5What they said pleased the whole community, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch.
Teutila Cuicatec: “people from other nations who believe the same as those of the nation of Israel”
Chuj: “those who have received the religion of the Israel people”
Morelos Nahuatl: “those who entered the religion of the Jews”
Lalana Chinantec: “those who worship God as the Israel people do”
Chichimeca-Jonaz: “those who joined with the Jews because they went to believing like them”
Falam Chin: “those who entered/joined the Jews’ religious party from other tribes” (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
The term that is transliterated as “Stephen” in English is translated in American Sign Language with a sign that combines “S” and the sign for “stoned” or “rocks,” referring to Acts 7:58. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Stephen” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
In Spanish Sign Language it is translated with a signs for “see” + “heaven” + “open,” referring to Acts 7:55. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
The following is a contemporary stained glass window from the Messiah Episcopal Church in St. Paul, Minnesota by Peter Dohmen. Individual glass pieces were made in Germany in accordance with Dohmen’s design, using a technique first developed by Irish monks in the 9th and 10th centuries.
“This window on the east wall of the sanctuary shows us St. Stephen, the first martyr to give his life for Christ. Faith and loyalty are symbolized in the top panel by the cross. You will notice that Stephen’s eyes are turned toward heaven and we recall his words: ‘I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!’ The bottom section depicts the martyrdom of this great saint who was only in deacon’s orders when he met his death by stoning.”
Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum )
Morelos Nahuatl: “the Holy Spirit enters one’s heart to rule”
Teutila Cuicatec: “God’s Spirit possesses one” / “in all the authority of the Holy Spirit”
Isthmus Mixe: “have the Holy Spirit (in one’s head and heart) very much” or “Holy Spirit enter one completely”
Lalana Chinantec: “one’s heart really obeyed what the Holy Spirit wanted”
Chichimeca-Jonaz: “one’s heart full of God’s Holy Spirit” (source for this and seven above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Yawa: “God’s Spirit gives one power” (source: Larry Jones)
Yakan: “ruled by the Holy Spirit” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “thoroughly controlled by the Holy Spirit” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “the Holy Spirit had-entered-to-indwell one” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
The following story is relayed by Martha Duff Tripp as she led the translation of the New Testament into Yanesha’ (p. 310): “I continue to work with Casper Mountain [an Yanesha’ translator] on translation. As we start the book of Luke, we run into another problem. In Chapter 1, verse 15, the text reads (speaking of John the Baptist), ‘and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ The Amueshas [Yanesha’s] have never associated their word for ‘fill’ with anything except pots and baskets. How can a person be ‘filled’? Even their word for a full stomach is not the word for ‘fill.’ We talk together about what ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’ means (obsessed with or possessed by). The thought comes to me of what the Amueshas [Yanesha’s] say about the shaman. They say that he can ‘wear’ the spirit of the tiger, that they can tell when he is wearing the tiger spirit because he then will act like a tiger. Their word for ‘wear’ is the same word as to ‘wear or put on a garment.’ Can this possibly be the way to say ‘filled with God’s Spirit’? As I cautiously question Casper about this, his face lights up immediately. ‘Yes, that is the way we would say it, he is ’wearing’ God’s Holy Spirit.’”
Note that Cheyenne also uses the term for “wear” in these instances. (Source: Wayne Leman)
The Greek that is transliterated as “Antioch” in English means “driven against.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997)
In Western Lawa it is given the prefix weīyng (เวียง) to denote it as a larger settlement.
David Clark (in The Bible Translator 2013, p. 54ff. ) explains: “Place names often present difficulties in minority languages in Thailand, where it is normal to prefix unfamiliar names with a ‘classifier’ to show whether the name refers to a town, village, river, mountain, island, and so on. The problem in many such languages is that whereas English has numerous terms for human settlements of different size and importance (metropolis, conurbation, city, town, village, hamlet, etc.), they have only two terms. Generally, one refers to a metropolis like Bangkok, and the other to virtually all other settlements. This kind of contrast does not transfer well into the historical and cultural setting of the Bible, where even quite large towns were relatively small by modern standards. Especially in the Old Testament, what the Hebrew text calls ‘cities’ (because they had a wall) would often be classed as no more than villages in Thai minority languages. What many translators have done is to apply the term for a larger settlement to places of importance in the narrative, even if they were not very large in absolute terms. Thus in Lawa, Antioch, which is of considerable significance in Acts, is given the label for the larger size of settlement (weīyng).”
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 6:5:
Uma: “These words of the apostles were agreed to by all. That is why they chose Stefanus, who really believed in the Lord Yesus and was controlled by the Holy Spirit. They also chose: Filipus, Prokhorus, Nikanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nikolaus of Antiokhia. That Nikolaus was not a Yahudi but he had entered the Yahudi religion.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “All the followers of Isa were pleased with those words of theirs. So all of them chose. They chose Estepan, a man who trusted God very much and who was controlled by the Holy Spirit. The others whom they chose were Pilip, Porokorus, Nikanur, Timon, Parmenas, and Nikolas, a man from Antiyok. This Nikolas was not a Yahudi but he had been a follower of the Yahudi religion.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And when the believers heard this, they were pleased with the advice of the apostles. And they chose Stephen. Now Stephen, his faith was very strong and he was thoroughly inspired by the Holy Spirit. And also, among those they chose were Felipe, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus from Antioch. And Nicolaus, he was not a Jew, however he had believed long ago in the religion of the Jews.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “All those who gathered there, they liked that-aforementioned which the apostles said, and they chose these. One was Esteban. His faith was strong and he was full of the power of the Holy Spirit. His companions were Felipe, Prokorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus from-Antiok. Nicolaus was a Gentile but he was following the customs of the Jews.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “When that crowd heard, they were all agreeable. Without anything further, they then chose. The first they chose was a person called Esteban whose believing/obeying was strong and he was really obedient to the Espiritu Santo who indwelt him. Others they chose were Felipe, Procoro, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicolas who was a taga Antioquia who had entered Judioship.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
The name that is transliterated as “Nicolaus” (also: Nicholas or Nicholaus) in English is translated in Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) with the sign for “victory of the people” (the meaning of the name). (Source: Missão Kophós )
The name that is transliterated as “Nicanor” (also: Nicholas or Nicholaus) in English is translated in Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) with the sign that combines “conqueror” (the meaning of the name) and “responsible” (he was on the seven deacons for the first church in Jerusalem). (Source: Missão Kophós )
The name that is transliterated as “Timon” in English is translated in Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) with a sign that combines “honor” (the meaning of the name) and a reference to him being one of the seven deacons. (Source: Missão Kophós )
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