years (age)

In Aekyom, years are counted as “turtles” (ambum).

Norm Mundhenk tells this story:

“Recently I was checking some New Testament material in the Aekyom language of western Papua New Guinea. It seemed relatively clear until suddenly we came to a passage that started, ‘When Jesus had 12 turtles, …’ Surely I had misunderstood what they said.
“‘Did you say that Jesus had 12 turtles?’
“‘Let us explain! Around here there is a certain time every year when river turtles come up on the banks and lay their eggs. Because this is so regular, it can be used as a way of counting years. Someone’s age is said to be how many turtles that person has. So when we say that Jesus had 12 turtles, we mean that Jesus was 12 years old.’
“It was of course the familiar story of Jesus’ trip with his parents to Jerusalem. And certainly, as we all know, Jesus did indeed have 12 turtles at that time!”

In Tok Pisin, krismas (derived from “christmas”) is taken as the fixed annual marker, so Jesus had 12 “christmases” (Jisas i gat 12-pela krismas pinis) or Abram (in Gen. 12:4) had 75 (Abram i gat 75 krismas) (source: Norm Mundhenk). In Noongar it is biroka kadak or “summers had” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

See also advanced in years.

sign

The Greek that is typically translated in English as “sign” is translated in Huehuetla Tepehua as “thing to be marveled at” (source: Larson 1889, p. 279) and in Mairasi as “big work” (source: Enggavoter 2004).

complete verse (Acts 4:22)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 4:22:

  • Uma: “Because that person who had been healed, his age was more than forty years.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “The man who had been healed by that work of power was hep already more than forty years old.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “For the person who was cured, it was more than forty years that he was not able to walk. That’s why the people were so amazed.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because the man who was healed was more-than forty years old (lit. had more than forty years).” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “For as for that person who had been healed who had been lame from birth, his age was over forty years.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Acts 4:22

Though the Greek text has gar (literally “because” but often signifying only a general connection in thought), there is no direct causal relationship between verse 22 and the preceding statement. The fact that the man was over forty years of age simply enhances the significance of the miracle. Accordingly, in many languages one cannot translate by a causal conjunction meaning “for.”

The expression the man on whom this miracle of healing had been performed presents a number of difficulties for transfer into other languages. Accordingly, one sometimes finds “the man who was healed in this miraculous way,” “the man who experienced healing by a miracle,” or “the man whom a miracle made well.”

The phrase over forty years old is variously expressed in different languages, for example, “he had lived more than forty years” or “his years were more than forty.” In languages in which there is a poorly developed numerical system (as, for example, in the languages of the primitive tribes in South America), one can express relative age in terms of the time of life, for example, “he was no longer the age of a warrior” or even “he was so old that his children would be men.” (This does not, of course, imply that the man had had children, but simply that if he had children, they would already be adults.)

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 .