complete verse (Acts 27:28)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 27:28:

  • Uma: “That is why they lowered the sounding stone so that they would know the depth of the sea. Upon sounding, it was still about 20 arm-spans. After that they sounded again, the depth was only about 15 arm-spans.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Therefore they let down a rope with a heavy (thing) tied at the end so that they would know how deep the sea was. Then the depth was twenty fathoms (deppe). After a while they let down the rope again. The depth was sa’ fifteen fathoms (deppe).” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “That’s why they dropped down one of the weights, and they learned that the depth of the water was only twenty fathoms. And in a little while again after that, they did it again, and the depth was only fifteen fathoms.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “When they measured the depth of the water, it was still twenty fathoms (fathom = distance between outstretched arms). When we had moved-on a little, they measured again, and it was fifteen fathoms.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “They sounded the depth, twenty depa (distance from finger-tip to finger-tip with arms outstretched sideways) still. After going a little further, they sounded again. They found it was only fifteen depa.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

distance (long / wide / high)

The concepts of distance that are translated in English with “long,” “wide,” and “high/tall” are translated in Kwere with one word: utali. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

Translation commentary on Acts 27:28

Dropped a line with a weight tied to it is actually one word in Greek, a technical term used of measuring the depth of water under a ship.

One hundred and twenty feet is literally “twenty fathoms”; while ninety feet is literally “fifteen fathoms.” A fathom (equivalent to six feet) was a standard measurement of ocean depth. This measurement was calculated on the basis of the distance between one’s hands when the arms are stretched out full length. In a number of languages there is a local equivalent of this type of measurement; however, increasingly all such measurements are given in terms of meters (a meter is approximately one-half of a fathom). The depth would therefore be given in terms of first “forty meters” and later “thirty meters.”

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 27:28

27:28a

They took soundings: This clause refers to using a weight with a rope tied to it. The weight is lowered until it hits the sea bottom, while counting the length of rope as it is going down. Or they may have counted the length of rope as they brought it back up. Other ways to translate this clause are:

they dropped a line with a weight tied to it (Good News Translation)
-or-
They measured (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
they lowered a rope with a weight on the end of it into the water (New Century Version)
-or-
they lowered a weight tied to a rope and measured the depth ⌊of the sea⌋

27:28b

twenty fathoms: At that time, sailors counted how many times they stretched the rope between their hands with their hands spread wide. Or they could have a rope with knots tied in it at arms-spread distance and counted the knots. The arms-spread distance is 1.7–1.8 meters (5.5–6 feet). Here they counted twenty of these distances. Ways to translate this phrase are:

twenty fathoms
-or-
twenty arm spans
-or-
a hundred and twenty feet (New International Version)
-or-
thirty-five meters

27:28c

Going a little farther: The Greek words are literally “departing a little.” This could refer to distance or time. It implies both here. Here it probably indicates half to one kilometer (0.3–0.6 miles) or ten to twenty minutes. Use a general saying that allows that distance or time. For example:

a little farther (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
a little later (Good News Translation)

27:28d

fifteen fathoms: This phrase in Greek refers to fifteen arm spans here. It is equal to about twenty-six meters. Ways to translate this phrase are:

fifteen fathoms
-or-
ninety feet (New International Version)
-or-
about twenty-six meters

© 2001, 2021 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.