23with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers and sisters of gentile origin in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings.
San Blas Kuna: “witnesses to God” (meaning “those who speak up and out for God” (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida, except Balanta-Kentohe: Rob Koops)
Mairasi: sasiri atatuemnev nesovnaa or “sent witnesses” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
Khmer: Christtout (“messenger representing Christ”) or when Jesus addresses them: Tout robas Preah Ang (“his messengers-representatives”) (source: Joseph Hong in The Bible Translator 1996, p. 233ff. )
Pwo Karen: “eyeballs” (i.e., “right-hand men”) (source: David Clark)
Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “one who goes about preaching the good word” (source for this and above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
Noongar: Moorta Ngany Waangki-Koorl or “People I (Jesus) Send” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Ayutla Mixtec: “those who bore the word of God’s mouth”
Chichimeca-Jonaz: “elders messengers” (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Yakan: “commissioned ones” (source: Yakan Back Translation) — note that Scot McKnight in the EnglishThe Second Testament (publ. 2023) translates it as commissioners
Tenango Otomi: “(Jesus’) representatives” (source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Tsamakko: “ones-who-work-for-Christ” (source: Chris Pluger)
Scot McKnight (in The Second Testament, publ. 2023) translates it into English as commissioner.
In American Sign Language it is translated with a combination of the signs for “following” plus the sign for “authority” to differentiate it from disciple. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“apostles” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
The Greek that is translated as “elder” in most English versions (“presbyter” in The Orthodox New Testament, 2000) is translated as “Old-Man Leader” in Eastern Highland Otomi (source: John Beekman in Notes on Translation November 1964, p. 1-22) and in Bacama as mi kpan-kpani vɨnə hiutə: “big/old person of house of prayer” (source: David Frank in this blog post ).
Other translations include:
“person who commands among the people of Jesus” in Lalana Chinantec
“supervisor of the creed” in Guhu-Samane (source for this and three above: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation July, 1967, p. 5ff.)
“older person” with an implication of that being a leader-like person in Matumbi (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
“person who has taken on responsibilities in the congregation” in German (das Buch translation by Roland Werner, publ. 2009-2022)
The German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) chooses for the occurrences in Revelation the translation of Würdenträger or “dignitary.” Elsewhere (for instance in 1 Peter 5:1) it has “elders, your congregational leadership.”
The name that is transliterated as “Cilicia” in English is translated in Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) with a sign that depicts a natural wall just behind the seashore, which existed in that area. (Source: Missão Kophós )
The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin that is often translated as “gentiles” (or “nations”) in English is often translated as a “local equivalent of ‘foreigners,'” such as “the people of other lands” (Guerrero Amuzgo), “people of other towns” (Tzeltal), “people of other languages” (San Miguel El Grande Mixtec), “strange peoples” (Navajo (Dinė)) (this and above, see Bratcher / Nida), “outsiders” (Ekari), “people of foreign lands” (Kannada), “non-Jews” (North Alaskan Inupiatun), “people being-in-darkness” (a figurative expression for people lacking cultural or religious insight) (Toraja-Sa’dan) (source for this and three above Reiling / Swellengrebel), “from different places all people” (Martu Wangka) (source: Carl Gross).
Tzeltal translates it as “people in all different towns,” Chicahuaxtla Triqui as “the people who live all over the world,” Highland Totonac as “all the outsider people,” Sayula Popoluca as “(people) in every land” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Chichimeca-Jonaz as “foreign people who are not Jews,” Sierra de Juárez Zapotec as “people of other nations” (source of this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), Highland Totonac as “outsider people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Uma as “people who are not the descendants of Israel” (source: Uma Back Translation), “other ethnic groups” (source: Newari Back Translation), and Yakan as “the other tribes” (source: Yakan Back Translation).
In Chichewa, it is translated with mitundu or “races.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
The Greek that is translated in English as “brother” or “brother and sister” (in the sense of fellow believers), is translated with a specifically coined word in Kachin: “There are two terms for brother in Kachin. One is used to refer to a Christian brother. This term combines ‘older and younger brother.’ The other term is used specifically for addressing siblings. When one uses this term, one must specify if the older or younger person is involved. A parallel system exists for ‘sister’ as well. In [these verses], the term for ‘a Christian brother’ is used.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae)
In Matumbi is is translated as alongo aumini or “relative-believer.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
In Martu Wangka it is translated as “relative” (this is also the term that is used for “follower.”) (Source: Carl Gross)
In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is often translated as Mitchristen or “fellow Christians.”
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 15:23:
Uma: “After that the apostles of the Lord Yesus wrote the decision of their discussion in a letter, and they turned it over to Silas and Yudas to take to Antiokhia. Its sound was like this: ‘We(excl.) the apostles of the Lord Yesus and the elders of the Kristen people here who are-your-relatives in the Lord Yesus, send this letter to relatives who are not Yahudi people who are in the town of Antiokhia, in the land of Siria and Kilikia. Many greetings!” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “They sent a letter and this is what it said in the letter: ‘This letter is from your brothers here in Awrusalam, the commissioned ones and the elders. We (excl.) are sending this to all of you our (excl.) brothers from other tribes, who are residing there in Antiyok, in Siriya, and in Kilikiya.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And they sent by them the letter which says: ‘We, your brothers who are apostles and elders of the believers of the Jews here, we greet all of you who are Gentiles who are our brethren in the faith there in Antioch and Syria and Silicia.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “This is the letter they had-carried to them: ‘We (excl.) who are your brothers who are apostles and leaders here in Jerusalem, we (excl.) write this to you Gentiles who believe there in Antiok, Syria and Cilicia.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Their letter which was sent with those who went said, ‘Siblings in believing who aren’t Jews there in Antioquia and other places in the districts of Siria and Cilicia, there with you is our (excl.) letter. We(excl.) apostles and overseers of the believers here in Jerusalem greet you there.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
They sent the following letter by them translates the Greek expression “having written through their hands,” which might appear to mean that “they (the apostles and the elders) wrote letters by them (the messengers)” (King James Version). However, most commentators agree that what is meant is that the apostles and elders wrote the letter and sent it by the messengers. In some languages it may be necessary to translate this introductory clause as “They sent the following letter to the believers in Antioch. They caused Judas and Silas to carry the letter.”
“Brothers,” which appears in the Greek without the possessive “your,” is taken by almost all scholars to refer back to the apostles and the elders, and so is translated your brothers (so also Jerusalem Bible). It is interesting to note that the introductory formula “so-and-so send their greetings to so-and-so,” and the concluding expression Good-bye (v. 29), are precisely the forms that were used by letter writers of the first century A.D. In many languages it is necessary to introduce the first person plural pronoun in this introductory sentence; therefore, “we the apostles and elders, your brothers, send our greetings.” The expression brothers of Gentile birth would be “fellow believers who are Gentiles” or, as in some languages, “fellow believers who are not Jews.”
It may be useful and even necessary to distinguish between Antioch as a town and Syria and Cilicia as regions; therefore, “in the city of Antioch and in the provinces of Syria and Cilicia.”
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 .
and sent them with this letter: The Greek is literally “having written by their hand.” The pronoun “their” probably refers to the apostles and elders. The phrase “by their hand” emphasizes that the apostles and elders wrote the letter that begins in 15:23b. Other ways to translate this are:
They wrote a letter that said: (Contemporary English Version) -or-
They wrote this letter for them to deliver: (God’s Word) -or-
The apostles and elders wrote this:
15:23b–c
The apostles and the elders, your brothers, To the brothers among the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings: This was the usual way to begin a letter in Greek. First the people writing introduced themselves. Then they said to whom they were writing. Then they had a short greeting. Many languages use a different style. The Good News Translation adds the pronoun “we” and translates Greetings as a verb for more natural English:
We, the apostles and the elders, your brothers, send greetings to all our brothers of Gentile birth who live in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. (Good News Translation)
15:23b
The apostles and the elders, your brothers:
The Greek is literally “the apostles and the elders, brothers.” The word brothers probably describes both the apostles and the elders. The Berean Standard Bible makes this clear with the comma and adding the pronoun your. For example:
The brothers, both the apostles and the elders (New Revised Standard Version)
the elders: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as elders means “old men.” Here this word refers to men who were respected leaders. See how you translated this word in 15:2.
your brothers: The apostles and elders in Jerusalem described themselves as brothers of the Gentile believers. In this way they showed that they and the Gentile believers were all God’s children. In some languages it is necessary or more natural to describe them as brothers in a separate clause. If this is true in your language, an example is:
⌊and we are⌋ your brothers
brothers: Here the word brothers refers to believers in Jesus, both men and women. The word indicates a close relationship because all believers become children of God. See how you translated this word in 15:1.
15:23c
To the brothers among the Gentiles: This new sentence begins without a subject or verb. In some languages it is necessary or more natural to add a subject and verb. If this is true in your language, do so. For example:
⌊We write⌋ to the Gentile believers
the brothers among the Gentiles: The Greek is literally “brothers, those of the Gentiles.” This emphasizes the word brothers. The apostles and elders clearly indicated that they considered the Gentile believers to be their brothers and sisters through faith in Jesus. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
the brothers who are Gentiles -or-
our brothers of Gentile birth (Good News Translation) -or-
In our(incl) faith, we are ⌊like⌋ brothers to you Gentiles -or-
We are ⌊like⌋ brothers to you Gentiles because we also believe in Jesus
in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as in is literally “throughout.” It indicates that the letter was for Gentile believers living in all parts of the provinces of Syria and Cilicia.
Antioch: The city of Antioch was in the province of Syria (the Romans had conquered Syria earlier and ruled it at that time).
Syria, and Cilicia: Both of these names refer to land that were at that time Roman provinces.
Greetings: The Greek word here is literally “to rejoice.” People at that time used this word as a greeting to begin a letter. Other ways to translate this word are:
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