eyes were open

In Gbaya, the notion of open eyes in Acts 9:8 is emphasized with the ideophone ŋgululu, which designates something clear and pure, such as water, a liquid, or eyes.

Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)

Paul in Damascus

The following artwork is part of a series of 56 paintings on biblical themes by Kazakh artist Nelly Bube (born 1949):

Copyright by Norwegian Bible Society , used with permission.

For other images of Nelly Bube in TIPs, see here.

complete verse (Acts 9:8)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 9:8:

  • Uma: “From there, Saulus stood up [and] opened his eyes, but he could no-longer see. So, that’s why he was led-by-the-hand into the town of Damsyik.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then Saul got up from the ground but when he opened his eyes, he could no longer see. So they led him by the hand going to Damaskus.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And Saul got up and when he opened his eyes, he could not see. And they led him by the hand going to Damascus.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Then Saulo got-up, but when he opened his eyes, why (particle indicating new development) he could-not -see. So they took-him-by-the-hand to lead-him to Damascus.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Saulo who was down on his face then stood up. But when he opened his eyes, he could no longer see. Without anything further, he was just led-by-the-hand by those companions of his till they arrived in Damasco.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Acts 9:8

Saul … opened his eyes (see Jerusalem Bible “with this eyes wide open” and New English Bible “when he opened his eyes”) correctly translates the force of the Greek participial expression; the King James Version (“when his eyes were opened”) may wrongly imply that someone else opened Saul’s eyes for him.

An expression for opened his eyes must indicate clearly that this simply meant opening his eyelids, for he obviously was not able to see. A number of languages make a clear distinction between the opening of the eyelids and the capacity to see.

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 .