Paul (icon)

Following is a Georgian Orthodox icon of Paul the Apostle from the 14th century (located in the Art Museum of Georgia, Tbilisi).

Orthodox Icons are not drawings or creations of imagination. They are in fact writings of things not of this world. Icons can represent our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. They can also represent the Holy Trinity, Angels, the Heavenly hosts, and even events. Orthodox icons, unlike Western pictures, change the perspective and form of the image so that it is not naturalistic. This is done so that we can look beyond appearances of the world, and instead look to the spiritual truth of the holy person or event. (Source )

See also Paul.

Paul

The term that is transliterated as “Paul” in English is translated in American Sign Language with a sign that signifies the many letters he wrote. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“Paul” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

In Spanish Sign Language it is translated with a sign depicting putting away a sword, referring to his conversion from a persecutor of Christians to a Christian leader. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)


“Paul (and Saul)” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

Click or tap here to see a short video clip about Paul (source: Bible Lands 2012)

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

See also Paul (icon).

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Paul .

complete verse (Acts 17:5)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 17:5:

  • Uma: “But the Yahudi people who did not believe were jealous of Paulus and Silas. That is why they incited the wicked people who were being-lazy in the town. When many had gathered, they walked along making a disturbance in the town. In this walk of theirs, they arrived at Yason’s house, because that was the dwelling-place of Paulus and Silas. They entered that house, intending to grab and carry them before the masses.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But the other Yahudi were jealous, so they called some bad (dupang) people from the streets and gathered them and-then they caused an uproar in that city. They attacked the house of Jason for the purpose of searching for Paul and Silas so that they would bring them out to the people.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Then the Jews were jealous of Paul and company, and they gathered together many lazy people without value, and they ran through all the town causing rioting. They went to the house of Jason because they were going to force their way in to get Paul and Silas so that they might take them to the people.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Whereupon the Jews who didn’t believe were jealous, and they gathered some trouble-makers who just stood-around-loafing to make-a-racket until all the inhabitants were in-a-state-of-disorder. Then they went and forced the door of Jason’s house where-plural Pablo -were-staying, in order to bring-them -outside koma to take (them) to the meeting-place of the many-people.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But as for the other Jews, they emph. got jealous. What they did was, they rounded up some people who were badly-behaved and lazy. When there were now many of them, they then troubled the city. Then they went to the house of Jason for they mistakenly-thought that that’s where Pablo-and-co were. The motive in their mind was to get them and put them in the presence of the crowd.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Acts 17:5

In some languages there is no term for jealous which covers this particular area of meaning. Therefore one may have to describe the basis for their feeling—for example, “the Jews were angry that so many people joined with Paul and Silas.”

Loafers from the streets is literally “men of the market place.” Commentators agree that this expression is used in a bad sense, referring either to persons who were “lazy” or to “trouble makers.” The Good News Translation has taken this term in combination with the word worthless (literally “evil”), and renders the whole phrase worthless loafers from the streets. Formed a mob (see An American Translation*, Moffatt, Barclay) appears much more in keeping with the context than the more generic statement “gathered a crowd” (Phillips). In some languages a mob is rendered as “noisy crowd” or “angry crowd.”

The subject they of the second part of verse 5 must include not only the worthless loafers but also the Jews who had formed them into a mob. In some languages this must be specified as “the Jews and the rest of the mob.” Otherwise it may imply that only the worthless loafers … attacked the home of Jason.

Set the whole city in an uproar is equivalent to “caused a riot.” In some languages this is simply “made a lot of noise” or “caused much angry noise.”

It is necessary in some languages to specify the particular way in which the home of Jason was attacked. Most languages have a number of words for attacking a person, but not so many for attacking a house. One can say “they threw rocks on the house,” but under the circumstances it is probably better to say “they broke down the doors of the house,” since this was apparently what happened in their attempt to find Paul and Silas and to bring them out to the people.

Jason was a common name in Greek and was often used by Jews in place of the more Jewish sounding “Joshua.” Nothing further is known about Jason; he may have been a believer, or he may have been the person for whom Paul was working in the city. The phrase to the people may refer either to the mob that had been gathered or to “the town assembly” (New English Bible; see Jerusalem Bible “People’s Assembly”), by which is meant the citizens assembled for judicial purposes. This same phrase is translated to the people in 12.21.

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Acts 17:5

Paragraph 17:5–9

17:5a

The Jews: This refers to Jews in Thessalonica who were not persuaded by Paul and Silas. Some or many of them now opposed Paul and Silas. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

some Jews (Good News Translation)
-or-
other Jews

became jealous: This indicates that the other Jews were upset because Paul and Silas were persuading people who were associating with the Jews to start to associate with Paul and Silas. Greeks who were interested but not fully committed to the Jewish religion were now fully committed to following Jesus as the Christ. This upset the Jews and they perhaps wished that they could convert people like Paul and Silas were doing. Other ways to translate jealous are:

full of resentment (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
moved with envy (King James Version)
-or-
resented that
-or-
were jealous ⌊that Paul and Silas were taking people away from them⌋
-or-
coveted ⌊Paul and Silas’s success⌋

17:5b

some troublemakers from the marketplace: This phrase in Greek is literally “evil men of the market people.” The marketplace was usually crowded with all kinds of people. The Jews knew which ones were troublemakers and which ones would do evil deeds for money. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

some bad characters from the marketplace (New International Version)
-or-
worthless men from the rabble in the marketplace (NET Bible)

the marketplace: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as marketplace was a public area where people gathered for many activities, including buying and selling, or even to be idle. See how you translated this word in 16:19.

17:5c

formed a mob: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as formed a mob refers to gathering people into a crowd. For example:

they gathered a crowd (Revised Standard Version)

This crowd was full of troublemakers, so the Berean Standard Bible translates the Greek word as formed a mob.

sent the city into an uproar: This clause in Greek is literally “they were causing an uproar in the city.” The troublemakers caused many other people to become angry, shout angrily, and perhaps do something bad. Other ways to translate this clause are:

set the city in an uproar (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
caused people to riot in the city

17:5d–8

The pronoun “they” is used several times in 17:5d–8 when a group did something: “They raided” (17:5d), “they could not find…, they dragged” (17:6a), “shouting” (17:6b), and “they greatly disturbed the crowd and city officials” (17:8b, literal Greek structure, see note there).

Probably the Jews (17:5a) did all these deeds and led the mob in doing these deeds. The words of 17:6c–7c are similar to other verses where the Jews complained about Christians.

17:5d

They raided Jason’s house: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as raided refers to entering into something. Here it probably implies that the mob forced their way into Jason’s house, because 17:6 indicates that they did not find Paul and Silas there. The Good News Translation says:

and attacked the home of a man named Jason (Good News Translation)

But the mob was not trying to destroy the house. Other ways to translate this clause are:

they went straight to Jason’s home (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
they went to Jason’s house and forced their way in

They: Here this pronoun probably refers to the Jews leading the mob and the bad characters from the marketplace.

in search of Paul and Silas: This implies that the mob expected Paul and Silas to be in Jason’s house.

17:5e

the people: There are several ways to interpret the Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the people:

(1) It means an assembly of citizens responsible for justice in the city. For example:

the People’s Assembly (New Jerusalem Bible)

(New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition, Revised English Bible)

(2) It means a crowd. Here it refers to the crowd that was outside of Jason’s house. For example:

the mob (Contemporary English Version)

(New International Version, New Living Translation (2004), God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, Revised English Bible)

(3) It refers generally to the people of the city. For example:

the people (Revised Standard Version)

(Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New American Standard Bible, English Standard Version, New Century Version, King James Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because they took Jason and other believers to the city officials when they did not find Paul and Silas. Also, the Greek word is not the usual Greek word that Luke used for the meaning of “crowd.”

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