13The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him.
The name that is transliterated as “Isaac” in English is signed in Spanish Sign Language and French Sign Language with a sign that is linked to his mother’s laughter when she hears that she will be pregnant with him (referring to Genesis 18:12 – 18:15) and also is the meaning of the Hebrew “Isaac” (Yitschaq — “he laughs”):
The Greek that is translated as “my Father” in English is translated in Matumbi as Tati’ bangu’ or “my fathers.” “Our Father” is translated as “our Fathers” (and likewise “our ancestor” as “our ancestors”). Matumbi uses a majestic plural as an honorific when addressing parents. (Source: Tim Macsaveny)
In American Sign Language it is translated with the sign for “government/governor” plus the sign for “P” with a circular movement. The reference to government indicates Pilate’s position of authority in the Roman Empire. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Pilate” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
The name that is transliterated as “Abraham” in English is translated in the vast majority of sign languages, including American Sign Language with the sign signifying “hold back arm” (referring to Genesis 22:12).
In Vietnamese (Hanoi) Sign Language it is translated with a sign for that demonstrates his new destiny. Previously, he had been called to wander from his home, and the name “Abram” reflected this movement (see here). The new sign name is in one location and stays there, showing Abraham will be given a land to call his own. At this time, Abraham was in the southern part of Canaan, which is shown on the base arm by the location near the elbow. (Source: The Vietnamese Sign Language translation team, VSLBT)
“Abraham” in Vietnamese Sign Language, source: SooSL
In Tira it is transliterated as Abaram. The choice of this, rather than the widely-known “Ibrahim,” as used in the Tira translation of the Qu’ran, was to offset it against the Muslim transliteration which originates from Arabic. (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )
Click or tap here to see two short video clips about Abraham (source: Bible Lands 2012)
The Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that is transliterated as “Jacob” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with a sign that signifies “lentil,” referring to the soup he gave his brother in exchange for his birthright (see Genesis 25:34). Note that another Spanish Sign Language sign for Jacob also users the sign for Jewish. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
In Finnish Sign Language it is translated with the signs signifying “smooth arm” (referring to the story starting at Genesis 27:11). (Source: Tarja Sandholm)
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 listeners of the sermon).
In Huautla Mazatec, however, the translators selected the exclusive we.
Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 3:13:
Uma: “God who was worshipped by our ancestors, who was worshipped by Abraham, Ishak and Yakub, he is the God that made-big his Servant, he is Yesus. This Yesus is the one you turned over to the governing officials, and the one that you rejected before Pilatus, when Pilatus would have released him.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “You know, our (incl.) forefathers, Ibrahim and Isahak and Yakub, we (incl.) and they have one God. So-then this God, he honored his servant Isa, but he was delivered by you to the law. You did not receive/accept him there in the presence of Governor Pilatus. And even though Pilatus wanted to release him, you did not want it.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “God, whom our (incl.) ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob worshipped, he made his servant Jesus immortal. But before he made him immortal, you turned him over to the leaders and you spoke in rejection of him before Governor Pilate. And Pilate, he wanted to set Jesus free.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “It was emphatically not we (excl.) but rather the God that our ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob worshipped. He is the-one-who-healed this man so that the godhood of Jesus who served him in this world would-be-seen, because he has already caused-Jesus -to-be-high/great in heaven. This Jesus, you turned-him-over to the rulers, and when Governor Pilato tried him, even though Pilato had decided to release him, you rejected-him.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “It’s true, this is the supernatural-power of the God of our forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For this God of our ancestors, he has now given far-from-ordinary praiseworthiness/glory to his Servant Jesus, he indeed whom you handed over to the governor Pilato. Yes indeed, isn’t it so that even though Pilato had decided to release Jesus, your saying no was emphatic?” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.
In these verses, the verb that is translated as “give” in English is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-atae (お与え), combining “to give” (atae) with the respectful prefix o-. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
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