Translation commentary on Acts 19:27

Although the word translated business and the phrase translated will get a bad name are both unusual when rendered in this fashion, most translators have rendered both of these terms similar to what the Good News Translation has done. Will get a bad name may be equivalent to “will be spoken against” or “people will speak against this business of ours.”

Will come to mean nothing may be equivalent to “people will no longer honor” or “people will no longer think that the temple of the great goddess Artemis is important.”

In many languages one can speak of destroying a person, or even a god, but one cannot “destroy greatness.” One can, however, say “she will no longer be great” or “people will no longer regard her as great.”

Archeologists have found evidence that the goddess Artemis was worshiped in at least thirty other places in the Eastern Mediterranean region so the statement that she was worshiped by everyone in Asia and in all the world (meaning, of course, the Roman Empire) is not an exaggeration.

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 19:27

19:27a

There is danger not only that our business will fall into disrepute: Demetrius was worried that three things he thought were bad might happen:

(a) his trade would lose its good name,

(b) people would discredit the temple of Artemis (19:27b),

(c) people would no longer consider the goddess to be divine and majestic (19:27c).

The phrase not only indicates that the workers should also be concerned about (b) and (c). See General Comment at 19:27c for other ways to translate this complex sentence.

There is danger…that our business will fall into disrepute: The Greek words are literally “This is a danger to us the business to come into disrepute.” The word “this” refers to what Paul was doing. Demetrius believed that Paul’s preaching and converting people to Christianity might cause the people of Ephesus to dislike the worshipers of Artemis and the making of small silver models of the temple of Artemis. Demetrius’ three reasons are given in this verse. Other ways to translate this clause are:

This threatens…to discredit our trade (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
His preaching is dangerous because people might start saying terrible things about our business
-or-
This preaching may cause people to say that our work is bad ⌊to do⌋

our business will fall into disrepute: This clause indicates that people would no longer respect the business of making things for worshiping Artemis. So people would also disrespect Demetrius and the other workers. Other ways to translate this clause are:

this trade of ours may come into disrepute (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
this business of ours will get a bad name (Good News Translation)
-or-
people will begin to say that our business is bad/shameful

19:27b

the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited: This clause is passive. Some languages must use an active clause. For example:

⌊people⌋ will discredit the temple of the great goddess Artemis

be discredited: This phrase in Greek is literally “be considered nothing.” It indicates that people would consider the temple to be unimportant or worthless. It implies that people would stop worshiping Artemis. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

be regarded as worthless (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
be scorned (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
reduce to unimportance (New Jerusalem Bible)

19:27c

her majesty deposed—she who is worshiped by all the province of Asia and the whole world: The clause who is worshiped by all the province of Asia and the whole world tells the reader more about the goddess. In some languages a literal translation would wrongly indicate that there are other goddesses named Artemis and only this one is worshiped throughout Asia. If that is true in your language, translate this information in a way that tells more about Artemis. One way to do that is to put it in a new sentence here. For example:

the goddess herself will be robbed of her divine majesty. It is she who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world.
-or-
the goddess herself will be robbed of her divine majesty. Indeed, she is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world!

majesty: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as majesty means “grandeur,” “importance,” or “greatness.” People considered Artemis to be a great and important goddess. Her temple and statue were very beautiful. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

magnificence (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
prestige (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
praiseworthiness

deposed: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as deposed is literally “suffer the loss of.” It indicates that the majesty of Artemis would vanish. It implies that people would no longer honor her. Other ways to translate this Greek word are:

be destroyed (Good News Translation)
-or-
come to nothing
-or-
dissipate/disappear

is worshiped by all the province of Asia and the whole world: Demetrius exaggerated to emphasize that many people worshiped Artemis. In some languages a literal translation would wrongly indicate that people everywhere worshiped Artemis. If that is true in your language, indicate a wide area. For example:

is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and ⌊very⌋ many other places

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