The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “sell” in English is translated in Noongar as wort-bangal or “away-barter.” Note that “buy” is translated as bangal-barranga or “get-barter.” (Source: Bardip Ruth-Ang 2020)
Orthodox Icons are not drawings or creations of imagination. They are in fact writings of things not of this world. Icons can represent our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. They can also represent the Holy Trinity, Angels, the Heavenly hosts, and even events. Orthodox icons, unlike Western pictures, change the perspective and form of the image so that it is not naturalistic. This is done so that we can look beyond appearances of the world, and instead look to the spiritual truth of the holy person or event. (Source )
Following is a hand colored stencil print on momigami of Peter by Sadao Watanabe (1970):
Image taken with permission from the SadaoHanga Catalogue where you can find many more images and information about Sadao Watanabe. For other images of Sadao Watanabe art works in TIPs, see here.
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 5:8:
Uma: “Petrus said to her: ‘Tell me, that land of yours that you sold, is this really all the price?’ Safira answered: ‘Yes, that is really all.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Petros said to her, ‘Tell me. Is this the amount you received as the proceeds-of-the-sale of your land?’ ‘Yes,’ the woman said, ‘that is the proceeds.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Peter asked her saying, ‘Oh woman, this money, is this all that you received when you sold your land?’ And the woman answered, ‘Yes.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Pedro said to her, ‘Please say if this is the correct sale-price of your land.’ ‘Yes indeed, that’s it,’ she said.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “When she arrived, she was quesioned by Pedro. He said, ‘Is it true that this is the full payment for the land you sold?’ ‘Yes’, said Safira, ‘that’s truly it.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
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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 Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).
The Greek plural verb form “you received” is made explicit in the Good News Translation translation by you and your husband received.
The Greek expression translated in the King James Version as “for so much” is extremely difficult to render satisfactorily in a literal manner. It is for this reason that the Good News Translation has employed was this the full amount. In some languages the term this must be amplified as “this much money” or even “this money here.”
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 .
“Tell me,” said Peter, “is this the price you and your husband got for the land?”: There are two ways to interpret the Greek here:
(1) Peter asked her a question. For example:
Peter asked her, “Was this the price you and your husband received for your land?” (New Living Translation (2004))
(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Good News Translation, New Living Translation (2004), God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, Revised English Bible)
(2) Peter did not ask her a question. For example:
And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” (Revised Standard Version)
(Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version, NET Bible, LEB)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because the UBS5 supports it.
The question is a real question. Peter was not implying that he knew how she would answer.
“Tell me,” said Peter: The Berean Standard Bible places the words said Peter in the middle of what Peter said. In some languages, it may be necessary to put these words in the beginning of 5:8a. For example:
Peter asked her, “Tell me…” (New International Version)
said Peter: The Greek is more literally “Peter answered/responded to her.” The Greek does not say what Sapphira said to him. Perhaps it was just a greeting. For example:
And Peter responded to her
is this the price you and your husband got for the land?: The Greek is more literally “if you were paid this much for the land?” It asks if the money that Ananias gave to Peter was how much they received for selling the land. (It was not (5:2).) Here are some other ways to translate this question:
were the two of you paid this amount for the land? (NET Bible) -or-
was this the full amount you and your husband received for your property? (Good News Translation) -or-
was this the price you sold the land for? (New Jerusalem Bible)
this the price: The Greek is more literally “so much,” “this much,” or “such-and-such-amount.” It indicates that Peter named the amount of money (or perhaps showed her the coins that Ananias give to him) but Luke did not name the amount here. Here are some other ways to translate this:
for this amount (Contemporary English Version) -or-
for so much (Revised Standard Version) -or-
was it this pay
5:8b
“Yes,” she answered, “that is the price.”: The words she answered are in the middle of what was said. In many languages it is more natural to have them first. For example:
she answered, “Yes, that is the price”
From 5:2, we know that this answer was a lie. In some languages it is more clear to indicate that this is a lie. For example:
she lied saying, “Yes, that is the price”
Yes,…that is the price: The Greek is more literally “yes, this much.” With this answer, Sapphira said that the money that Ananias gave to Peter was the full amount of money that they received for selling the land. Here are some other ways to translate this:
Yes, that amount -or-
Yes, that much -or-
Yes, that was the price (New Revised Standard Version)
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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