Chios

The name that is transliterated as “Chios” in English is translated in Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) with the sign for “covered in snow” (the name means “snow” and a white-blossomed tree covers the island with its white petals every year). (Source: Missão Kophós )


“Chios” in Libras (source )

More information under Chios .

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

Samos

The name that is transliterated as “Samos” in English is translated in Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) with a sign that refers to the geographical shape of the region and “sandy slope” (an interpretation of the meaning of the name). (Source: Missão Kophós )


“Samos” in Libras (source )

More information under Samos .

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Acts 20:15)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, translators typically select the exclusive form (excluding the addressee).

Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.

complete verse (Acts 20:15)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 20:15:

  • Uma: “From there, we (excl.) continued on, and the next day arrived at the land that was across from the island of Khios. The next day we (excl.) arrived at the island of Samos, and the next day arrived in the town of Miletus.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “We (excl.) sailed again from there and the following day we arrived there near Kiyos. The next day we stopped-briefly at Samos and on the second day, we arrived at Miletus.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Paul decided that we would pass by the town of Ephesus so that we would not have to spend a long time in the province of Asia. Paul was in a hurry because he wanted to arrive in the town of Jerusalem before the day of Pentecost. We left Mitylene and one night later we passed by the island of Chios, and one night later we passed by the island of Samos, and one night later than that we came into the town of Miletus.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “The next-day then, we (excl.) set-out from there, and we (excl.) passed-by Kios. On the second day, we stopped-by at Samos, and on the third then, we went-directly to Miletus.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “We(excl.) left there, and next day arrived opposite Chios. Next day, Samos is where we (excl.) came to. On the fourth day, we (excl.) arrived at Mileto.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Acts 20:15

Although the root meaning of the verb rendered arrived means “to pass by,” it may also have the meaning of “to cross over to,” and therefore “to arrive.” In any case, most translators understand the meaning of the verb in its present context to be “arrived.”

Chios is one of the larger Aegean islands off the coast of Asia; it was a free state under the Roman administration.

The route taken by the ship was the most natural to follow; to have gone by Ephesus would have required extra sailing time and distance. Samos was also one of the larger Aegean islands, and, like Chios, it was a free state. It lay slightly south of Ephesus. Evidently it was felt that to sail directly from Chios to Miletus was too long a journey, and therefore the trip was broken by a stop at Samos. Miletus was a town located about 30 miles south of Ephesus.

In place of the reading and the following day some manuscripts read “and after stopping at Trogyllium, the following day” (see Jerusalem Bible; Revised Standard Version note, New English Bible alternative reading). The committee preparing the UBS text did not include this in its apparatus. The apparent reason for its inclusion in some ancient manuscripts is that the trip from Samos to Miletus would have been regarded as being too long for a single day.

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 20:15

20:15a

Sailing on from there, we arrived the next day: Paul and the others spent the night at Mitylene. Then they got on a ship heading south toward Chios.

opposite Chios: There are two ways to interpret the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as opposite:

(1) It means across from. The ship was near the mainland and the people on the ship could see Chios across the sea/channel. For example, see the Berean Standard Bible.

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

(2) It means near. The ship approached Chios but remained some distance away. For example:

approached the island of Chios (God’s Word)

(New International Version, Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, NET Bible, Revised English Bible, New Century Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because that is the usual meaning of the Greek word.

Chios: Chios is an island south of the island of Lesbos. This island is about 54 kilometers (about 34 miles) from north to south. It is narrower east to west. It is only about five miles from the mainland.

This name is spelled Chios in the Greek language. (The Greek sound spelled ‘ch’ here is similar to a ‘k’ but without making the air stop in the mouth.) A few English versions spell this word “Kios.”

20:15b

we arrived at: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as arrived at means “to sail from one shore to another.” For this ship coming from the north, sailing to Samos meant crossing 20–30 kilometers (12–19 miles) of open sea. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

crossed (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
sailed/went across

The ship probably stopped at Samos for the night.

Samos:
This name refers to both an island and a city on that island. It is southeast of the island of Chios. The island is about 45 kilometers (about 28 miles) across east to west and 20 kilometers (12 miles) north to south. The city is the northeast part of the island. The southeastern part of the island is 1.4 kilometers (0.9 miles) from the mainland.

20:15c

we came to Miletus: The pronoun we is implied from 20:15b.

Paul and the others probably stayed an extra day or several days in Miletus. The road at that time had to go around what is now Lake Bafa. So a trip to Ephesus was probably about 80 kilometers (50 miles) long.

Miletus: Miletus was a city on the coast of the province of Asia. It was about 48 kilometers (about 30 miles) south of the city of Ephesus.

© 2001, 2021 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.