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Verse: Acts 23:3
τότε ὁ Παῦλος πρὸς αὐτὸν εἶπεν, Τύπτειν σε μέλλει ὁ θεός, τοῖχε κεκονιαμένε· καὶ σὺ κάθῃ κρίνων με κατὰ τὸν νόμον καὶ παρανομῶν κελεύεις με τύπτεσθαι;
3At this Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! Are you sitting there to judge me according to the law, and yet in violation of the law you order me to be struck?”
The Greek in Acts 23:3 that is translated in English as “(you) whitewashed wall” is translated in a number of ways:
Lalana Chinantec: “you are like a masonry wall on which they have put white paint. It is no longer evident what it is like inside.” (Source: John Beekman in Notes on Translation, March 1965, p. 2ff.)
Bariai: “a disintegrating wall and yet they applied paint to it so that it merely looks good” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 23:3:
Uma: “Paulus retorted: ‘May God slap you (sing.) as well [curse formula], you (sing.) are just good the outside! You (sing.) sit over there, wanting to decide my case according to the Law of Musa, yet you (sing.) yourself transgress that Law of Musa because you (sing.) ordered me slapped!'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Paul said to Ananiyas, ‘God will punish you. You are good only on the outside but your heart is evil. You are sitting there to judge me in accordance with the law but you are the one who does not follow the law in that you commanded me to be slapped,’ Paul said.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And Paul said to him, ‘As for you whose worship of God is a lie, surely God is going to punish you. Because according to the teaching of our law, you are sitting there to check up on me. However, you break that law because you commanded that they slap me.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Whereupon Pablo said to him, ‘You (sing.) pretend judge, in-the-future indeed (prophetic formula) God will also slap you (sing.)! Because you (sing.) are seated there to try me according to our law, but you (sing.) broke that law, because you (sing.) had-me -slapped.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “After being slapped, Pablo spoke. He said to Ananias, ‘It really will happen that you also are caused hurt, but God will be the one hurting you. You only make a pretence of your following/obeying him. For there you now are, sitting, supposedly to judge me according to the laws, but you now are the one breaking this law, for you ordered that my mouth be slapped.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
In Paul’s reply to Ananias it is important to use the same verb to strike as is employed in verse 2. If such a verb can also suggest destruction, this may be all the better.
No one is certain what the exact analogy is that Paul had in mind when he called the High Priest a whitewashed wall. The first thing that comes to mind is the comparison that our Lord used (Matthew 23.27). However, the phrase is there used to describe hypocrisy, and it is difficult to read that into the present context. Others see in this a reference to the wall mentioned in Ezekiel 13.10-15, a wall which looked strong enough but was blown over by the wind. The problem is that the Septuagint does not use the word “whitewashed” to describe that wall. Perhaps the best solution is imply to conclude that this was a formula of abuse, the precise meaning of which is no longer known. Since we do not know the precise value of whitewashed wall, it is difficult to suggest alternative expressions in other languages. Therefore, it may very well be necessary simply to reproduce this expression in a more or less literal form (for example, “painted-over wall” or “wall that has been made to look white”), and then explain in some marginal note that this was obviously an expression of abuse, of which the precise meaning is no longer known. For the most part, however, a rendering such as “wall which has been made to look white” does provide at least a meaningful basis for an expression which would be interpreted as an insult to the High Priest.
You sit there to judge me according to the Law may be rendered as “you sit there as a judge who is supposed to follow the Law” or “you sit there as one who is supposed to judge me by what the Law says.”
In a number of languages one can speak about “breaking the Law,” but in many other languages such an expression simply does not make sense. One can only “break sticks.” However, in many languages one can “go against the Law,” “destroy the Law,” or “do what the Law says one should not do.”
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 .
God will strike you, you whitewashed wall: Paul called the high priest a whitewashed wall. In some languages this term of address must be first in the clause. For example:
You whitewashed wall, God will strike you!
The phrase whitewashed wall is a metaphor. A whitewashed wall is a wall of stones that was painted white to hide how weak or ugly it was. People used this metaphor to refer to someone who was a hypocrite. That person pretended to be good, but was really evil. Some ways to translate this phrase are:
• Translate the metaphor as a simile. For example:
God will strike you. You ⌊are like a⌋ whitewashed wall
• Explain the metaphor in your translation. For example:
God will strike you. You ⌊are as phony/fake as a⌋ whitewashed wall -or-
God will strike you. You ⌊are like a⌋ wall painted white ⌊to hide the bad parts⌋
• Translate the meaning of the metaphor. For example:
You hypocrite, God will strike you! -or-
You deceive people, so God will strike you!
You may then want to indicate the literal words in a footnote. An example footnote is:
Literally “whitewashed wall.” This is a metaphor for being a hypocrite.
• Translate the metaphor literally and explain it in a footnote. An example footnote is:
This is a metaphor for being a hypocrite. People paint the wall white to hide how weak or ugly it was.
God will strike you: This clause in Greek is literally “God is about to strike you.” It indicates that God will soon strike the high priest or will certainly strike him. Luke used the word strike again to connect the sentence to 23:2b. For example:
God is going to strike you (New American Standard Bible) -or-
God will certainly strike you (Good News Translation)
The clause God will strike you is a figure of speech which means “God will harm you.” If possible, use the same verb for strike that you used in 23:2b. Some languages use a different verb for God striking/harming people. If that is true in your language, use a verb that indicates or implies that God would harm him.
23:3b–c
You sit here to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck: The scholars of the Greek New Testament interpret this sentence as a question. For example:
Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet contrary to the law you order me to be struck? (Revised Standard Version)
It is a rhetorical question. Paul used it to rebuke him. Translate it as a rebuke in your language. Some ways are:
• As a rhetorical question. For example:
How can you sit there to judge me according to the Law, and then break the Law by ordering a man to strike me? (New Jerusalem Bible) -or-
Do you sit to try me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law order me to be struck? (New American Standard Bible) -or-
⌊Why⌋ do you sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck?
• As a statement. For example:
You sit there to judge me according to the Law, yet you break the Law by ordering them to strike me! (Good News Translation) -or-
You sit there and judge me, using the law of Moses, but you are telling them to hit me, and that is against the law. (New Century Version)
• As a command. For example:
⌊Consider that⌋ you sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!
You sit here to judge me: Here the word judge refers to deciding whether what someone says is true or a lie. If this were a trial, the leader of the Sanhedrin would be deciding if Paul deserved to be punished. Here, the Roman commander asked the leader to find out if the mob’s accusations against Paul (22:30) were true.
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
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