complete verse (Acts 27:26)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 27:26:

  • Uma: “Even though our (incl.) ship will be wrecked, we (incl.) will all be picked-up/come-ashore on an island.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But we (incl.) will be carried by the wind and run aground on an island.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “However we are going to be carried onto an island.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But it will admittedly be necessary that the ship be-laid-up-on an island (lit. place/country in the middle of the ocean).'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But in his determining, this ship will run-aground on an island.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Acts 27:26)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, translators typically select the inclusive form (including the fellow travelers and crew).

Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.

Translation commentary on Acts 27:26

Will be once again renders “must” (see v. 21 and 24 above).

Will be driven ashore may be rendered actively as “the wind will blow us onto shore.”

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 27:26

27:26

However: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as However is often translated as “and” or “but.” The conjunction introduces more information about what will happen. There is no contrast to what God said would happen here. There is some implied contrast to all the people living through the storm (27:24b), because the ship would be lost in the storm, which would be dangerous. 27:26 explains 27:22b. In some languages, translating the Greek conjunction in a different way may be more natural. For example:

we are… (Revised English Bible)
-or-
and

we must run aground on some island: The Greek clause can be translated literally as “it is necessary for us to run aground on an island.” The angel probably told Paul that the storm would drive the ship onto an island, but did not say which island. Other ways to translate this clause are:

we will be driven ashore on some island (Good News Translation)
-or-
the storm will drive our ⌊ship⌋ onto an island
-or-

⌊the ship that⌋ we ⌊are on⌋ will crash/wreck onto an island

run aground: See how you translated this phrase in 27:17.

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