complete verse (Acts 4:14)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 4:14:

  • Uma: “But those judges, they did not dare refute. Because that lame one who had been healed was also there standing together with Petrus and Yohanes.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But they could say nothing to argue with them because they could see there the man who had been crippled standing beside Petros and Yahiya.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “They wanted to speak against that miracle which Peter and company had done, however since the man who was cured was there also, there wasn’t anything they could say.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “but they did not answer anything, because there was the one whose lameness was removed standing-with them.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Also, because they could see that person who had been made well standing alongside Pedro-and-companion, they couldn’t find anything as a response.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Acts 4:14

The shift of viewpoint at the beginning of verse 14 is well indicated by a conjunction such as but. While one can always say something such as there was nothing that they could say, it is often possible to render the same type of expression in an idiomatic way, for example, “their mouths were shut,” “there were no words for their voices,” or “their thoughts gave them no words.” The implication is that “they had nothing to say in response” or “… in return.”

In the translation of this verse the Greek sentence order has been reversed; in the Greek the emphatic element is “the man whom they saw standing there with them,” that is, with Peter and John. The last clause of verse 14 may be broken up into two parts, for example, “they saw the man who had been made well; he was standing there with Peter and John.”

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 4:14

4:14a

And: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as And introduces the leaders not saying anything to Peter and John because they could see the crippled man who was now healed. But there is implied contrast here. The leaders wanted to punish Peter and John for preaching about Jesus, but God had healed the man in the name of Jesus. So some versions translate the connection as “But” (as in the New International Version). Connect 4:14a to 4:13c in a way that is natural in your language.

seeing the man who had been healed standing there with them: This phrase introduces the reason for the result in 4:14b. Many languages must indicate this connection differently. For example:

they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, therefore

the man who had been healed: This clause is passive. Some languages must use an active clause. For example:

the man whom ⌊God⌋ had healed

them: The pronoun them refers here to Peter and John.

4:14b

they had nothing to say in response: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as to say means “to speak opposing someone.” The leaders could not tell Peter and John that they had done something wrong or bad. For example:

they had nothing to say to oppose them
-or-
they could say nothing against it (King James Version)

they: The pronoun they refers here to the leaders.

General Comment on 4:14a–b

In some languages it is more natural to have the reason clause last. For example:

14bBut there was nothing they could say 14asince/because they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them

© 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.