complete verse (Acts 24:7)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 24:7:

  • Uma: “But Lisias the head of the soldiers snatched him from our (excl.) hands.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “but Colonel Lisiyas arrived there and grabbed him from us (excl.).” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “however, Captain Lysias came along and beat on us and took him away from us.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Whereupon the commander Lisias came and snatched-him from us (excl.),” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But well, that highest-ranking-officer of soldiers, Lysias, came to us (excl.). He forced us (excl.) with a big trouble/disturbance and he snatched away this person whom we (excl.) had arrested.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Acts 24:7)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, translators typically select the exclusive form (excluding Felix).

Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.

Translation commentary on Acts 24:7

The verb rendered came in almost has the force “interfered,” and the Jews would have looked upon the action of Lysias in exactly this manner. With great violence would characterize the violence of the soldiers against the Jews—for example, “by attacking us, took him from us” or “by using strong force against us, took him from us.”

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 24:7

24:7

[But Lysias the commander came with great force and took him out of our hands]: The Jewish leaders were questioning Paul in their council meeting room when he said something that caused them to begin arguing. Lysias, fearing for Paul’s safety, ordered some soldiers to remove him from their midst. They went and brought him back to the barracks. This sentence implies that Lysias was wrong to take Paul from the Jews. See these events in 22:30–23:10.

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