stood speechless

The Greek that is translated as “stood speechless” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) idiomatically with verschlug es die Sprache or “they were struck dumb.”

amazed (Luang)

The Greek that is often translated as “amazed” in English has the option of various terms in Luang with different shades of meaning.

For Acts 3:10 and 9:7, ema rtaplelleltarga (“as if they could not speak”) was chosen. This is used for “surprise causing introspection about the meaning of what has occurred and what effect it will have.”

For Mark 16:5, hnedu (“surprised”) was chosen. This is used for “surprise causing a physical jerk of the body.”

Source: Kathy Taber in Notes on Translation 1/1999, p. 9-16.

complete verse (Acts 9:7)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 9:7:

  • Uma: “As for the companions of Saulus, they could no-longer speak, they were frozen/immobilized by their fear. Because they also heard the speaker, but they could not see who was speaking.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “The travel companions of Saul stood there amazed/startled. They heard the voice but they did not see anybody.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And the companions of Saul stopped and they were not able to say anything. They were afraid because they heard that person speaking, but they didn’t see anything.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Saulo’s accompanying-group, they were shocked-motionless/speechless, because they heard the voice, but they saw no one.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Saulo’s companions who were traveling with him were just standing around. No-one could make any response, for they could hear the sound of the voice but they couldn’t see any person who was speaking.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Acts 9:7

They heard the voice contradicts 22.9 where it says that the men who were traveling with Saul did not hear the voice. In Greek it is possible for the verb “to hear” to take either the genitive case or the accusative case as its object. And so some have sought to resolve the difficulty by stating that when used with the genitive case (as here) the meaning is that the men heard the sound of the voice, but did not understand the specific words that were spoken; whereas when it is used with the accusative case (as in 22.9), the meaning is that the men both heard and understood the specific words themselves. By this reasoning the present passage would not contradict what is said in 22.9, since there it would be taken to mean that Saul’s companions did not hear (so as to understand) the words/voice. However, this conclusion is judged by most scholars as invalid; for upon examination of Luke’s usage of the verb “to hear” in Acts, it is clear that he makes no consistent distinction between “to hear” with the genitive case and “to hear” with the accusative case (see 22.1). The contradiction must remain, as must the statement in this chapter that Saul’s companions remained standing, whereas in 26.14 it is said that they all fell to the ground. Luke has simply told the same story three times (a narrative which he doubtless considers to be of great importance in the spread of the Christian message throughout the world), and we must not deny him the freedom of using differences of detail in narrating the event. It is not the responsibility of the translators to try to resolve such difficulties which he thinks may exist, but to translate faithfully what the writer has given him to translate.

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 .