has seen and heard

The Greek that is translated as “has seen and heard” in English is translated in the Catholic Mandarin Chinese Sigao version with a historical Chinese idiom: suǒjiàn suǒwén (所見所聞 / 所见所闻) or “what I saw and heard (lit. “all seen, all heard”).”

Note that the Protestant Union Version also uses it in John 3:32. (Source: Toshikazu S. Foley in Hong Kong Journal of Catholic Studies, 2011, p. 45ff.)

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Acts 4:20)

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 (excluding the members of the Council).

Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.

complete verse (Acts 4:20)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 4:20:

  • Uma: “As for us (excl.), we (excl.) can no longer stop telling what we (excl.) have seen and what we (excl.) have heard.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “For we (excl.) cannot stop telling people about what we (excl.) have seen and heard.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “It is not possible that we do not spread that which we have heard and that which we have seen,’ said Peter.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because as for us (excl.), we (excl.) we are not able-to-stop telling what we (excl.) have seen and have heard from Jesus.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “As for us (excl.), it’s clear to us (excl.) which we (excl.) must do, for it’s not possible that we (excl.) won’t tell everything we (excl.) saw which Jesus did and all he taught us (excl.).'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Acts 4:20

A phrase such as cannot stop speaking is equivalent in some languages to “we must continue speaking.” In other instances it is equivalent to “there can be no end to our speaking” or “our speaking will not finish.”

What we ourselves have seen and heard refers to the deeds and words of Jesus, especially to his resurrection.

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 4:20

4:20

For: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as For introduces the basis for Peter and John’s statement in 4:19.

In some languages it would be better to omit this conjunction for the correct meaning here.

we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard: This clause in Greek is literally “we are not able not to speak of what we saw and heard.” It indicates strongly that they must continue telling others about the things which they saw Jesus do and what they heard him say. Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

we(excl)(dual) must continue telling what we have seen ⌊Jesus do⌋ and heard ⌊what Jesus said⌋
-or-
we cannot stop telling what we have seen ⌊Jesus do⌋ and heard ⌊what Jesus said⌋

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