Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 26:2:
Uma: “‘King Agripa whom I respect! First I say that I am very fortunate to be able to say my defense to the King, answering all the accusations of the Yahudi people against me.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “‘Sir Agarippa,’ he said, ‘I am very glad because this day I can speak to defend myself here in your presence, concerning the matters that the Yahudi are accusing me of.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “‘King Agrippa, my coming before you today so that I might give my arguments about all the accusations that the Jews have against me give me great joy.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “‘Honored King Agrippa! It’s-a-good-thing that you (sing.) are here today so that it will be possible for me to answer to you (sing.) all that our (du) fellow Jews are-charging-me -with.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “He said, ‘I am happy today, respected King, that I can make my defence in your presence, which is my response to all which I have been accused of by our fellow Jews.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:
Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))
Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) was determined:
“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”
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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 to do this is through the usage of appropriate suffix title referred to as keishō (敬称) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017 by using –sama. Here, ō-sama (王様) “king” is a combination of the nominal title ō “king” and the suffix title –sama.
Verse 2-3 must be understood as the introduction to Paul’s defense. In Greek, these verses are the continuation of the sentence begun in verse 1. Although from all the things the Jews accuse me of is the first element in the Greek sentence order, it is difficult to reconstruct English naturally in this fashion; but see Phillips, who has tried to do so.
In the setting in which Paul was speaking, the word King would have been understood in a much lesser sense than the English word is understood today; however, there seems to be no better way to render the term for the English reader. The equivalent of this use of King is in a number of languages simply “an important chief.” He was certainly by no means “the head chief.”
I consider myself fortunate reminds one of 24.2, 3, 10, where the speaker indicates his good pleasure at being able to address a particular person or audience.
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 .
Paul spoke with respect to King Agrippa. Translate in a way that indicates respect.
I consider myself fortunate: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as fortunate refers to being favored. King Agrippa favored Paul by wanting to listen to his story. Agrippa, as king, could have ignored Paul because Paul was not an important person in Roman society. Paul was important to the Jews only as a threat to their religion. But King Agrippa wanted to listen to him. Other ways to translate this clause are:
I consider myself favored -or-
I think of myself as privileged -or-
I think it is very good for me ⌊that you are willing to hear my story⌋
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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