16But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you.
“know something is true because of seeing it” in Teutila Cuicatec (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
“ones who will confirm that these-things that you have seen are true” in Kankanaey (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
“ones who are to testify about these things, because it all happened before your eyes” in Tagbanwa (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated in English as “serve,” “minister,” “walk with,” or “service” is translated in Igede as myị ẹrụ or “agree with message (of the one you’re serving).” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
In Quetzaltepec Mixe, “serve” is translated as “obey.” (Source: Robert Bascom)
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 26:16:
Uma: “But now, stand up! I have appeared to you (sing.) now, because I have an intention for you (sing.): I have chosen you (sing.) to become my worker and my witness. You (sing.) must announce to other people what you (sing.) have seen today and what I show to you (sing.) in the days to come.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “But get up (and) stand,’ he said. ‘The reason I have appeared to you is, because I have chosen you to be my servant. You must tell the people about your seeing me this day and about other things which I will show you in the future.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Get up. I have appeared to you so that you might be made my servant. Tell other people about my appearing to you today and tell also that which I am going to show you in the future.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “All-right, get-up, because I have appeared to you (sing.) in order to appoint you (sing.) to serve me by going to confirm your (sing.) seeing of me today and what I will show you (sing.) in a future day.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Now get up and stand. I have come to see/meet you today for I will make you my servant and testifier of this which you have seen and of more things which I will show you in the future.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
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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.
It should be pointed out that verses 16-18 comprise one sentence in the Greek. Also of importance for these three verses is the number of Old Testament allusions that Paul makes.
Get up and stand on your feet is stated somewhat differently in 22.10 and 9.6. Here the command reflects Ezekiel 2.1, 3. In a number of languages there is a single expression which means get up and stand on your feet. Under such circumstances a single verb may very well be sufficient to translate all of the components implied in this phrase of seven words in English.
My servant may be rendered as “one who is to help me” or “one who is to work for me” (see 13.5).
You are to tell others translates “(you are to be) a witness.” What you have seen of me … and what I will show you represents a difficult construction in Greek, but the meaning is understood in this sense by all commentators and translators. Although the weight of manuscript evidence favors the omission of the phrase of me, the strongest argument for its inclusion is the fact that it makes the kind of awkward Greek that is best assumed to be original.
The Good News Translation has made the temporal relationship explicit by today and in the future.
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 .
But: The Greek conjunction is usually translated as But. There is contrast from what Paul was doing to what he would be doing.
get up and stand on your feet: Paul was probably lying face down on the ground. Here Jesus commanded him to stand and remain standing. For example:
rise and stand upon your feet -or-
arise and ⌊remain⌋ standing
In some languages only one verb is needed. For example:
get to your feet! (New Living Translation (2004)) -or-
Stand up! (New Century Version)
26:16b
For I have appeared to you to appoint: The Greek words here are literally “for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint.” The Greek conjunction For introduces the reason for the command to stand. Paul can now stand and see the risen Jesus, who has now appeared to him. For example:
16aI command you to stand 16bbecause I have appeared to you to appoint
The phrase “for this purpose” introduces to appoint. For example:
for I have appeared to you for this reason: to appoint (New Jerusalem Bible)
Since the English word “to” indicates purpose, some English versions, such as the Berean Standard Bible, do not translate the phrase “for this purpose.” For example:
I have appeared to you to appoint (Good News Translation)
I have appeared to you: Here the word appeared refers to not being there one moment and then being there the next moment. Jesus suddenly appeared before Paul. Other ways to translate this clause are:
I have shown myself to you (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English) -or-
I have come/appeared before you
to appoint you as a servant: This phrase indicates that Jesus chose to make Paul a servant. Paul would do what God or Jesus told him to do. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
to appoint you to serve (New Revised Standard Version) -or-
I have chosen you to be my servant (Contemporary English Version)
26:16c
and as a witness of what you have seen from Me:
This phrase indicates that Jesus also chose to make Paul a witness of seeing Jesus. Paul would tell others about seeing Jesus alive on the Damascus road, as he was telling King Agrippa here. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
You are to tell others what you have seen of me today (Good News Translation) -or-
and ⌊to appoint you⌋ to testify that you saw me ⌊today⌋
and what I will show you: This is the second thing that Paul would be a witness of. There are two ways to interpret the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as show:
(1) The word means appear. Jesus would appear to Paul at other times and tell him things he needed to know. Examples of this are 18:9 and 23:11. For example:
and to those in which I will appear to you (Revised Standard Version)
(Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New International Version (2011), New American Standard Bible, English Standard Version, NET Bible, Revised English Bible, King James Version)
(2) The word means show. Jesus would show things to Paul but not necessarily appear to Paul. For example:
and what I will show you in the future (Good News Translation)
(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Good News Translation, New American Bible, Revised Edition, New Living Translation (2004), God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because that is the normal meaning of the Greek word.
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
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