northeaster

The Greek that is translated as “But soon a violent wind, called the northeaster (or: Euroclydon), rushed down from Crete” or similar in English is translated in a lot of different ways:

  • Upper Guinea Crioulo: “A great storm rose up on the side of the island that came against them.” (“The point wasn’t the name of the wind [nor’easter]. All of these nautical terms can be difficult for people who aren’t seafaring. The point wasn’t so much which cardinal direction the wind was coming from. The point was that the wind was coming from a direction that made it impossible for them to go in the direction they wanted to go. This is further explained in the following verse.”) (Source: David Frank)
  • Caluyanun: “Not long-afterward, the wind from the aminhan/northeast got-strong, which was from the land-area of the island of Crete.” (“’Aminhan’ is the common direction of the wind during half the year.”) (Source: Kermit Titrud)
  • Northern Emberá: “But soon a bad wind called the Euroclidon blew forcefully from the right hand.” (“When we have to specify north and south we use left hand and right hand, respectively. But in Acts 27:14, the Northeaster wind comes from the right, hitting the right side of the ship as they headed west.”) (Source: Chaz Mortensen)
  • Amele: “But shortly a strong wind called Jawalti blowing from the direction of the sun coming up to the left came up.” (“East is cam tobec isec ‘the direction the sun comes up’ and west is cam tonec/nec isec ‘the direction the sun goes/comes down.’ ‘Jawalti’ is a local name for the wind that blows down from the north coast of Madang. ‘Sea corner’ is the Amele term for ‘harbour‘”) (Source: John Roberts)
  • Mairasi: “But after not a very long time at all already a very big wind blew from behind us. In Greek that wind is called ‘Eurokulon’ from over there in the north and east. It blew down from that island itself.” (Source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Kankanaey: “But it wasn’t long, a swift wind arrived from the upper-part of Creta.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And it wasn’t a long time from then, we were typhooned. A very strong wind arrived which was called Abagat. The wind came from the direction of the land.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But before we had been sailing for long, suddenly/unexpectedly the wind changed again to an off-shore wind of tremendous strength. Euraclidon was what the people from there called that wind.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Uma: “But in fact not long after that, a big wind came from the land, a wind called Sea Storm.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But not long after, a very strong wind blew from the coast.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)

See also cardinal directions / left and right and cardinal directions (north, south, east, west).

Other translation for the wind include “fierce wind” (Teutila Cuicatec), “wind with very much power” Eastern Highland Otomi), “violent wind” (Lalana Chinantec), or “big wind” (Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac). (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)

Translation commentary on Acts 27:14

A very strong wind is in some languages “a very fast wind” or “a wind which makes large waves.”

This wind that blew down from the island was so well known that the sailors had given it a proper name, and this has been rendered by Northeaster. The equivalent of Northeaster is, in some languages, “a wind from the northeast” or “a wind that blows from the left of the rising sun.”

From the island is literally “from it,” a reference to the island of Crete. In some instances it is necessary to make some adaptation in the expression blew down from the island, since seagoing persons would soon recognize that a wind which only came from an island would not be strong enough to cause a great storm. Therefore, an expression such as “blew down across the island” would be necessary.

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Acts 27:14

27:14a

But it was not long before: There is possible contrast here to the hopeful beginning to the sailing from Fair Havens with the change of winds. This is why the Berean Standard Bible and many English versions translate the Greek conjunction which occurs in 27:14a as But. For example:

But before very long (New American Standard Bible)

it was not long before: This phrase in Greek is literally “after not much.” Here it refers to a short time after they began sailing. For example:

soon (Revised Standard Version)

a cyclone: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as a cyclone refers to a wind that blows very hard. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

a violent wind (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
a wind of typhoon strength (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
a powerful wind (God’s Word)
-or-
a terrific gale (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

27:14b

called the Northeaster:
The wind was from the northeast. So they named the wind Northeaster. People feared this wind because it often blew ships off course or made big waves that damaged them. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

called “the northeast wind”
-or-

fearfully⌋ called the “Northeaster”
-or-
which ⌊people⌋ called the Northeast Wind

Some languages have names for winds coming from certain directions. If your language has a name for a wind coming from the northeast, you may want to use it here.

swept down: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as swept refers here to moving quickly. This wind blew hard from the mountainous island of Crete down to the sea. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

blew down (Good News Translation)
-or-
burst on them (New Jerusalem Bible)

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