40So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea. At the same time they loosened the ropes that tied the steering-oars; then hoisting the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach.
In Gbaya, the notion of flat, level land (tableland, beach, plain) is emphasized with the ideophone tɔyɛɛ.
Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)
The Greek in Acts 27:40 that is translated as “foresail” in English is translated as “the cloth on the pole that was more in front of the boat in order that the wind might push the boat” in Morelos Nahuatl. (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 27:40:
Uma: “They cut all the ropes that tied the ship’s iron restrainers, and those iron restrainers they abandoned in the sea. At that time also, they untied the ropes that tied the rudder of the ship, so that the ship could be steered. And they hung sail(s) in front of the ship so that the ship would head towards land.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “So they cut the rope of the anchors and left them in the sea. They also loosened the rope that bound the ship’s rudder. Then they raised the sail at the prow and the ship was driven/carried by the wind toward the shore.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then they cut the ropes that were tied onto the anchors so that the anchors might be left behind, and they untied the wrappings on the oars that were used to guide the ship because they will use them. They put up the sail on the forward end so that the wind might blow the ship toward the land, and then the ship began to move.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “So they severed the rope that was tied to the iron so that it would be left-behind in the ocean, while-simultaneously they untied the rope that was-holding the plank that directed the going of the ship (i.e. rudder). Then they raised the sail that was in the front of the ship so that it would be propelled to its (ocean’s) edge.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Therefore they then severed the anchor ropes, left the anchors there in the sea, and then they undid the fastening on the rudder. When it was undone, they hoisted the foresail to come to shore now there at that beach which they had seen.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
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)
Cut off (see Moffatt, Phillips) is rendered “cast off” by the Revised Standard Version and An American Translation*. The Jerusalem Bible and the New English Bible have used the technical sailing term, “they slipped the anchors.” In some languages it will be necessary to say “cut the ropes that held the anchors” or “cut the ropes that were tied to the anchors.”
Ancient ships had steering oars, one on each side sticking out toward the back. In some languages the steering oars would be translated as “rudders” or “oars which served like rudders.” In other languages one must use a descriptive phrase such as “large oars at the back of the boat used for steering.” For languages in which there is no regular term for oar one may even use an expression such as “large pieces of wood at the back of the boat used to steer it.”
Each ship was also equipped with a mast toward the front on which a small sail could be raised. All of these actions were designed so that the wind would blow the ship forward as far as possible up on the shore. In languages in which there is no technical term for sail, one can employ “a large piece of cloth.”
The last expression, and headed for shore, may need to have as the subject “we” rather than merely “they,” since obviously all in the ship went together, not merely the sailors. On the other hand, one may also translate as “the ship moved toward the shore” or “the ship was blown toward the 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 .
Cutting away the anchors: This clause in Greek is literally “removing the anchors.” Since the sailors already put anchors from the stern, this clause refers to untying or cutting the ropes that held the anchors to the ship. Other ways to translate this clause are:
they cast off the anchors (Revised Standard Version) -or-
They untied/removed the anchor ropes -or-
They cut the anchors free (God’s Word)
they left them in the sea: There are two ways to interpret the Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as left:
(1) The verb means left or abandoned here. For example:
left them in the sea (Revised Standard Version)
(Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, New International Version, New American Standard Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition, English Standard Version, New Living Translation (2004), God’s Word, NET Bible, New Century Version)
(2) The verb means let sink here. For example:
let them sink in the sea (Good News Translation)
(Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, Contemporary English Version)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because the anchors had already sunk to the bottom in 27:29.
27:40b
loosened the ropes that held the rudders: The Greek words here are literally “untying the ropes of the rudders.” When the sailors dropped the sea anchor (27:17), they probably also raised the rudders out of the water and tied them in that position. (See drawing in the Notes at 27:1 that show the rudders in the water.) Sailors would do this to prevent the huge waves from breaking the rudders as they drifted. (27:18 tells us that the storm beat on the ship severely). Now they needed the rudders to steer the ship toward the beach, so they loosened the ropes and removed them from the rudders. Then they could lower one end into the water and steer. In some languages implied information about the action would make the action clear. For example:
untied the ropes that held the rudders ⌊out of the water⌋ -or-
untied the ropes that held the rudders ⌊and lowered them into the water to steer⌋
rudders: The rudders used at that time were shaped like oars, but they pointed backward from the ship and down into the water. The ship had a rudder on each side of it at the back. Then they could lower one end into the water and steer. Other ways to translate this are:
steering oars (Good News Translation) -or-
paddles for steering
27:40c
they hoisted the foresail to the wind: This clause refers to raising the foresail on the mast in the front of the ship and direct it so that it caught the wind. Other ways to translate this clause are:
they raised the front sail into the wind (New Century Version) -or-
they raised the sail at the front of the ship so that the wind would blow the ship forward (Good News Translation)
foresail: This refers to a rectangular sail at the front of the ship. Large ships of that time had two sails: a large rectangular sail in the middle of the ship and a smaller rectangular sail at the front. See the examples in the note above.
made for the beach: This refers to steering the ship so that it moved toward the beach. For example:
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
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