Paul

The term that is transliterated as “Paul” in English is translated in American Sign Language 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

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

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 )

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Paul .

complete verse (Acts 26:24)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 26:24:

  • Uma: “While Paulus was still speaking, telling his defense, Festus jeered/hooted, he said: ‘You (sing.) are crazy, Paulus! Your (sing.) great cleverness has made [lit., carried] you (sing.) crazy.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “While Paul was speaking like that defending himself, Pestus shouted at him, he said, ‘Paul, you are already insane. Your knowledge is too much and that is what causes you to be insane.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Now while Paul was still talking like this, Festus shouted out, and he said, ‘Paul, you are crazy! The thing that has made you crazy is your very much studying!'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Upon Pablo’s saying that, Festus interrupted shouting, ‘You (sing.) are crazy, Pablo! Your (sing.) excessive learning is what has made-you (sing.) -crazy!'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well, Pablo had not yet ended that defence of his when Festo spoke loudly. He said, ‘You are possessed/insane, Pablo! What has caused you to be insane is the big size of what you have studied.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Teutila Cuicatec: “While Paul was saying this in his defense, Festus shouted: ‘Paul, you are crazy! Because you study paper so much you are crazy!'” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)

2nd person pronoun with low register (Japanese)

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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 second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.

In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also first person pronoun with low register and third person pronoun with low register.

Translation commentary on Acts 26:24

In the Greek, defended himself is a participle having a pronoun subject “he,” which the Good News Translation has made explicit as Paul. Shouted is literally “said with a loud voice.” The use of the present tense along with the emphatic expression “with a loud voice” means either shouted or “shouted at the top of his voice” (New English Bible).

The term mad in this context means “insane” and may be translated in various ways—for example, “out of your mind,” “you are no longer yourself,” “you cannot think straight,” or “your thoughts are twisted.”

Great learning is a phrase which describes not merely elementary knowledge but also higher learning. In this type of context, great learning may be rendered as “because you have studied so much” or even, as in some languages, “because you have read so much.”

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 .