complete verse (Acts 28:12)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 28:12:

  • Uma: “We stopped at the town of Sirakusa , we were there three days.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “We (excl.) docked there at the town Sirakus and we (excl.) were there three days (and nights).” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “We stopped by in the village of Syracuse, and we were there three days.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “We (excl.) went to Siracusa, and we (excl.) were three days there.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “When we sailed, we docked at Siracusa. We were there three days and then we sailed again.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Acts 28:11-13)

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 (only including the people on the boat).

Source: SIL International Translation Department (1999).

Translation commentary on Acts 28:12

Syracuse was a port on the southeastern coast of Sicily. The Good News Translation has identified it as a city and has also employed the term city in speaking of Rhegium in verse 13. The classifier town has been employed for Puteoli.

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 28:12

28:12

Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed there three days: It was usually a ten to twelve hour trip by sailing ship from Malta to Syracuse. It would be done in one day. It is mostly north and a bit east from Malta.

Putting in: Here the phrase Putting in refers to bringing the ship to a dock and tying the ship to it. See how you translated the Greek word at 27:3 (“landed”).

Syracuse: Syracuse is a port town on the south coast of the island of Sicily.

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Sung version of Acts 28

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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