peace (inner peace)

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The Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek that is usually translated into English as “peace,” when referring to one’s inner peace, is (back-) translated with a variety of idioms and phrases:

In American Sign Language it is signed with a compound sign consisting of “become” and “silent.” (Source: Yates 2011, p. 52)


“Peace” in American Sign Language (source )

See also peace (absence of strife) and this devotion on YouVersion and this one on Bible Gateway .

fellowship

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The Greek that is translated in English as “fellowship” or “communion” is translated in Huba as daɓǝkǝr: “joining heads.” (Source: David Frank in this blog post )

Other translations include:

  • Lalana Chinantec: “they were very happy since they were with their brothers”
  • Chichimeca-Jonaz “always well they talk together”
  • Chuj: “were at peace with each other”
  • San Mateo del Mar Huave: “they accompanied the other believers”
  • Ayutla Mixtec: “they were united together”
  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “their hearts were happy because they all thought alike” (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
  • Uma: “harmony” (source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “become one” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “have an intimate relationship” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “companionship” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “be friends” (source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “head-hearts are one”
  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “be of the same mind” (source for this and two above: John Beekman in Notes on Translation 1964, p. 1ff.)

Felix

The name that is transliterated as “Felix” in English means “delusive,” “happy,” “prosperous.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )

In Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) it is translated with a sign that signifies the fact that he was a governor (of Judea) and corrupt (see Acts 24:26), and also to the clothes worn by politicians at the time. (Source: Missão Kophós )


“Felix” in Libras (source )

More information about Felix .

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

apostle, apostles

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The Greek term that means “one who is sent off” in its singular form and is usually transliterated as “apostle(s)” in English is (back-) translated in the following ways:

Scot McKnight (in The Second Testament, publ. 2023) translates it into English as commissioner.

In American Sign Language it is translated with a combination of the signs for “following” plus the sign for “authority” to differentiate it from disciple. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“apostles” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

In Hungarian Sign Language it is translated with a sign that shows the shape of the beard, based on the common and general visual representation of the apostles. This sign differs from the sign for a beard as used in colloquial language. The sign of the apostle does not originate from a specific biblical verse, but rather from the cultural context and later ecclesiastical tradition. “Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.” Lev 19:27. In the biblical era, wearing a beard was the default social and religious norm among Jewish men. The Apostle Peter is generally depicted with a short, curly, white beard. The Apostle Paul appears with a longer, pointed beard. The Apostle John is an exception, as he was the youngest disciple. In iconography, he is often the only one painted without a beard (as a youth) to emphasize his purity and age (see for instance at Transfiguration (icon)). (Source: Jenjelvi Biblia and HSL Bible Translation Group)


“Apostle” in Hungarian Sign Language (source )

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: The Apostles in Christian Art .

Paul

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 )

Click or tap here to see a short video clip about Paul (source: Bible Lands 2012)

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Paul .

pray / prayer

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The Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin, and Greek that is translated as “pray” (or “prayer”) in English is often translated as “talking with God” (Central Pame, Tzeltal, Chol, Chimborazo Highland Quichua, Shipibo-Conibo, Kaqchikel, Tepeuxila Cuicatec, Copainalá Zoque, Central Tarahumara).

Other solutions include:

  • “beg” or “ask,” (full expression: “ask with one’s heart coming out,” which leaves out selfish praying, for asking with the heart out leaves no place for self to hide) (Tzotzil)
  • “cause God to know” (Huichol)
  • “raise up one’s words to God” (implying an element of worship, as well as communication) (Miskito, Lacandon) (source of this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • “speak to God” (Shilluk) (source: Nida 1964, p. 237)
  • “talk together with Great Above One (=God)” (Mairasi) (source: Enggavoter, 2004)
  • “call to one’s Father” (San Blas Kuna) (source: Claudio and Marvel Iglesias in The Bible Translator 1951, p. 85ff. )
  • “beg” (waan) (Ik). Terrill Schrock (in Wycliffe Bible Translators 2016, p. 93) explains (click or tap here to read more):

    What do begging and praying have to do with each other? Do you beg when you pray? Do I?

    “The Ik word for ‘visitor’ is waanam, which means ‘begging person.’ Do you beg when you go visiting? The Ik do. Maybe you don’t beg, but maybe when you visit someone, you are looking for something. Maybe it’s just a listening ear.

    When the Ik hear that [my wife] Amber and I are planning trip to this or that place for a certain amount of time, the letters and lists start coming. As the days dwindle before our departure, the little stack of guests grows. ‘Please, sir, remember me for the allowing: shoes, jacket (rainproof), watch, box, trousers, pens, and money for the children. Thank you, sir, for your assistance.’

    “A few people come by just to greet us or spend bit of time with us. Another precious few will occasionally confide in us about their problems without asking for anything more than a listening ear. I love that.

    “The other day I was in our spare bedroom praying my list of requests to God — a nice list covering most areas of my life, certainly all the points of anxiety. Then it hit me: Does God want my list, or does he want my relationship?

    “I decided to try something. Instead of reading off my list of requests to God, I just talk to him about my issues without any expectation of how he should respond. I make it more about our relationship than my list, because if our personhood is like God’s personhood, then maybe God prefers our confidence and time to our lists, letters, and enumerations.”

In Luang it is translated with different shades of meaning (click or tap here to read more):

  • For Acts 1:14, 20:36, 21:5: kola ttieru-yawur nehla — “hold the waist and hug the neck.” (“This is the more general term for prayer and often refers to worship in prayer as opposed to petition. The Luang people spend the majority of their prayers worshiping rather than petitioning, which explains why this term often is used generically for prayer.”)
  • For Acts 28:9: sumbiani — “pray.” (“This term is also used generically for ‘prayer’. When praying is referred to several times in close proximity, it serves as a variation for kola ttieru-yawur nehla, in keeping with Luang discourse style. It is also used when a prayer is made up of many requests.”)
  • For Acts 8:15, 12:5: polu-waka — “call-ask.” (“This is a term for petition that is used especially when the need is very intense.”)

Source: Kathy Taber in Notes on Translation 1/1999, p. 9-16.

See also Nehemiah’s prayer (image).

complete verse (Acts 2:42)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 2:42:

  • Uma: “Those new followers of Yesus continually requested-teaching of the apostles of Lord Yesus, and they kept gathering together. They ate together, breaking/chunking bread to remember the Lord Yesus death, and they also prayed together.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “They were-very-happy/liked to be taught by the persons/people commissioned by Isa and they were all of one liver. They joined the ones trusting in eating bread to remember the death of Isa, and they also joined in praying to God.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And everyday they listened to that which the apostles taught them. They had fellowship with all of the believers, and they made a memorial of the death of Jesus by means of eating bread, and they were always praying.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “They persevered in studying and following what the apostles were teaching. They also singlemindedly/persistently joined-in-companioning and praying-with their fellows who believed, and eating-together the bread that was their means-of-being-reminded of Jesus’ death.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “And all of them, they really persevered in what the apostles were teaching and they often/always gathered-together. They also shared-with-one-another food including doing Communion and were also often/always praying.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Morelos Nahuatl: “They continued studying with the apostles. They had joy in living together as brethren. Together they ate and prayed.”
  • Teutila Cuicatec: “All of them would gather day by day and study the messages that the apostles would teach. They lived peacefully together, used to pray to God and break bread as our Lord Jesus established.” (Source for this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)