (New Living Translation (2004))

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, Revised Edition, New American Standard Bible, New Living Translation (2004), God’s Word, NET Bible, New Century Version, English Standard Version, King James Version)

(2) It means wave. The crowd took off their outer garments and waved them in the air. For example:

waving their clothes (Good News Translation)

(Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, Contemporary English Version, Revised English Bible)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because that is the usual meaning of the Greek word.

cloaks: The Greek word here is the same word as the one the Berean Standard Bible translates as “garments” in 22:20c. It refers to the outer garment worn by Jewish men. Translate this word as you did in 22:20c.

22:23b

tossing dust into the air: The word tossing means “throwing.” For example:

threw dust into the air (Revised Standard Version)

General Comment on 22:23a–b

By throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, the crowd indicated that they were upset, angry, or disgusted by what Paul said. In some languages a literal translation would have the wrong meaning. If that is true in your language, you may want to explain it in a footnote. An example footnote is:

These actions indicate that the crowd was upset, angry, or disgusted at what Paul said.

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