ἀνευθέτου δὲ τοῦ λιμένος ὑπάρχοντος πρὸς παραχειμασίαν οἱ πλείονες ἔθεντο βουλὴν ἀναχθῆναι ἐκεῖθεν, εἴ πως δύναιντο καταντήσαντες εἰς Φοίνικα παραχειμάσαι λιμένα τῆς Κρήτης βλέποντα κατὰ λίβα καὶ κατὰ χῶρον.
12Since the harbor was not suitable for spending the winter, the majority was in favor of putting to sea from there on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix, where they could spend the winter. It was a harbor of Crete, facing southwest and northwest.
The name that is transliterated as “Phoenix” in English is translated in Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) with a sign that signifies protection (Phoenix was a port in Crete where travelers went to protect themselves from the cold) and “palm leaf” (the meaning of “Phoenix” is “palm tree”). (Source: Missão Kophós )
“Phoenix” in Libras (source )
More information about Phoenix .
The Greek that is often translated as “evil” in English has the option of various terms in Luang with different shades of meaning.
For Acts 24:9 and Gen. 6:11, yata-hala (“bad-wrong”). “This term refers to evil behavior.”
For Acts 27:12, yota-yata (“bad-bad”). “This term refers to the evil results of behavior or to objects of poor quality. (In Acts 27:12 it refers to a bad harbor).”
For Acts 12:11 and 13:50, yatyatni (“its badness”). “This term is often used when evil comes on a person from an outside force.”
Source: Kathy Taber in Notes on Translation 1/1999, p. 9-16.
The Greek in Acts 27:12 that is translated as “harbor” (or “harbour”) in English is translated in Kouya as “big canoe stopping place.”
Philip Saunders (p. 231) explains:
“Acts chapter 27 was a challenge! It describes Paul’s sea voyage to Italy, and finally Rome. There is a storm at sea and a shipwreck on Malta, and the chapter includes much detailed nautical vocabulary. How do you translate this for a landlocked people group, most of whom have never seen the ocean? All they know are small rivers and dugout canoes.
“We knew that we could later insert some illustrations during the final paging process which would help the Kouya readers to picture what was happening, but meanwhile we struggled to find or invent meaningful terms. The ‘ship’ was a ‘big canoe’ and the ‘passengers’ were ‘the people in the big canoe’; the ‘crew’ were the ‘workers in the big canoe’; the ‘pilot’ was the ‘driver of the big canoe’; the ‘big canoe stopping place’ was the ‘harbour’, and the ‘big canoe stopping metal’ was the ‘anchor’!”
In Amele, “harbor” is translated as “sea corner” (source: John Roberts) and in Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac as “boat resting place” (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.).
The name that is transliterated as “Crete” in English is translated in Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) with a sign that combines the signs for “meat” (the name means “fleshy”) and the geographical formation of Crete. (Source: Missão Kophós )
“Crete” in Libras (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 are a number of back-translations of Acts 27:12:
The cardinal directions “east” and “west” are easy to translate into Maan here since the language uses “where the sun comes up” and “where the sun goes down.” For “north” the translator had “facing toward the sun rising to the left,” and for “south” she had “facing toward the sun rising to the right.” So the listener had to think hard before knowing what direction was in view when translating “to the north and south, to the east and west.” So, in case all four directions are mentioned, it was shortened by saying simply “all directions.” Manya uses a similar nomenclature for the cardinal directions. (Source: Don Slager)
Likewise, Yakan has “from the four corners of the earth” (source: Yakan back-translation) or Western Bukidnon Manobo “from the four directions here on the earth” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo back-translation).
Kankanaey is “from the coming-out and the going-away of the sun and the north and the south” (source: Kankanaey back-translation), Northern Emberá “from where the sun comes up, from where it falls, from the looking [left] hand, from the real [right] hand” (source: Charles Mortensen), Amele “from the direction of the sun going up, from the direction of the sun going down, from the north and from the south” (source: John Roberts), Ejamat “look up to see the side where the sun comes from, and the side where it sets, and look on your right side, and on your left” (source: David Frank in this blog post ).
In Lamba, only umutulesuŵa, “where the sun rises” and imbonsi, “where the sun sets” were available as cardinal directions that were not tied to the local area of language speakers (“north” is kumausi — “to the Aushi country” — and “south” kumalenje — “to the Lenje country”). So “north” and “south” were introduced as loanwords, nofu and saufu respectively. The whole phrase is kunofu nakusaufu nakumutulesuŵa nakumbonsi. (Source C. M. Doke in The Bible Translator 1958, p. 57ff. )
“West” is translated in Tzeltal as “where the sun pours-out” and in Kele as “down-river” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel).
In Morelos Nahuatl, “north” is translated as “from above” and “south” as “from below.” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
In Matumbi cardinal directions are defined as in relation to another place. “East” for instance typically is “toward the beach” since the coast is in the eastern direction in Matumbi-speaking areas. “North” and “south” can be defined as above or below another place. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
The Hebrew text that gives instructions where to place items in the tabernacle with the help of cardinal directions (north and south) had to be approached in the Bambam translation specific to spacial concepts of that culture.
Phil Campbell explains: “There are no words in Bambam for north and south. In Exodus 26:35, God instructs that the table is to be placed on the north side and the lamp on the south side inside the tabernacle. The team wants to use right and left to tell where the lamp and table are located. In many languages we would say that the table is on the right and the lampstand is on the left based on the view of someone entering the tabernacle. However, that is not how Bambam people view it. They view the placement of things and rooms in a building according to the orientation of someone standing inside the building facing the front of the building. So that means the table is on the left side and the lampstand is on the right side.”
See also cardinal directions / left and right and people of the East.
The various Greek, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Latin and Hebrew terms that are translated as “sea,” “ocean,” or “lake” in English are all translated in Chichewa with one term: nyanja. Malawi, where Chichewa is spoken, has a lot of lakes but does not share a border with the ocean. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
In Malagasy culture, the sea is perceived as sacred because it was a path taken by the ancestors. That is why the Malagasy word for the “sea” is ranomasina, which literally means “the sacred water.” The word masina actually has two different meanings: “salted” and “sacred/holy.” Salt is used for the conservation of some foods, such as meat or fish, that are to be set aside for later use. In this sense, the Malagasy phrase for “Holy Spirit” has the literal meaning of “Salted Spirit.” (Source: Brigitte Rabarijaona in The Bible Translator 2022, p. 103ff.)
Putting out to sea may be rendered as “leaving the harbor and going out on the sea” or “leaving the protected water and going out where the water is not protected by the land.”
It may be also be important to stipulate Phoenix as a harbor, though this is specified later in verse 12.
That faces southwest and northwest (so most translations) is rendered “looking northeast” by the Revised Standard Version; however, the Revised Standard Version does have a note indicating the possibility of “southwest and northwest.” In Greek, the terms “southwest” and “northwest” are names referring to winds that come from those respective directions. The different translations are based upon different interpretations of the prepositions which precede these nouns in the Greek sentence. The Revised Standard Version takes this preposition to mean “facing the direction toward which the winds blow,” while the Good News Translation takes it to mean “facing the direction from which the winds blow.” The latter interpretation has two factors in its support: (1) the use of this preposition in similar constructions in the Septuagint supports it (see 2 Chronicles 4.4; Ezekiel 8.3; 9.2; 11.1; 40.6; 43.1; 44.1), and (2) the modern Phineka, a harbor open to winds from the west, is evidently Phoenix. If the Revised Standard Version rendering is correct, the reference must be to the harbor of Lutro, which is separated from Phineka by an extension of land into the sea called Muros. Phineka is open to winds from the west, while Lutro is open to winds from the east.
In dealing with directions there are often a number of complications. In a number of languages, references to directions are based entirely upon local geographical objects—for example, names of particular rivers, head-lands, or mountains. However, in a high percentage of languages, east and west are designated primarily by reference to the rising and setting of the sun, and terms for north and south are frequently described in terms of the right hand or the left hand of the rising or setting sun. For example, in this instance a harbor … that faces southwest and northwest may be translated as “a harbor that is open to the sea to the left of the setting sun and to the right of the setting sun.” In some languages an expression such as “to the right of the setting sun” would designate due north, but in other languages it may designate northwest. Some languages make a distinction between “a little to the right of the setting sun” and “very much to the right of the setting sun” as a way of talking about northwest and north respectively.
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 .
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