sailor

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “sailor(s)” in English is translated in Kouya as “worker(s) in the big canoe.”

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 Rincón Zapotec, it is translated as “men having the care of the boat” (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), in Newari as “the ones operating the ship” (source: Newari back-translation), and in Toposa as “people who turn the ship” or “workers on the ship” (source: Schröder 2026, p. 141).

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Acts 27:27)

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 exclusive form (excluding the addressee).

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

complete verse (Acts 27:27)

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

  • Uma: “[After] a complete fourteen nights, our ship was still being blown along by the big wind on the Adria Sea. About the middle of the night the workers of the ship sensed/heard like the ship was close to land.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “On the fourteenth night since the start of that storm, we (excl.) were still there on the sea of Adariya carried along by the wind. When it was about the middle of the night, those working on the ship felt that we (excl.) were now near the shore.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then on the fourteenth night of our being carried by the typhoon, we were there in the sea that’s called Mediterranean. And in the middle of the night the people who carry the ship, they thought that perhaps there was some land near us.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “When two weeks had gone-by since the beginning of the typhoon, we were still being-blown in the middle of the ocean Adriatic. In the middle of the night, the workers on the ship sensed that we (excl.) were approaching its edge (i.e. of the ocean).” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “When it was the fourteenth night, and we continued to be driven by the wind on the Adriatico Sea, just at midnight the sailors suspected that there was land near now.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

sea / lake

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). Likewise, in Toposa all the different bodies of water are all called by one term as well: nya-name̥ (source: Schröder 2026, p. 101).

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.)

“Sea” (or: “ocean”) is translated in Tepeuxila Cuicatec as “water land” and in Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac as “very big lake.” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)

Translation commentary on Acts 27:27

It was the fourteenth night may be more appropriately rendered in some languages as “it was at night, two weeks after the storm began.”

By the storm is the manner in which the Good News Translation has made explicit the rendering of the Greek verb “being driven.” However, a number of translators understand the meaning of this verb to be “we were drifting.” The closest equivalent in some languages is “the wind kept blowing us along” or “the wind kept blowing from behind us and making the boat move.”

The exact boundaries that Luke had in mind for the Mediterranean (literally “Adria”) are not known, but they would have at least included the sea between Crete and Sicily.

The sailors suspected may be rendered as “the sailors thought.” If a specific term for sailors is lacking, one can employ “those responsible for taking care of the ship” or “those who were in charge of the ship.”

We were getting close to land is literally “land was approaching them,” but for the English reader the Good News Translation is much more natural. In other languages, however, it may be more natural to say “the ship was getting closer to the land” or “the ship and the land were coming closer together.”

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 27:27

Section 27:27–44

The storm drove/blew the ship to an island

In this section, Luke told us that the storm blew for fourteen days. On the fourteenth night the sailors could tell by the changes in the noises that they were coming near land. They lowered a rope with a weight to measure how deep the sea was. They saw that the sea was getting shallower, so they dropped anchors to delay reaching land until daylight.

Some sailors tried to escape on the small boat, but Paul warned that no one should leave the ship. So the soldiers caused the small boat to float away.

Paul encouraged everyone to eat and reminded them that God had promised that all would survive. Then they threw the grain overboard, because a lighter ship floats higher and they wanted to get as close as possible to land before swimming.

In the morning they saw the land but no one recognized where they were. They saw a bay and beach and tried to sail for it, but the ship hit ground in the shallow water and stopped. The waves started breaking the ship to pieces. The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners, because if any of the prisoners escaped the soldiers would be punished. But the leader of the soldiers stopped them from killing the prisoners. Everyone from the ship swam to shore safely.

Other examples of headings for this section are:

The Shipwreck (New International Version)
-or-
We finally came to land
-or-
The waves destroyed the ship, but the passengers arrived on land

Paragraph 27:27–29

27:27a

we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea: This clause is passive. Some languages must use an active clause. The wind and storm pushed the ship. For example:

⌊the storm⌋ was driving/pushing our ⌊ship⌋ across the Mediterranean

we were still being driven: Here the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as driven refers to pushing something in a particular direction. The trip from Cauda to Malta is generally west and slightly north. The wind was from the northeast at first. So the ship probably traveled somewhat southwest, then west, and then northwest as the winds changed direction. The verse does not tell us those details. In some languages it is more natural to indicate a general direction. If so, refer to westward. For example:

we were still being pushed ⌊westward⌋

across the Adriatic Sea: This phrase in Greek is literally “in the Adria.” At that time the Roman name “Adria” referred to the sea east of Italy continuing south to Africa. But the sea south of Italy near Malta is now called the Mediterranean Sea. The English name Adriatic now refers only to the sea east of Italy. You may want to:

• Use the Roman name. For example:

across the sea of Adria (Revised Standard Version)

You may then want a footnote to explain the Roman name. An example footnote is:

Roman name “Adria” referred to the sea east of Italy continuing south to Africa. The sea surrounding Malta is now called the Mediterranean Sea.

• Use the modern name. For example:

in the Mediterranean (Good News Translation)

You may then want a footnote to explain the literal name. An example footnote is:

Literally “Adria.” This was the Roman name that referred to the sea east of Italy continuing south to Africa. The sea surrounding Malta is now called the Mediterranean Sea.

27:27b

the sailors sensed they were approaching land: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as sensed refers to believing something might be true but not being certain. The sailors probably heard in the distance what they thought were waves breaking on a shore. But it was dark and so they could not see anything to confirm what they heard. Other ways to translate this clause are:

the sailors suspected that they were nearing land (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
the sailors thought we were close to land (New Century Version)
-or-
the sailors guessed that land was near
-or-
the sailors said ⌊to one another⌋, “It seems as though we(incl) are getting close to land”

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