Acts 1:18 and 1:19 are typically translated as background information by the narrator on Judas who is mentioned via direct speech in Acts 1:16 and Acts 1:17. This is sometimes expressed through parentheses around the content of verses 18 and 19.
The English translation of Acts by C. H. Rieu (publ. 1957) uses a footnote for those verses, which is uncommon, if not unique, in Bible translation, but adds a sense of authenticity.
It says:
This refers to Judas’ death through falling headlong on a farm he had bought with the wages of his sin; his stomach burst open and his bowels gushed out. All Jerusalem heard about this, and the place acquired the name, ‘The Field of Blood’, or, in their language, ‘Akeldama’.
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 1:18:
Uma: “(That Yudas bought land with the money which he received from his evil actions. On that land that he bought, he died falling, his stomach burst with the result that all the contents of his insides came out.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “(By the way, Sir Teopilus, Judas bought land hep with the money paid to him for his evil deed betraying Isa. When he had bought that land, he fell down there and he died. His abdomen burst and his intestines came out.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “(Now as for Judas, that which was paid him for his wickedness, he bought some land with it, and he fell forward and his stomach burst open and his intestines burst out.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “This is what happened to Judas. The money that was paid-as-wage to him for the bad-thing that he did, he used-it-to-buy some land, and that’s where he went to kill himself. He fell-from-a-height and then his body burst and his innards came-out.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “(Well as for this Judas, that reward/bribe which he received for that evil which he did which is like he traded Jesus, it was used to buy a piece of land. And what happened to Judas was, he fell and his abdomen split open. What else but all the contents of his abdomen came out.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
The Hebrew adonai in the Old Testament typically refers to God. The shorter adon (and in two cases in the book of Daniel the Aramaic mare [מָרֵא]) is also used to refer to God but more often for concepts like “master,” “owner,” etc. In English Bible translations all of those are translated with “Lord” if they refer to God.
In English Old Testament translations, as in Old Testament translations in many other languages, the use of Lord (or an equivalent term in other languages) is not to be confused with Lord (or the equivalent term with a different typographical display for other languages). While the former translates adonai, adon and mare, the latter is a translation for the tetragrammaton (YHWH) or the Name of God. See tetragrammaton (YHWH) and the article by Andy Warren-Rothlin in Noss / Houser, p. 618ff. for more information.
In the New Testament, the Greek term kurios has at least four different kinds of use:
referring to “God,” especially in Old Testament quotations,
meaning “master” or “owner,” especially in parables, etc.,
as a form of address (see for instance John 4:11: “Sir, you have no bucket”),
or, most often, referring to Jesus
In the first and fourth case, it is also translated as “Lord” in English.
Most languages naturally don’t have one word that covers all these meanings. According to Bratcher / Nida, “the alternatives are usually (1) a term which is an honorific title of respect for a high-ranking person and (2) a word meaning ‘boss’, ‘master’, or ‘chief.’ (…) and on the whole it has generally seemed better to employ a word of the second category, in order to emphasize the immediate personal relationship, and then by context to build into the word the prestigeful character, since its very association with Jesus Christ will tend to accomplish this purpose.”
When looking at the following list of back-translations of the terms that translators in the different languages have used for both kurios and adonai to refer to God and Jesus respectively, it might be helpful for English readers to recall the etymology of the English “Lord.” While this term might have gained an exalted meaning in the understanding of many, it actually comes from hlaford or “loaf-ward,” referring to the lord of the castle who was the keeper of the bread (source: Rosin 1956, p. 121).
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Following are some of the solutions that don’t rely on a different typographical display (see above):
Iyansi: Mwol. Mwol is traditionally used for the “chief of a group of communities and villages” with legal, temporal, and spiritual authority (versus the “mfum [the term used in other Bantu languages] which is used for the chief of one community of people in one village”). Mwol is also used for twins who are “treated as special children, highly honored, and taken care of like kings and queens.” (Source: Kividi Kikama in Greed / Kruger, p. 396ff.)
Binumarien: Karaambaia: “fight-leader” (Source: Oates 1995, p. 255)
Warlpiri: Warlaljamarri (owner or possessor of something — for more information tap or click here)
We have come to rely on another term which emphasizes God’s essential nature as YHWH, namely jukurrarnu (see tetragrammaton (YHWH)). This word is built on the same root jukurr– as is jukurrpa, ‘dreaming.’ Its basic meaning is ‘timelessness’ and it is used to describe physical features of the land which are viewed as always being there. Some speakers view jukurrarnu in terms of ‘history.’ In all Genesis references to YHWH we have used Kaatu Jukurrarnu. In all Mark passages where kurios refers to God and not specifically to Christ we have also used Kaatu Jukurrarnu.
New Testament references to Christ as kurios are handled differently. At one stage we experimented with the term Watirirririrri which refers to a ceremonial boss of highest rank who has the authority to instigate ceremonies. While adequately conveying the sense of Christ’s authority, there remained potential negative connotations relating to Warlpiri ceremonial life of which we might be unaware.
Here it is that the Holy Spirit led us to make a chance discovery. Transcribing the personal testimony of the local Warlpiri pastor, I noticed that he described how ‘my Warlaljamarri called and embraced me (to the faith)’. Warlaljamarri is based on the root warlalja which means variously ‘family, possessions, belongingness’. A warlaljamarri is the ‘owner’ or ‘possessor’ of something. While previously being aware of the ‘ownership’ aspect of warlaljamarri, this was the first time I had heard it applied spontaneously and naturally in a fashion which did justice to the entire concept of ‘Lordship’. Thus references to Christ as kurios are now being handled by Warlaljamarri.” (Source: Stephen Swartz, The Bible Translator 1985, p. 415ff. )
Mairasi: Onggoao Nem (“Throated One” — “Leader,” “Elder”) or Enggavot Nan (“Above-One”) (source: Enggavoter 2004)
Obolo: Okaan̄-ene (“Owner of person(s)”) (source: Enene Enene)
Lotha Naga: Opvui (“owner of house / field / cattle”) — since both “Lord” and YHWH are translated as Opvui there is an understanding that “Opvui Jesus is the same as the Opvui of the Old Testament”
Seediq: Tholang, loan word from Min Nan Chinese (the majority language in Taiwan) thâu-lâng (頭儂): “Master” (source: Covell 1998, p. 248)
Thai: phra’ phu pen cao (พระผู้เป็นเจ้า) (divine person who is lord) or ong(kh) cao nay (องค์เจ้านาย) (<divine classifier>-lord-boss) (source: Stephen Pattemore)
Arabic often uses different terms for adonai or kurios referring to God (al-rabb الرب) and kurios referring to Jesus (al-sayyid الـسـيـد). Al-rabb is also the term traditionally used in Arabic Christian-idiom translations for YHWH, and al-sayyid is an honorary term, similar to English “lord” or “sir” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin).
Tamil also uses different terms for adonai/kurios when referring to God and kurios when referring to Jesus. The former is Karttar கர்த்தர், a Sanskrit-derived term with the original meaning of “creator,” and the latter in Āṇṭavar ஆண்டவர், a Tamil term originally meaning “govern” or “reign” (source: Natarajan Subramani).
Burunge: Looimoo: “owner who owns everything” (in the Burunge Bible translation, this term is only used as a reference to Jesus and was originally used to refer to the traditional highest deity — source: Michael Endl in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 48)
Yagaria: Souve, originally “war lord” (source: Renck, p. 94)
Aguacateco: Ajcaw ske’j: “the one to whom we belong and who is above us” (source: Rita Peterson in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 49)
Konkomba: Tidindaan: “He who is the owner of the land and reigns over the people” (source: Lidorio 2007, p. 66)
Chichewa: AmbuyeAmbuye comes from the singular form Mbuye which is used to refer to: (1) someone who is a guardian or protector of someone or group of people — a grandparent who has founded a community or village; (2) someone who is a boss or master over a group of people or servants and has absolute control over them; (3) owner of something, be it a property, animals and people who are bound under his/her rule — for people this was mostly commonly used in the context of slaves and their owner. In short, Mbuye is someone who has some authorities over those who call him/her their “Mbuye.” Now, when the form Ambuye is used it will either be for honorific when used for singular or plural when referring to more than one person. When this term is used in reference to God, it is for respect to God as he is acknowledged as a guardian, protector, and ruler of everything. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation).
Hdi uses rveri (“lion”) as a title of respect and as such it regularly translates adon in the Old Testament. As an address, it’s most often with a possessive pronoun as in rvera ɗa (“my lion” = “my lord” or “sir”). So, for example, Genesis 15:2 (“O Lord God”) is Rvera ɗa Yawe (“My lion Yahweh”) or Ruth to Boaz in Ruth 2:13: “May I find your grace [lit. good-stomach] my lion.” This ties in nicely with the imagery of the Lord roaring like a lion (Hosea 11:10; Amos 3:8; Joel 3:16). Better still, this makes passages like Revelation 5:5 even richer when we read about rveri ma taba məndəra la Yuda, “the Lion of the tribe of Judah”. In Revelation 19:16, Jesus is rveri ta ghəŋa rveriha “the lion above lions” (“lord of lords”). (Source: Drew Maust)
Law (2013, p. 97) writes about how the Ancient GreekSeptuagint‘s translation of the Hebrew adonai was used by the New Testament writers as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments: “Another case is the use of kurios referring to Jesus. For Yahweh (in English Bibles: ‘the Lord‘), the Septuagint uses kurios. Although the term kurios usually has to do with one’s authority over others, when the New Testament authors use this word from the Septuagint to refer to Jesus, they are making an extraordinary claim: Jesus of Nazareth is to be identified with Yahweh.”
With the money that Judas got for his evil act translates the ambiguous phrase “reward of wickedness.” It may mean money which is undeserved, or else it may mean money which is gotten for doing something evil. Most translations understand it in this latter sense. A field or a piece of land seems to be what Judas purchased with his money; that he would have been able to have purchased a farm or an estate, as some translations render it, seems quite unlikely. The word translated field is used elsewhere in 4.34; 5.3, 8; 28.7.
Although there is considerable doubt regarding the meaning of he fell to his death (this may mean “his body swelled up”; see Phillips, Moffatt, An American Translation*), the majority of translations reflect the same interpretation of the text as that given in the Good News Translation.
There is, of course, no way in which in the translation one can harmonize this description of events with the record in Matthew 27.6-8. The reconciliation of such accounts involves quite a different level of biblical scholarship from what is involved in the translator’s faithful rendering of what is said in this specific context.
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 .
It is difficult to determine if Peter spoke 1:18a–19c or if Luke wrote 1:18a–19c as extra information about Judas in the middle of Peter’s speech. The Greek does not use quote marks. There are two interpretations:
(1) It is not a part of Peter’s speech. Luke wrote 1:18a–19c as extra information. There should be a quote mark at the end of 1:17 to indicate that Luke interrupts Peter’s speech. For example:
17…he had been chosen to have a part in our work.”
(18With the money… (Good News Translation)
(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Good News Translation, New Revised Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, NET Bible, New Living Translation (2004), Revised English Bible, New Century Version, English Standard Version)
(2) It is a part of Peter’s speech. Peter continued speaking. There should not be a quote mark at the end of 1:17. For example:
17…and sharing our ministry. 18As you know, he bought… (New Jerusalem Bible)
(Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, King James Version, Contemporary English Version, God’s Word, New American Bible, Revised Edition)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because Peter would not need to explain this to his audience, because they probably knew about it already. Plus, Luke wrote “their” in 1:19b, but Peter would use “our.”
Since 1:18a–19c is extra information about Judas, many English versions put parentheses around these verses.
Some English versions also put these verses in a separate paragraph to help indicate that this information is not a part of Peter’s speech. Consider how to indicate 1:18a–19c as extra information about Judas.
1:18a
Now: Luke used the word Now to indicate a change from Peter’s speech to the extra information about Judas.
Another way some versions choose to show a change in the story in English is to avoid using a conjunction. Consider how to indicate a change in the story in your language.
with the reward for his wickedness Judas bought a field: The Greek is literally “This one acquired/bought a field out of a reward of unrighteousness.” The phrase “This one” probably implies a lack of respect for Judas.
Judas betrayed Jesus, and the priests gave money to Judas for doing that. That money was his reward. Later Judas threw the money into the temple area. The priests bought the field using Judas’s money. The priests probably used Judas’s name as the owner of the field since the money was his. Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness (New Revised Standard Version) -or-
This person/guy received a field from the money given to him for his unrighteous deed -or-
this man Judas acquired a field with the reward of his unjust deed (NET Bible)
Judas bought a field: Luke probably wrote Judas bought a field here to keep the focus on Judas rather than referring to the whole story about the money. You may want to explain in a footnote. Here is an example footnote:
The priests bought the field using Judas’s money (Matthew 27:5–7). So the field would belong to Judas. Luke probably wrote “Judas bought a field” because he was telling the story about Judas and wanted to keep it short and not tell that whole story.
1:18b
there he fell headlong: The word headlong indicates that Judas fell head first and probably face downward. The fact that his body burst open probably indicates that he fell from a height, rather than something like tripping as he walked. Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
Falling headfirst there (New Living Translation (2004)) -or-
where he fell headfirst to his death (God’s Word)
there: The Berean Standard Bible adds this word. The Greek probably implies that Judas died at that field.
all his intestines spilled out: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as intestines refers to all the organs in the area of the belly. For example:
all his internal organs came out (God’s Word) -or-
all his insides came out (Contemporary English Version) -or-
all his guts poured out
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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