sacrifice

The Greek that is translated as “sacrifice” in English is translated in Huba as hatǝmachi or “shoot misfortune.”

David Frank (in this blog post ) explains: “How is it that ‘shoot misfortune’ comes to mean sacrifice, I wanted to know? Here is the story: It is a traditional term. Whenever there were persistent problems such as a drought, or a rash of sickness or death, the king (or his religious advisor) would set aside a day and call on everyone to prepare food, such as the traditional mash made from sorghum, or perhaps even goat. The food had to be put together outside. The king or his religious advisor would give an address stating what the problem was and what they were doing about it. Then an elder representing the people would take a handful of that food and throw it, probably repeating that action several times, until it was considered to be enough to atone for all the misfortune they had been having. With this action he was ‘shooting (or casting off) misfortune’ to restore well-being to his people. As he threw the food, he would say that this is to remove the misfortune that had fallen on his people, and everybody would respond by saying aɗǝmja, ‘let it be so.’ People could eat some of this food, but they could not bring the food into their houses, because that would mean that they were bringing misfortune into their house. There is still a minority of people in this linguistic and cultural group that practices the traditional religion, but the shooting of misfortune is no longer practiced, and the term ‘shoot misfortune’ is used now in Bible translation to refer to offering a sacrifice. Aɗǝmja is how they translate ‘amen.'”

idol / idols

The Hebrew, Greek and Latin that is translated as “idol(s)” in English is translated in Central Subanen as ledawan or “images.” (Source: Robert Brichoux in OPTAT 1988/2, p. 80ff. )

In German, typically the term Götze is used. Originally this was used as a term of endearment for Gott (“God” — see here ), later for “icon” and “image, likeness.” Luther started to use it in the 16th century in the meaning of “false god, idol.”

Other terms that are used in German include Götzenbild(er) (“image[s] of idols”) or Bildnis (“image” — Protestant) / Kultbild (“cultish image” — Catholic) (used for instance in Exodus 20:4 and Deuteronomy 5:8). The latest revision of the Catholic Einheitsübersetzung (publ. 2016) also uses the neologism Nichtse (“nothings”) in 1 Chron. 16:26 and Psalm 96:5. (Source: Zetzsche)

See also worthless idols.

complete verse (Acts 7:41)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 7:41:

  • Uma: “From there, they did make a resemblance of a calf from gold. They worshipped that resemblance that they had made, they slaughtered-for-it livestock, and they celebrated praising the making of their own hands.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “It was during that time hep,’ Estepan said, ‘when they made an image in the form of a calf. They sacrificed to that image and they celebrated/made-merry to honor what their hands had made.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then,’ said Stephen, ‘they made the image of a young cow and they sacrificed to it, and they were happy because they liked what they had made.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “After that they made a cow calf-statue (note: to differentiate from a water buffalo calf), and they made-offerings-to-it and gave-a-feast-for-it making-merry and worshipping what they themselves had made.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well without anything further, they made an image which they caused to be like a calf. When it was finished, they then burned thank-offerings there at that image, and went right on to celebrate, for they were really pleased with that image which they had made.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Acts 7:41

In the shape of a calf may be rendered as “it looked just like a calf.”

Offered sacrifice is equivalent in many languages to “killed animals in honor of” or “killed animals in order to worship.”

As the context of the story in Exodus 32.4-6 makes clear, the idea is not merely that the people “rejoiced” (King James Version), “had a festive celebration” (New American Bible), or “were perfectly happy” (Jerusalem Bible), with what they had done, but rather that they held a religious feast in honor of what they had made (see An American Translation* “held a celebration over” and New English Bible “had a feast in honor of”). What they themselves had made translates the Hebraic expression “the work of their hands,” and here refers, as it often does in the Old Testament, to idols.

In some languages there is a problem caused by the different agents implied in verse 40 make us some gods and the phrase what they themselves had made (v. 41). In the first instance it is obviously Aaron who undertakes to make the gods or is commissioned to see that they are made, and in verse 41 the people as a whole are regarded as the ones who make the gods. In some languages a seeming discrepancy of agents constitutes a problem which may be resolved by an expression such as “they asked to have made for themselves” or “they asked Aaron to make for them.”

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 .