rite of purification

The Greek in Acts 24:18 that is translated as “rite of purification” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) with den Vorschriften des Nasiräats gehorchend und geheiligt or “obeying the rules of the Naziriteate to become sanctified.”

See also complete verse (Acts 21:26) and under a vow.

synagogue, temple (inner), temple (outer)

In many English translations the Greek terms “hieron” (the whole “temple” in Jerusalem or specifically the outer courts open to worshippers) and “naos” (the inner “shrine” or “sanctuary”) are translated with only one word: “temple” (see also for instance “Tempel” in German [for exception see below] and “tempel” in Dutch, Danish, or Afrikaans).

Other languages make a distinction: (Click or tap here to see more)

  • Navajo (Dinė): “house in which worship is carried out” (for naos)
  • Balinese: “inner part of the Great Temple” (“the term ‘inner part’ denoting the hindmost and holiest of the two or three courts that temples on Bali usually possess”) vs. “Great Temple”
  • Telugu: “womb (i.e. interior)-of-the-abode” vs. “abode”
  • Thai: a term denoting the main audience hall of a Buddhist temple compound vs. “environs-of-the-main-audience-hall”
  • Kituba: “place of holiness of house-God Lord” vs. “house-God Lord”
  • Shipibo-Conibo: “deep in God’s house” vs. “God’s house” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • German das Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022): “inner court of the temple” (Tempelinnenhof) vs. “temple”

Languages that, like English, German, Dutch, Danish, or Afrikaans, don’t make that distinction include:

  • Mandarin Chinese: “聖殿 Shèng diàn” (“holy palace”)
  • Loma: “the holy place”
  • Pular: “the sacred house” (source for this and the one above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Zarma: “God’s compound”
  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “big church of the Jews”
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “big house on top (i.e. most important)”
  • Toraja-Sa’dan: “house that is looked upon as holy, that is sacred, that is taboo and where one may not set foot” (lit. “house where-the-belly-gets-swollen” — because taboo is violated — using a term that is also applied to a Muslim mosque) (source for this and the three above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Mairasi: Janav Enggwarjer Weso: “Great Above One’s (God’s) House” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Noongar: Maya-maya-Kooranyi: “Sacred House” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Huehuetla Tepehua: “the big church of the Israelites”
  • Aguaruna: “the house for talking to God” (source for this and above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
  • Guhu-Samane: “festival longhouse of God” (“The biiri, ‘festival longhouse’, being the religious and social center of the community, is a possible term for ‘temple’. It is not the ‘poro house’ as such. That would be too closely identified with the cult of poro. The physical features of the building, huge and sub-divided, lend it further favor for this consideration. By qualifying it as ‘God’s biiri’ the term has become meaningful and appropriate in the context of the Scriptures.”) (Source: Ernest Richert in The Bible Translator, 1965, p. 81ff. )
  • Enga: “God’s restricted access house” (source: Adam Boyd on his blog )

Another distinction that tends to be overlooked in translations is that between hieron (“temple” in English) and sunagógé (“synagogue” in English). Euan Fry (in The Bible Translator 1987, p. 213ff. ) reports on this:

“Many older translations have simply used transliterations of ‘temple’ and ‘synagogue’ rather than trying to find equivalent terms or meaningful expressions in their own languages. This approach does keep the two terms separate; but it makes the readers depend on explanations given by pastors or teachers for their understanding of the text.

“Translators who have tried to find meaningful equivalents, for the two terms ‘temple’ and ‘synagogue’ have usually made a distinction between them in one of two ways (which focus on the contrasting components of meaning). One way takes the size and importance of the Temple to make a contrast, so that expressions such as ‘sacred meeting/ worship house of the Jews’ and ‘big sacred meeting/worship house of the Jews’ are used. The other way focuses on the different nature of the religious activity at each of the places, so that expressions such as ‘meeting/worship house of the Jews’ and ‘sacrifice/ceremony place of the Jews’ are used.

“It is not my purpose in this article to discuss how to arrive at the most precise equivalent to cover all the components of meaning of ‘temple’. That is something that each translator really has to work through for himself in the light of the present usage and possibilities in his own language. My chief concern here is that the basic term or terms chosen for ‘temple’ should give the reader of a translation a clear and correct picture of the location referred to in each passage. And I am afraid that in many cases where an equivalent like ‘house of God’ or ‘worship house’ has been chosen, the readers have quite the wrong picture of what going to the Temple or being in the Temple means. (This may be the case for the word ‘temple’ in English too, for many readers.)”

Here are some examples:

  • Bambara: “house of God” (or: “big house of worship”) vs. “worship house” (or: “small houses of worship”)
  • Toraja-Sa’dan: “house where-the-belly-gets-swollen” (see above) vs. “meeting house for discussing matters concerning religious customs” (and “church” is “house where one meets on Sunday”)
  • Navajo (Dinė): “house in which worship is carried out” vs. “house of gathering” (source for all above: Bratcher / Nida)

    • Bangandu: “the great house of God” vs. “house of prayer” (Source: Ervais Fotso Noumsi in Le Sycomore, 16/1, 2022 )

Click or tap here to see a short video clip about Herod’s temple (source: Bible Lands 2012)

Click or tap here to see a short video clip showing synagogues in New Testament times (source: Bible Lands 2012)

See also this devotion on YouVersion .

complete verse (Acts 24:18)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 24:18:

  • Uma: “While I was taking that sacrifice of mine, several Yahudi from the province of Asia met me in the House of God, after I finished doing the religious custom of cleansing. At that time, there were not many people with me, and there was not anyone that was noisy.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “It was while I was doing this,’ Paul said, ‘that they found me in the temple. I had just finished fulfilling/doing the customs for purification. There were only a few people with me and there was also no trouble.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And while I was doing this, they saw me in the church, the House of God, after I had already finished our custom of being made clean. There were not a lot of people with me and no one was making trouble.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “That’s what I was doing when-Jews from-Asia came-upon me. I had already concluded our (excl.) custom concerning our (excl.) ritual-abstinence. Emphatically no one was making-a-racket there, and neither were there many people.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “When they saw me in the Templo, we (excl.) had done what-was-instrumental-in-cleansing according to our (excl.) custom. There weren’t a large number of us (excl.) there and there was no trouble.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Acts 24:18

Paul points out that when the Jews found him, it was after he had completed the ceremony of purification (see 21.24-26), which refutes the charge that they found him defiling the temple (v. 6). Again, the verb found must be understood in the sense of “saw me.”

After I had completed the ceremony of purification is equivalent to “after I had gone through the rite of being purified” or “after I had gone through the rite which caused me to be pure.”

No disorder may be rendered as “no people were causing a noise” or “the people were not causing any disturbance.”

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 24:18

24:18a–b

At the time they found me in the temple, I was ceremonially clean: These clauses indicate that when Paul was in the temple courts giving the offerings to God (24:17), he was ceremonially clean. Other ways to translate these clauses are:

As I was doing this, they found me purified in the temple (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
which I was doing when they found me in the temple, ritually purified (NET Bible)
-or-
I was ritually purified and engaged in this service when they found me in the temple (Revised English Bible)

24:18a

they found me: The pronoun they refers to the Jews from Asia (21:27, 24:18) here. The pronoun implies the Jewish leaders as well, because they supported the Jews from Asia and brought the accusations to Felix. Translate the pronoun literally.

24:18b

I was ceremonially clean: The Greek is literally “having been purified.” This clause indicates that Paul had done all the right Jewish rituals and so was ceremonially clean and could enter the temple area. Other ways to translate this clause are:

I had been purified (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
after I had completed the ceremony of purification (Good News Translation)
-or-
I had finished the cleansing ceremony (New Century Version)
-or-
I was ritually purified (Revised English Bible)

Briefly, the Jewish ritual is: after starting the rite, the unclean person sprinkles himself on the third and seventh day. The water used for sprinkling contains the ashes of a special offering for purification. On the seventh day the unclean person washes his clothes and bathes. Then he is clean. Here clean means “fit to stand before God.” A ritually clean person could worship God at the temple. See how you translated this Greek word in 21:24 (literally “purify”).

24:18c

and was not inciting a crowd or an uproar: The word uproar refers to a crowd becoming excited or angry. Paul had not disturbed the people in the temple courts. Other ways to translate this word are:

without any crowd or uproar (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
There was no crowd with me and no disorder. (Good News Translation)
-or-
I…had not made any trouble; no people were gathering around me. (New Century Version)

24:18d

But there are some Jews from the province of Asia: This phrase in Greek is literally “But/Indeed/Namely some Jews from Asia.” The phrase “they found me in the temple” (24:18a) is probably implied here. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

But some Jews from the province of Asia were there (Good News Translation)
-or-
Indeed, it was some Jews from Asia ⌊who found/saw me there⌋
-or-
until these Jews from Asia came (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

But: The Greek conjunction introduces the phrase “some Jews from Asia.” Here this phrase defines who the “they” in 24:18a really were. It was not the Jewish leaders who saw Paul in the temple courts; instead, it was some Jews from Asia. Those Jews had caused the riot, but they had not come before Felix. See the note above for ways to translate the Greek conjunction.

the province of Asia: The Berean Standard Bible and some English versions add the phrase province of. At that time the name Asia referred to a region in what is now the western part of the country of Turkey. But in English the name now refers to the region of the world that includes the country of China. So the Berean Standard Bible and some other English versions add the phrase province of to indicate the correct meaning. See how you translated this phrase in 2:9 or 21:27.

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