synagogue, temple (inner), temple (outer)

In many English translations the Greek terms “hieron” (the whole “temple” in Jerusalem or specifically the outer courts open to worshippers) and “naos” (the inner “shrine” or “sanctuary”) are translated with only one word: “temple” (see also for instance “Tempel” in German [for exception see below] and “tempel” in Dutch, Danish, or Afrikaans).

Other languages make a distinction: (Click or tap here to see more)

  • Navajo (Dinė): “house in which worship is carried out” (for naos)
  • Balinese: “inner part of the Great Temple” (“the term ‘inner part’ denoting the hindmost and holiest of the two or three courts that temples on Bali usually possess”) vs. “Great Temple”
  • Telugu: “womb (i.e. interior)-of-the-abode” vs. “abode”
  • Thai: a term denoting the main audience hall of a Buddhist temple compound vs. “environs-of-the-main-audience-hall”
  • Kituba: “place of holiness of house-God Lord” vs. “house-God Lord”
  • Shipibo-Conibo: “deep in God’s house” vs. “God’s house” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • German das Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022): “inner court of the temple” (Tempelinnenhof) vs. “temple”

Languages that, like English, German, Dutch, Danish, or Afrikaans, don’t make that distinction include:

  • Mandarin Chinese: “聖殿 Shèng diàn” (“holy palace”)
  • Loma: “the holy place”
  • Pular: “the sacred house” (source for this and the one above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Zarma: “God’s compound”
  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “big church of the Jews”
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “big house on top (i.e. most important)”
  • Toraja-Sa’dan: “house that is looked upon as holy, that is sacred, that is taboo and where one may not set foot” (lit. “house where-the-belly-gets-swollen” — because taboo is violated — using a term that is also applied to a Muslim mosque) (source for this and the three above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Mairasi: Janav Enggwarjer Weso: “Great Above One’s (God’s) House” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Noongar: Maya-maya-Kooranyi: “Sacred House” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Huehuetla Tepehua: “the big church of the Israelites”
  • Aguaruna: “the house for talking to God” (source for this and above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
  • Guhu-Samane: “festival longhouse of God” (“The biiri, ‘festival longhouse’, being the religious and social center of the community, is a possible term for ‘temple’. It is not the ‘poro house’ as such. That would be too closely identified with the cult of poro. The physical features of the building, huge and sub-divided, lend it further favor for this consideration. By qualifying it as ‘God’s biiri’ the term has become meaningful and appropriate in the context of the Scriptures.”) (Source: Ernest Richert in The Bible Translator, 1965, p. 81ff. )
  • Enga: “God’s restricted access house” (source: Adam Boyd on his blog )

Another distinction that tends to be overlooked in translations is that between hieron (“temple” in English) and sunagógé (“synagogue” in English). Euan Fry (in The Bible Translator 1987, p. 213ff. ) reports on this:

“Many older translations have simply used transliterations of ‘temple’ and ‘synagogue’ rather than trying to find equivalent terms or meaningful expressions in their own languages. This approach does keep the two terms separate; but it makes the readers depend on explanations given by pastors or teachers for their understanding of the text.

“Translators who have tried to find meaningful equivalents, for the two terms ‘temple’ and ‘synagogue’ have usually made a distinction between them in one of two ways (which focus on the contrasting components of meaning). One way takes the size and importance of the Temple to make a contrast, so that expressions such as ‘sacred meeting/ worship house of the Jews’ and ‘big sacred meeting/worship house of the Jews’ are used. The other way focuses on the different nature of the religious activity at each of the places, so that expressions such as ‘meeting/worship house of the Jews’ and ‘sacrifice/ceremony place of the Jews’ are used.

“It is not my purpose in this article to discuss how to arrive at the most precise equivalent to cover all the components of meaning of ‘temple’. That is something that each translator really has to work through for himself in the light of the present usage and possibilities in his own language. My chief concern here is that the basic term or terms chosen for ‘temple’ should give the reader of a translation a clear and correct picture of the location referred to in each passage. And I am afraid that in many cases where an equivalent like ‘house of God’ or ‘worship house’ has been chosen, the readers have quite the wrong picture of what going to the Temple or being in the Temple means. (This may be the case for the word ‘temple’ in English too, for many readers.)”

Here are some examples:

  • Bambara: “house of God” (or: “big house of worship”) vs. “worship house” (or: “small houses of worship”)
  • Toraja-Sa’dan: “house where-the-belly-gets-swollen” (see above) vs. “meeting house for discussing matters concerning religious customs” (and “church” is “house where one meets on Sunday”)
  • Navajo (Dinė): “house in which worship is carried out” vs. “house of gathering” (source for all above: Bratcher / Nida)

    • Bangandu: “the great house of God” vs. “house of prayer” (Source: Ervais Fotso Noumsi in Le Sycomore, 16/1, 2022 )

Click or tap here to see a short video clip about Herod’s temple (source: Bible Lands 2012)

Click or tap here to see a short video clip showing synagogues in New Testament times (source: Bible Lands 2012)

See also this devotion on YouVersion .

complete verse (Acts 18:19)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 18:19:

  • Uma: “On their journey, they stopped-in at the town of Efesus, and Paulus entered the house of prayer and exchanged words with the Yahudi people gathered there. They requested of him that he be rather long with them, but he did not want to. However when he left, he said to them: ‘If God wants, I will come back here later.’ Priskila and Akwila stayed [emphatic] in Efesus, but Paulus continued his journey, boarding a ship going to the land of Siria.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “When they arrived at Epesus, Akila and Pirisila remained there to reside. But Paul just stopped-over. Paul went to the Yahudi prayer-house and he discussed there with the Yahudi.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “They arrived in the town of Ephesus, and Paul left Aquila and Priscilla. He went to the church of the Jews and he argued with them.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “When they stopped at Efeso, Pablo went to the synagogue and discussed-with the Jews. They persuaded (lit. hung-onto) him to stay-with (them) there, but Pablo refused. ‘If that’s what God wants, then I will return,’ he said. Then he left Aquila and Priscilla at Efeso, and he rode again in a ship.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “When they docked at Efeso, they went ashore. As for Pablo, he went to the worship-place of the Jews to teach them. When he sailed again, Aquila-and-wife stayed behind there in Efeso.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Acts 18:19 – 18:20

Ephesus was located near the mouth of the Cayster River. It was the capital of the Roman province of Asia and one of the most important commercial centers.

Paul left Priscilla and Aquila is literally “he left them,” but for the English reader it helps to make the pronominal references explicit. This reference to Paul leaving Priscilla and Aquila goes most naturally with the last clause of verse 21, and so he sailed from Ephesus. In fact, this is no doubt the intent. One must certainly not give the impression that Paul left Priscilla and Aquila on the boat going on to Syria while he stopped off in Ephesus. It is Priscilla and Aquila who remained in Ephesus and were able to instruct Apollos (see v. 24). The second clause of verse 19 may, however, be made more satisfactory by translating “where Paul later left Priscilla and Aquila.” This, then, makes it possible to combine this clause with the last clause of verse 21.

It is not clear who the subject of asked him is. Grammatically it would be the Jews, but it is difficult to imagine that they asked Paul to return to their synagogue if he had argued with them. Possibly Luke intends for the reader to understand that some of the persons in the synagogue were receptive, or at least not opposed, to the message of Paul, and these were the Jews who invited him back. Because of the obvious difficulties of relating they to the immediately preceding term Jews, it may be necessary to translate “some of them asked him to stay.” On the other hand, one may employ “the believers asked him to stay.”

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 18:19

18:19a–b

Paul parted ways with Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue there and reasoned with the Jews: The Greek words are literally “and he left them there and/but he himself, going into the synagogue, reasoned with the Jews.” This probably indicates that Paul left Priscilla and Aquila at the harbor while he went to the synagogue. It is not clear why they did not go in with him. Other ways to translate these words are:

He left them(dual) there ⌊at the harbor⌋ but he went alone to the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.

18:19a

When they reached Ephesus:
Ephesus was a very large and prosperous city.

Paul parted ways with Priscilla and Aquila: This clause tells the reader more about Ephesus. In some languages a literal translation would wrongly indicate that there are other cities named Ephesus and Paul parted ways with Priscilla and Aquila only in this one. If that is true in your language, translate this information in a way that tells more about Ephesus. One way to do that is to start a new sentence here. For example:

Paul left Priscilla and Aquila there.

Also see the note above on 18:19a–b.

18:19b

He himself went into the synagogue there: The pronoun is emphasized in the Greek. It probably indicates that he went into the synagogue alone. The Berean Standard Bible emphasizes the pronoun using himself.

reasoned with the Jews: The word reasoned indicates that Paul discussed the meaning of the Scriptures with the Jews. Other ways to translate this clause are:

held discussions with the Jews (Good News Translation)
-or-
debated with the Jews

See how you translated the word reasoned in 18:4.

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