κατηχήθησαν δὲ περὶ σοῦ ὅτι ἀποστασίαν διδάσκεις ἀπὸ Μωϋσέως τοὺς κατὰ τὰ ἔθνη πάντας Ἰουδαίους λέγων μὴ περιτέμνειν αὐτοὺς τὰ τέκνα μηδὲ τοῖς ἔθεσιν περιπατεῖν.
21They have been told about you that you teach all the Jews living among the gentiles to forsake Moses and that you tell them not to circumcise their children or observe the customs.
The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin that is often translated as “gentiles” (or “nations”) in English is often translated as a “local equivalent of ‘foreigners,'” such as “the people of other lands” (Guerrero Amuzgo), “people of other towns” (Tzeltal), “people of other languages” (San Miguel El Grande Mixtec), “strange peoples” (Navajo (Dinė)) (this and above, see Bratcher / Nida), “outsiders” (Ekari), “people of foreign lands” (Kannada), “non-Jews” (North Alaskan Inupiatun), “people being-in-darkness” (a figurative expression for people lacking cultural or religious insight) (Toraja-Sa’dan) (source for this and three above Reiling / Swellengrebel), “from different places all people” (Martu Wangka) (source: Carl Gross).
Tzeltal translates it as “people in all different towns,” Chicahuaxtla Triqui as “the people who live all over the world,” Highland Totonac as “all the outsider people,” Sayula Popoluca as “(people) in every land” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Chichimeca-Jonaz as “foreign people who are not Jews,” Sierra de Juárez Zapotec as “people of other nations” (source of this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), Highland Totonac as “outsider people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Uma as “people who are not the descendants of Israel” (source: Uma Back Translation), “other ethnic groups” (source: Newari Back Translation), and Yakan as “the other tribes” (source: Yakan Back Translation).
In Chichewa, it is translated with mitundu or “races.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
See also nations.
The Hebrew and Greek terms that are translated as “circumcise” or “circumcision” in English (originally meaning of English term: “to cut around”) are (back-) translated in various ways:
Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Circumcision .
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 21:21:
The name that is transliterated as “Moses” in English is signed in Spanish Sign Language and Polish Sign Language in accordance with the depiction of Moses in the famous statue by Michelangelo (see here ). (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. )
“Moses” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España
American Sign Language also uses the sign depicting the horns but also has a number of alternative signs (see here ).
In French Sign Language, a similar sign is used, but it is interpreted as “radiance” (see below) and it culminates in a sign for “10,” signifying the 10 commandments:
“Moses” in French Sign Language (source )
The horns that are visible in Michelangelo’s statue are based on a passage in the Latin Vulgate translation (and many Catholic Bible translations that were translated through the 1950ies with that version as the source text). Jerome, the translator, had worked from a Hebrew text without the niqquds, the diacritical marks that signify the vowels in Hebrew and had interpreted the term קרו (k-r-n) in Exodus 34:29 as קֶ֫רֶן — keren “horned,” rather than קָרַו — karan “radiance” (describing the radiance of Moses’ head as he descends from Mount Sinai).
In Swiss-German Sign Language it is translated with a sign depicting holding a staff. This refers to a number of times where Moses’s staff is used in the context of miracles, including the parting of the sea (see Exodus 14:16), striking of the rock for water (see Exodus 17:5 and following), or the battle with Amalek (see Exodus 17:9 and following).
“Moses” in Swiss-German Sign Language, source: DSGS-Lexikon biblischer Begriffe , © CGG Schweiz
In Vietnamese (Hanoi) Sign Language it is translated with the sign that depicts the eye make up he would have worn as the adopted son of an Egyptian princess. (Source: The Vietnamese Sign Language translation team, VSLBT)
“Moses” in Vietnamese Sign Language, source: SooSL
In Estonian Sign Language Moses is depicted with a big beard. (Source: Liina Paales in Folklore 47, 2011, p. 43ff. )
“Moses” in Estonian Sign Language, source: Glossary of the EKNK Toompea kogudus
For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .
Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Moses .
“Who are among the Gentiles” is a fairly literal rendering of Luke’s expression. Luke has reference to the Jews scattered outside of Judea, and who therefore live in Gentile countries (see New English Bible “in the gentile world”).
All commentators agree that by “Moses” (in the expression “you are teaching … apostasy from Moses”) Luke means the Law of Moses (see also Phillips). In the present context the Law of Moses refers not only to the command for the Jews to circumcise their children, but also has reference to the Jewish customs generally, some of which came later but which were also attributed by the Jews to Moses. Paul did not tell the Jews not to circumcise their children (see 16.3), and it seems unlikely that Paul was guilty of telling the Jews to give up their Jewish customs. What Paul did teach (and this we know both from Acts and from Paul’s own writings) is that one is not saved by circumcision or by living according to the Jewish customs. Evidently Paul’s opponents had taken some things that Paul had said, and after twisting them around, used them against Paul. The Lukan phrase “to walk in the customs” is taken by most commentators to mean follow the Jewish customs.
In languages which normally employ direct discourse in citing opinions or statements, there may be certain complications in the translation of this verse, since there are at least three levels of discourse: “The elders … [1] said to Paul…, People have spoken to them about you. They [2] say, You have been teaching all the Jews who live in Gentile countries, [3] saying, You should abandon the Law of Moses….”
The expression follow the Jewish customs may be rendered as “live as Jews traditionally have lived” or “do what Jews customarily do.”
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 .
21:21a–e
they are under the impression: Here the Jerusalem elders told Paul about the rumors about his teaching. The rumors were different than what Paul had actually been teaching.
In some languages the implied information will be clear. But in some languages the implied information must be explicit in your translation for the correct meaning. For example:
They had been ⌊wrongly⌋ informed
-or-
they have heard rumors that…
they: This refers to the Jewish believers of Judea mentioned in 21:20.
21:21b
all the Jews who live among the Gentiles: This phrase refers to Jewish believers who did not live in Judea. They lived in other countries among the non-Jewish peoples. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
all Jews living among the gentiles (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
all the Jews living among non-Jewish people (God’s Word)
-or-
the Jewish people who dwell as foreigners in the places/countries of the non-Jewish peoples
the Gentiles: See how you translated this phrase in 21:19.
21:21c
to forsake Moses: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as to forsake means “rebel” or “abandon.” Here it refers to rejecting or ignoring the law of Moses. Other ways to translate this clause are:
to disregard the Law of Moses (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
-or-
to abandon the Law of Moses (Good News Translation)
-or-
to turn their backs on the laws of Moses (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
they should stop keeping the law of Moses
Moses: Here the name Moses refers to the “law of Moses.” See the examples above.
21:21d–e
telling them not to circumcise their children or observe our customs: This clause gives two examples of “to turn away from Moses.” Other ways to translate this clause are:
in that you tell them not to circumcise…
-or-
They claim that you are telling them not to circumcise their sons or to follow our customs. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Specifically, you tell them not to circumcise…
circumcise: The word circumcise means to cut off the loose skin at the end of a boy’s or man’s penis. In the Jewish custom, a man who specialized in doing circumcision would perform this operation. For a newborn boy, the father himself might do it. Among the Jews, circumcision was an important custom that must be done for every male.
In some cultures, it is acceptable to use a word or phrase that means “cut off the loose skin at the end of a boy’s penis.” In other cultures, it is necessary to use a euphemism to describe this event. Some examples are:
cut the skin
-or-
mark ⌊the body to show he belongs to God⌋
-or-
receive the mark
In some cultures people do not circumcise babies, and in some cultures they do not circumcise males. In other cultures circumcision may be done for different reasons than Jewish circumcision. If that is true in your culture, you may want to include a footnote to explain the Jewish custom. An example footnote is:
Circumcision is the cutting off of the flap of skin at the end of the penis. Every male Jew was required to be circumcised. Circumcision was the sign that he was a member of the community with whom God had made the covenant with the Jews.
their children: Because only male children were circumcised, you could translate this as “their sons.”
our customs: This phrase refers to Jewish religious customs required by the law of Moses. Circumcision was one of these customs. It would include other practices and rituals associated with the law of Moses. As an alternative, the BDAG calls it the “way of life.” Other ways to translate this phrase are:
customary practices (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
rules for living ⌊that he/Moses gave to us⌋
General Comment on 21:21a–e
In some languages it will be more natural to use direct speech to report what people said Paul taught. For example, you might say:
They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles, “Turn away from Moses. Do not circumcise your children or live according to Jewish customs.”
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