2and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
Chichimeca-Jonaz: “who believed that message” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Elhomwe: “those who lived according to the Way of the Lord” (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999): “Christian(ity)”
In the Mandarin ChineseUnion Version, the most commonly used Protestant Chinese Bible, it is translated as zhèdào (这道) or “this way.” Note that dào (道) or “way” is the same word that is also used for Logos (usually “Word” in English) in John 1:1 and elsewhere (see Word / Logos).
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 9:2:
Uma: “and asked for a letter of authority he carried going to the leaders of the houses of prayer in the town of Damsyik, so that if he found there any who followed the Teaching of Yesus, he could arrest them and carry them back to Yerusalem, whether man or woman.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “and he requested letters which he would take to the Yahudi prayer-houses there in the town of Damaskus. Those letters gave him authority. If he could find there people who followed the teaching of Isa Almasi, he could seize them male and female and bring them back to Awrusalam to be imprisoned.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Therefore he went to the high priest and begged that he write to the leaders of the churches of the Jews there in the village of Damascus and that he beg them that they permit Saul to arrest anyone that he can find, men or women, who follow the way of Jesus. And those that he will arrest, he will tie up and bring them to Jerusalem.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “to request a letter of permission so that he would go and show it in the many-synagogues of the Jews in Damascus, so that if there was anyone he came-upon who followed Jesus, whether men or women, he would have the authority to arrest them to take (them) to Jerusalem.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “and asked from him an authorizing writing which he would take to Damasco. He would show it to the ones in charge of the worship-places of the Jews so that he could arrest as many as he would find who followed/obeyed the way/trail of believing in Jesus. Each one he would arrest, female or male, he would take them tied-up to Jerusalem.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:
While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)
“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
In many English translations the Greek terms “hieron” (the whole “temple” in Jerusalem or specifically the outer courts open to worshippers) and “naos” (the inner “shrine” or “sanctuary”) are translated with only one word: “temple” (see also for instance “Tempel” in German [for exception see below] and “tempel” in Dutch, Danish, or Afrikaans).
Other languages make a distinction: (Click or tap here to see more)
Navajo (Dinė): “house in which worship is carried out” (for naos)
Balinese: “inner part of the Great Temple” (“the term ‘inner part’ denoting the hindmost and holiest of the two or three courts that temples on Bali usually possess”) vs. “Great Temple”
Telugu: “womb (i.e. interior)-of-the-abode” vs. “abode”
Thai: a term denoting the main audience hall of a Buddhist temple compound vs. “environs-of-the-main-audience-hall”
Kituba: “place of holiness of house-God Lord” vs. “house-God Lord”
Shipibo-Conibo: “deep in God’s house” vs. “God’s house” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Germandas Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022): “inner court of the temple” (Tempelinnenhof) vs. “temple”
Languages that, like English, German, Dutch, Danish, or Afrikaans, don’t make that distinction include:
Toraja-Sa’dan: “house that is looked upon as holy, that is sacred, that is taboo and where one may not set foot” (lit. “house where-the-belly-gets-swollen” — because taboo is violated — using a term that is also applied to a Muslim mosque) (source for this and the three above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Aguaruna: “the house for talking to God” (source for this and above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
Guhu-Samane: “festival longhouse of God” (“The biiri, ‘festival longhouse’, being the religious and social center of the community, is a possible term for ‘temple’. It is not the ‘poro house’ as such. That would be too closely identified with the cult of poro. The physical features of the building, huge and sub-divided, lend it further favor for this consideration. By qualifying it as ‘God’s biiri’ the term has become meaningful and appropriate in the context of the Scriptures.”) (Source: Ernest Richert in The Bible Translator, 1965, p. 81ff. )
Enga: “God’s restricted access house” (source: Adam Boyd on his blog )
Another distinction that tends to be overlooked in translations is that between hieron (“temple” in English) and sunagógé (“synagogue” in English). Euan Fry (in The Bible Translator 1987, p. 213ff. ) reports on this:
“Many older translations have simply used transliterations of ‘temple’ and ‘synagogue’ rather than trying to find equivalent terms or meaningful expressions in their own languages. This approach does keep the two terms separate; but it makes the readers depend on explanations given by pastors or teachers for their understanding of the text.
“Translators who have tried to find meaningful equivalents, for the two terms ‘temple’ and ‘synagogue’ have usually made a distinction between them in one of two ways (which focus on the contrasting components of meaning). One way takes the size and importance of the Temple to make a contrast, so that expressions such as ‘sacred meeting/ worship house of the Jews’ and ‘big sacred meeting/worship house of the Jews’ are used. The other way focuses on the different nature of the religious activity at each of the places, so that expressions such as ‘meeting/worship house of the Jews’ and ‘sacrifice/ceremony place of the Jews’ are used.
“It is not my purpose in this article to discuss how to arrive at the most precise equivalent to cover all the components of meaning of ‘temple’. That is something that each translator really has to work through for himself in the light of the present usage and possibilities in his own language. My chief concern here is that the basic term or terms chosen for ‘temple’ should give the reader of a translation a clear and correct picture of the location referred to in each passage. And I am afraid that in many cases where an equivalent like ‘house of God’ or ‘worship house’ has been chosen, the readers have quite the wrong picture of what going to the Temple or being in the Temple means. (This may be the case for the word ‘temple’ in English too, for many readers.)”
Here are some examples:
Bambara: “house of God” (or: “big house of worship”) vs. “worship house” (or: “small houses of worship”)
Toraja-Sa’dan: “house where-the-belly-gets-swollen” (see above) vs. “meeting house for discussing matters concerning religious customs” (and “church” is “house where one meets on Sunday”)
Navajo (Dinė): “house in which worship is carried out” vs. “house of gathering” (source for all above: Bratcher / Nida)
Click or tap here to see a short video clip about Herod’s temple (source: Bible Lands 2012)Click or tap here to see a short video clip showing synagogues in New Testament times (source: Bible Lands 2012)
In the Greek text verses 1 and 2 are actually one sentence, which the Good News Translation has broken up into two sentences for ease of understanding. In the meantime (see Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible “meanwhile”) translates a Greek particle (rendered in most translations as “and” or “but”) that merely indicates the resumption of an old narrative or the beginning of a new narrative. Since this story is a continuation of the one in 8.3, the Good News Translation has indicated that the events of the preceding chapter were not prior in time to the events of the present narrative, but happened simultaneously with this story.
The idiomatic phrase “breathing threats and murder” has been rendered in the Good News Translation as violent threats of murder (see Knox “threatened the disciples of the Lord with massacre”). The Good News Translation has incorporated the meaning of the adverb “yet” or “still” into the verb kept up (his violent threats of murder).
The Roman government had given the Jewish Council authority over the Jews living in foreign cities, and for this reason Saul went to the High Priest (the head of the Jewish Council) to ask for authority over the persons whom he wanted to arrest. The letters that Saul asked for were evidently letters of introduction and for this reason the Good News Translation has made letters explicit. Saul would have found the persons he was looking for at worship in the Jewish synagogues, since the Jewish Christians considered belief in Christ the fulfillment of their Jewish hopes.
The expression letters of introduction may require some marginal explanation or perhaps a descriptive equivalent in the text itself. In some languages one may employ “letters telling who Saul was.” However, there were also letters indicating the authority vested in Saul, for example, “letters saying who Saul was and the power that had been given to him.” If the term synagogues indicates primarily buildings, then it may be impossible to speak of letters being addressed to buildings. Therefore one can have “letters addressed to the leaders of the synagogues saying who Saul was.”
There was a large colony of Jews in Damascus (after the war of A.D. 70 some 18,000 of them were massacred), and Saul had probably gone to Damascus in order to arrest Jewish Christians who had fled from Jerusalem and had taken refuge in the city of Damascus. Followers of the Way (literally “those of the Way”) is one the many terms that Luke uses to describe Christians in this chapter, for example, disciples, people of God, those calling on the name of the Lord, and brothers.
The phrase the Way of the Lord must be translated with care so as not to imply that this is simply “the road that belongs to the Lord” or “the road that the Lord followed” (as though it were some reference to a road on which Jesus walked). Rather, one must have some such expression as “the Way shown by the Lord” or “the Way that the Lord said people should walk” (or “live”). (See also 18.25, 26; 19.9, 23; 22.4; 24.14, 22.)
“Bring them bound to Jerusalem” means simply arrest them … and take them back to Jerusalem (see Jerusalem Bible “to arrest and take to Jerusalem,” and New English Bible “to arrest … and bring them to Jerusalem”). In this context the word “bound” merely means “in custody” or “under arrest,” and does not indicate necessarily that the people were in chains or ropes.
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 .
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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