The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is typically translated as “footstool” in English is translated as “(put your enemies) underneath your feet like grass” in Enxet. (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
In Upper Guinea Crioulo it is “(put your enemies) under your feet so you can rest your feet on them.” (Source: David Frank in this blog post )
In Whitesands is is “door-cloth.” “This would be that rag at the door that you use to wipe your feet after walking in the dirt or mud. Similar to a doormat. The point of comparison would be that a door rag is so low in value/position compared to the one using it.” (Source: Greg Carlson)
The term that is transliterated as “Paul” in English is translated in American Sign Language 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)
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.
“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 )
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 2:35:
Uma: “until I cause all your (sing.) enemies to submit to you (sing.).'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “and I will place your enemies beneath the sole of your feet.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “until the time when I cause your enemies to kneel before you.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “There is something that David wrote concerning the one-who-was-raised to heaven that says, ‘The Lord God said to my Lord: Sit-down at my right-side until I defeat your (sing.) enemies.’ But what David was-speaking-about, it was not himself, because it was not he who was raised to heaven but rather his Lord who is Jesus.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “until, as for your enemies, I will subdue them that they are just a stepping-stool for your feet.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Latin that is translated as “enemy” or “foe” in English is translated in the HausaCommon Language Bible as “friends of front,” i.e., the person standing opposite you in a battle. (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
In North Alaskan Inupiatun it is translated with a term that implies that it’s not just someone who hates you, but one who wants to do you harm (Source: Robert Bascom), in Tarok as ukpa ìkum or “companion in war/fighting,” and in Ikwere as nye irno m or “person who hates me” (source for this and one above: Chuck and Karen Tessaro in this newsletter ).
Translators of different languages have found different ways with what kind of formality God is addressed.
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Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or modern English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.
As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator2002, p. 210ff. ), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.
In these verses, in which humans address God, the informal, familiar pronoun is used that communicates closeness.
Voinov notes that “in the Tuvan Bible, God is only addressed with the informal pronoun. No exceptions. An interesting thing about this is that I’ve heard new Tuvan believers praying with the formal form to God until they are corrected by other Christians who tell them that God is close to us so we should address him with the informal pronoun. As a result, the informal pronoun is the only one that is used in praying to God among the Tuvan church.”
In Gbaya, “a superior, whether father, uncle, or older brother, mother, aunt, or older sister, president, governor, or chief, is never addressed in the singular unless the speaker intends a deliberate insult. When addressing the superior face to face, the second person plural pronoun ɛ́nɛ́ or ‘you (pl.)’ is used, similar to the French usage of vous.
Accordingly, the translators of the current version of the Gbaya Bible chose to use the plural ɛ́nɛ́ to address God. There are a few exceptions. In Psalms 86:8, 97:9, and 138:1, God is addressed alongside other “gods,” and here the third person pronoun o is used to avoid confusion about who is being addressed. In several New Testament passages (Matthew 21:23, 26:68, 27:40, Mark 11:28, Luke 20:2, 23:37, as well as in Jesus’ interaction with Pilate and Jesus’ interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well) the less courteous form for Jesus is used to indicate ignorance of his position or mocking.” (Source Philip Noss)
In the most recent Manchu translation of 1835 (a revision of an earlier edition from 1822), God is never addressed with a pronoun but with “father” (ama /ᠠᠮᠠ) instead. Chengcheng Liu (in this post on the Cambridge Centre for Chinese Theology blog ) explains: “In Manchu tradition, as in Chinese etiquette, second-person pronouns could be considered disrespectful when speaking to superiors or spiritual beings. Manchu Shamanist prayers avoided si [‘you’] and sini [‘your’] for this very reason. To use them for God would be, in Lipovzoff’s [one of the two translators] words, ‘the most uncouth and indecent way to speak to the Almighty — as if He were a servant or slave.’ There was also a grammatical problem. In Manchu, si and sini could refer to both singular and plural subjects. For a faith that insisted on the singularity of God, this was potentially confusing. By contrast, repeating ama removed any ambiguity.”
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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 first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
A still further argument against the assumption that in previous quotations David was speaking about himself is now introduced. This recapitulates what was said in verse 29b, but in a different way, since now the focus is shifted to the exaltation (vv. 32-33).
It is probably necessary to have some marginal note for verse 34 to indicate that this reference to going to heaven applies to the special exaltation of Jesus to the right hand of God. In some instances one can simply indicate this contrast between David and Jesus by adding to the first clause “as Jesus did,” for example, “For David himself did not go up into heaven as Jesus did.” The quotation from Psalm 110.1, given in verses 34-35, is almost an exact reproduction of the Septuagint. In the original context of the Psalm it was God* telling his* chosen king* to sit at his* right side until he* had made the king’s enemies a place for him* to put his* feet. As used in the present context the Lord is God the Father and my Lord refers to Jesus; by raising Jesus from the dead God made him Lord and Messiah. Although the word translated until may in other contexts indicate that the action of the main verb will be terminated at the point indicated by until, it is impossible to suppose that the same holds true in the present context. This is simply another way of saying that God has given the Lord Jesus his power and authority, and all Jesus’ enemies will be made subject to him.
If the literal form of the phrase The Lord said to my Lord is retained, it is almost certain that some marginal note is required to indicate that this is God who is speaking to my Lord.
As suggested above, there is a real problem involved in rendering until, since in many languages such a conjunction specifies the end of a period, after which some other arrangement is presumed. Therefore, it may be more in keeping with the proper exegesis of this passage to translate until as “in the meantime” or “during that time,” for example, “Sit here at my right side and during that time I will put your enemies….”
In many languages the figure of the footstool is meaningful, especially if one can supplement this with some marginal note to indicate that this is a figure of speech, indicating victory over one’s enemies. However, in languages in which the figure is inadmissible, one can always employ a non-metaphorical equivalent, for example, “until I cause you to have victory over your enemies” or “I cause your enemies to be subjected to your authority.” The concept of being “subjected to your authority” may be rendered in some languages as “must obey your words.”
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 .
until: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as until can also mean “while.” Here the Greek word does not imply anything after God had defeated his enemies.
I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet: The word footstool is a figure of speech. It indicates that God will defeat the enemies of David’s lord and they will be under the control of that person. In some languages a literal translation would not have that meaning. If that is true in your language, you may want to:
• Translate the meaning of the figure of speech in the text. For example:
while I put your enemies ⌊completely⌋ under your control
You may then want to indicate the literal words in a footnote. Here is an example footnote:
Literally “I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”
• Translate the figure of speech as a simile. For example:
while I ⌊defeat⌋ your enemies and make them ⌊like⌋ a stool for your feet
• Translate literally and explain the meaning in a footnote. Here is an example footnote:
The word footstool indicates that God will defeat the enemies of David’s lord and they will be under the control of that person.
Paragraph 2:36
2:36a
The quote from the Old Testament ended at 2:35. Peter again spoke his own words beginning here at 2:36a. In some languages the grammar will already clearly indicate that. But in some languages a literal translation would not clearly indicate that Peter now spoke for himself. If that is true in your language, you may want to introduce 2:36a to indicate that. For example:
⌊Peter concluded,⌋ -or-
⌊Peter, speaking for himself, said,⌋ -or-
⌊Peter stopped quoting scripture and said,⌋
Therefore: This conjunction introduces Peter’s conclusion. “Jesus is Lord and Christ” is the important point, and 2:14–35 supports this point.
let all Israel know with certainty: This phrase indicates that people should be certain that what Peter now said was true. Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
All the people of Israel…are to know for sure (Good News Translation) -or-
the whole House of Israel can be certain (New Jerusalem Bible) -or-
I definitely make known to all ⌊the people of⌋ Israel -or-
it is necessary that all ⌊the descendants of⌋ Israel understand
all Israel: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as all Israel is literally “all (the) house of Israel.” This phrase refers to all the descendants of the patriarch Israel, namely the Jews. Peter wanted every Jew to know that Jesus was the Christ even though not all Jews heard Peter speak these words. Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
all the descendants/line of Israel -or-
all those descended from Israel
Peter himself was a Jew. In some languages it is necessary or more natural to indicate that. For example:
all my fellow Israelites/Jews
2:36b
God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ: The phrase whom you crucified describes Jesus. It is a statement of blame. It does not separate Jesus from other men named Jesus. For the correct meaning in some languages, translators must avoid the word whom. For example:
This Jesus was crucified by you. But God has made him both Lord and Christ. -or-
You crucified this Jesus. But God has made him both Lord and Christ.
crucified: This word means to execute (kill) someone by nailing or tying him to a cross, then setting the cross upright. This was a Roman way to cause criminals to die a slow and painful death. Here are some other ways to translate this word:
you put him to death on a cross (Contemporary English Version) -or-
you nailed/fastened him to a cross to kill him
Here are some ways to translate “cross”:
plank/wood of death -or-
crossed-beam(s) of death -or-
a tree for killing people -or-
a stake/post to which they fasten/nail someone ⌊to kill him⌋
Christ: The word Christ is used here as a title. The Jews used this title to refer to the special person whom God had appointed and promised to send as king and savior. See how you translated this word in 2:31b.
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