προσκαλεσάμενος δὲ ὁ Παῦλος ἕνα τῶν ἑκατονταρχῶν ἔφη, Τὸν νεανίαν τοῦτον ἀπάγαγε πρὸς τὸν χιλίαρχον, ἔχει γὰρ ἀπαγγεῖλαί τι αὐτῷ.
17Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to report to him.”
The Greek that is translated as “centurion” in English is translated in Noongar as “boss of the Roman soldiers (lit.: ‘men of fighting’)” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang), in Uma as “Roman army warchief” (source: Uma Back Translation), in Western Bukidnon Manobo as “a person who was not a Jew, the captain of a hundred soldiers” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation), and in Mairasi “leader of Roman warriors” (source: Enggavoter 2004).
Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Roman Centurion .
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)
“Paul (and Saul)” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España
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 )
For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .
Following is a Georgian Orthodox icon of Paul the Apostle from the 14th century (located in the Art Museum of Georgia, Tbilisi).
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 )
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.
Source for the image and description below: The Stained Glass Windows of Messiah Episcopal Church
“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 )
Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Paul .
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 23:17:
Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. Here, itte (行って) or “go” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).”
(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
The terms rendered officers and commander (New English Bible “centurions” and “commandant”) in this verse are literally “men in charge of one hundred men” and “a man in charge of a thousand men.”
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 .
23:17a
called: Here the word called refers to asking someone to come. The centurion was not standing next to Paul, so he walked over to Paul when Paul asked to speak to him. Other ways to translate this word are:
summoned
-or-
asked to come
centurions: A “centurion” was an officer in the Roman army who usually led one hundred soldiers. Translate this word as you did in 10:1 or 22:25.
23:17b
Take this young man to the commander; he has something to tell him: This is a command, but the centurion understood it as a request (“asked me,” 23:18b). Paul was a Roman citizen, but he was under guard, so he could not demand that the centurion obey him.
In some languages a literal translation would wrongly indicate a demand. If that is true in your language, translate it as a polite request. For example:
Please take this young man to the commander; he has something to tell him.
-or-
Could you take this young man to the commander? He has something to tell him.
young man: The Greek words that the Berean Standard Bible translates young man here and in 23:18 and 23:22 refer to a young man between approximately sixteen and twenty-eight years old.
commander: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as commander means “leader of one thousand soldiers.” This kind of officer commanded six hundred to a thousand soldiers in the Roman army. See how you translated this word in 21:31 or 23:15.
he has something to tell him: The Greek conjunction that is often translated “for” introduces this clause. It introduces the reason for Paul telling the centurion to take his nephew to the commander. For example:
for he has something to tell him (Revised Standard Version)
The Berean Standard Bible uses a semi-colon (;) to indicate a connection but omits the conjunction. In some languages it is more natural to begin a new sentence here and imply the meaning of “for.”
© 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.
No comments yet.
.jpg){kind=link}
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.