unleavened bread

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “unleavened bread” in English is translated in various ways:

  • Chichimeca-Jonaz: “bread that doesn’t have its medicine that makes it puff up”
  • Teutila Cuicatec: “bread without its sour”
  • Tepeuxila Cuicatec: “bread that has no mother” (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
  • Mairasi: “bread without other ingredient” (source: Enggavoter 2004)

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Acts 20:6)

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 20:6)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 20:6:

  • Uma: “When the Yahudi big day called the Feast of Bread that was Not Leavened was past, we (excl.) boarded a ship and left the town of Filipi. And five nights after that, we (excl.) met again with our (excl.) companions in Troas, and we (excl.) stayed there a week in length.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “After the celebration of the Yahudi which they called the celebration of bread not mixed with leaven, we (excl.) sailed from Pilipi. After five days, we (excl.) arrived at our (excl.) companions there in Toroas. We (excl.) stayed there one week.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “We got on a ship there in the town of Philippi after the feast of eating the bread that has no yeast. Five days from then we caught up with them in Troas, and we stayed there for a week.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “When the fiesta was finished at-which-they -eat the bread that has no yeast, we (excl.) rode a ship to follow them. Five days going by, we then arrived-at our (excl.) companions in Troas. And we (excl.) spent-a-week there.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “We (excl.) would only follow on when the Fiesta of Bread Without Raising-agent had passed. Well, we (excl.) then sailed to follow after those he’d caused to go on ahead. We (excl.) sailed for five days and then arrived. We (excl.) were there for one week.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Isthmus Mixe: “These brethren went on ahead. They waited for us in the big town of Troas. Paul had met me, Luke, in the town of Philippi. We stayed there until the fiesta ended when they eat bread without yeast. Then we left the town of Philippi. Then we entered a boat at the seashore. After five days we caught up with the brethren in Troas. We were there seven days.” [combined with verse 20:5] (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)

Translation commentary on Acts 20:6

The same problem exists with we as with us in the preceding verse; but whatever conclusion one reaches, in both cases an exclusive form should be used, since this entire book of Acts is addressed to Theophilus, who obviously was not included in the group.

After the Feast of Unleavened Bread is taken by most commentators to indicate that Paul celebrated this festival with his friends at Philippi (on the Feast of Unleavened Bread see 12.3). But it is possible to understand this expression purely as a means of designating time (see 27.9).

Five days later (see also Jerusalem Bible) is an unusual expression (literally “until five days”), but the meaning is obvious, that is, “within a period of five days,” even though this implies relatively slow sailing.

Many translations have done as the Good News Translation has done, translating the expression “for seven days” by a week (Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, Phillips).

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 20:6

20:6a

And after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, we sailed from Philippi: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as And here indicates contrast. The seven men went ahead but Paul and the others waited in Philippi until the Feast of Unleavened Bread ended. This is why many English versions translate this word as “But.”

the Feast of Unleavened Bread: This phrase in Greek is literally “the days of the unleavened bread.” It refers to the Jewish feast where they ate unleavened bread. So the Berean Standard Bible translates the words “the days of” as the Feast of.

Over a thousand years before Jesus was born, God freed the Jews from slavery in Egypt. On the night before, he told them to bake unleavened bread so they could leave quickly. The purpose of the feast was to help the Jews remember this and thank God for what he had done for them.

Some possible ways to translate this are:

Feast of bread made without leaven/yeast
-or-
Feast of bread made without raising/expanding agent/stuff
-or-
Feast when people eat bread with no leaven/yeast

See how you translated this phrase in 12:3.

Unleavened Bread: This was a thin bread that people cooked without yeast or leaven. Yeast and leaven cause dough to expand.

If people in your area are not familiar with making dough rise, here are other ways to translate this phrase:

• Use a word or phrase that describes the leaven. For example:

bread without the thing that spreads to make bread rise/swell
-or-
bread without the thing that makes it expand

• Use the word or phrase from the national language and indicate its meaning. For example:

bread without leaven/yeast that makes bread swell

• Use the common language phrase. If people in your language are not familiar with this phrase, explain it in a footnote. An example footnote is:

Unleavened bread has no leaven. Leaven is something that spreads in flour dough and causes it to expand. After the dough expands, it is baked.

Philippi: See how you spelled this name in 16:12.

20:6b

five days later we rejoined them in Troas: This clause indicates that Paul, Luke, and probably other believers boarded a ship in Philippi. The ship took five days to cross the Aegean Sea and arrive at Troas. Other ways to translate this clause are:

⌊boarded a ship,⌋ ⌊crossed the sea,⌋ ⌊landed at⌋ Troas five days later, and joined the others there

20:6c

where we stayed seven days: This clause tells the reader more about Troas. In some languages a literal translation would wrongly indicate that there are other places named Troas, and Paul, Luke, and the others only stayed in this one. If that is true in your language, translate this information in a way that tells more about what Paul did in Troas. One way to do that is to start a new sentence here. For example:

We stayed there seven days.

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