Jesus Ascended to Heaven

Painting by Wang Suda 王肅達 (1910-1963),
Copyright by the Catholic University Peking, China

Text under painting translated from Literary Chinese into English:
Jesus Ascended to Heaven
The Lord returned to Heaven and was seated at the right hand of Father

Image taken from Chinese Christian Posters . For more information on the “Ars Sacra Pekinensis” school of art, see this article , for other artworks of that school in TIPs, see here.

Following is a painting (“Ascension”) by Kim Ki-chang (1913-2001):

Kim Ki-chang (pen name: Unbo) had been deaf and partially mute since the age of 7. He painted a series of 30 paintings for the “Life of Christ” cycle in 1952 during the Korean War. Kim portrayed Jesus as a seonbi / 선비, or a Joseon Period (1392-1910) gentleman scholar, wearing a gat / 갓 (hat) and dopo / 도포 (robe). For other images of Kim Ki-chang art works in TIPs, see here.

The following is a church window based on an of Annie Vallotton. This is installed in a church of the Union des Églises Baptistes du Cameroun in Mowo (Mokong), Cameroon.

Photo and the following description by Ken Hollingsworth

“The windows are open with no screens or glass. The pictures were fabricated by projecting the picture using an overhead projector on a piece of plywood. They were drawn on the plywood with charcoal. Then the fabricator cut pieces of iron rebar to make the picture. Then the iron pieces were welded together. Later, when the pictures were installed, they were painted with different colors to help the people ‘see’ the picture.”

complete verse (Acts 1:9)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 1:9:

  • Uma: “After speaking like that, he was lifted-up-and-up going to the sky. They gazed-up gazing-up at him, until they could no longer see him, because he was obscured by clouds.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “After he had said this, he ascended to heaven while they were looking at him. Then he was covered/hidden by a cloud and they could not see him anymore.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And when Jesus had spoken this he was lifted up going to heaven, and while they were still looking up because they were watching his being lifted up, a cloud blocked Jesus, and he was removed from their seeing. And while they were still looking up into heaven, nearby them there appeared to them two males whose clothing glowed.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Upon Jesus’ saying that, he was-raised to heaven and they were-looking-up-at-him until he was hidden by a cloud.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “When he had said all that, as they looked, he was going up till they lost sight of him for he was veiled in cloud.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Acts 1:9

The order of grammatical elements in the Greek must often be shifted to represent the order of events, as in the Good News Translation. That is to say, first, Jesus finishes speaking; second, he is taken up into heaven; third, the disciples watch; and, fourth, the cloud hides him.

The phrase after saying this may be rendered in many languages as “first he said” or “he finished speaking and then.” This makes the reference to the speaking relate to the previous statement.

The passive expression was taken up may require a subject, which should be God; that is, “God took him up to heaven.” However, it is important that one not get the impression that God grabbed him by the head and hauled him into heaven—as in the case of one translation. Therefore, in some languages it may be better to translate “God caused him to go to heaven.” (See also 1.2a.)

The verb watch so often occurs in a continuative form, thus focusing upon the duration of the process. A cloud hid him from their sight translates “a cloud took him up out of their sight.” In a number of languages the phrase “a cloud hid him” causes some difficulty, since a “cloud” is essentially an instrument, not an agent. Therefore, one may prefer to employ “he was hidden by a cloud” or “he was no longer visible because of a cloud.” If the verb hid suggests some intentionality on the part of the cloud, one may employ “because of the cloud he could not be seen” or “… they could not see him.”

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 1:9

1:9a

After He had said this, they watched as He was taken up: The clause After He had said this indicates that Jesus spoke the words in 1:7–8, then he was taken up to heaven. For example:

When he had finished saying this, he was taken upward as they watched
-or-
He finished speaking and immediately he was taken up before their very eyes

He was taken up: This phrase is passive. Here are some ways to translate it:

• Use a passive verb. For example:

he was lifted up (Revised Standard Version)

• Use an active verb. God took Jesus to heaven, but God was not visible. For example:

⌊God⌋ took him up
-or-

⌊God⌋ caused him to rise into the sky

up: The apostles saw Jesus go as far as the clouds in the sky above them. In some languages a literal translation would only indicate a little way up. If that is true in your language, include the implied information. For example:

up ⌊toward heaven⌋

1:9b

a cloud hid Him from their sight: There are three ways to interpret the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as hid:

(1) It means support from underneath and take upward. For example:

a cloud took him out of their sight (Revised Standard Version)

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

(2) It means hide. For example:

a cloud hid him from their sight (NET Bible)

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Good News Translation, New Living Translation (2004), God’s Word, NET Bible, New Century Version)

(3) It means bring into itself. For example:

a cloud received Him out of their sight (New American Standard Bible)

(New American Standard Bible, Contemporary English Version, King James Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because the other two interpretations are not supported by the Greek lexicons. Here are some other ways to translate this clause according to interpretation (1):

a cloud ⌊formed and⌋ continued taking him up so that they could no longer see him
-or-
a cloud ⌊formed and⌋ took him so high that they could no longer see him

from their sight: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as sight is literally “eyes.” The phrase probably indicates that Jesus rose until he was too far up to see. The cloud could have also blocked their view at some point in this journey upward. See the above examples.

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