26Then Paul took the men, and the next day, having purified himself, he entered the temple with them, making public the completion of the days of purification when the sacrifice would be made for each of them.
The Greek terms that are translated uniformly as “sacrifice” or “offering” in English have the option of various terms in Luang with different shades of meaning.
For Acts 24:17, himima-rere’a (“holding two hands out”). “The focus of this term is on the gift being given by a person of lower position to a person of higher position.”
For Acts 21:26, hniurliwtu-nwali odawa (“pour out sweat [and] turn into sweaty smell”). “The focus is on the personal cost of the sacrifice.”
For Gen. 22:2-8 and Gen. 22:13, hopopa-hegeuru (“peace sign”). “The focus is on the animal or object being sacrificed, as in the story of the sacrifice of Isaac. This term was used throughout that whole chapter. This term is also used in verses that speak of Jesus as the sacrifice for our sins.”
For Acts 15:29, hoi-tani (“serve with right hand – serve with left”). “This term is used in referring to sacrifices or worship offered to idols or pagan gods.”
Source: Kathy Taber in Notes on Translation 1/1999, p. 9-16.
Orthodox Icons are not drawings or creations of imagination. They are in fact writings of things not of this world. Icons can represent our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. They can also represent the Holy Trinity, Angels, the Heavenly hosts, and even events. Orthodox icons, unlike Western pictures, change the perspective and form of the image so that it is not naturalistic. This is done so that we can look beyond appearances of the world, and instead look to the spiritual truth of the holy person or event. (Source )
The term that is transliterated as “Paul” in English is translated in American Sign Language with a sign that signifies the many letters he wrote. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Paul” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
In Spanish Sign Language it is translated with a sign depicting putting away a sword, referring to his conversion from a persecutor of Christians to a Christian leader. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
In many English translations the Greek terms “hieron” (the whole “temple” in Jerusalem or specifically the outer courts open to worshippers) and “naos” (the inner “shrine” or “sanctuary”) are translated with only one word: “temple” (see also for instance “Tempel” in German [for exception see below] and “tempel” in Dutch, Danish, or Afrikaans).
Other languages make a distinction: (Click or tap here to see more)
Navajo (Dinė): “house in which worship is carried out” (for naos)
Balinese: “inner part of the Great Temple” (“the term ‘inner part’ denoting the hindmost and holiest of the two or three courts that temples on Bali usually possess”) vs. “Great Temple”
Telugu: “womb (i.e. interior)-of-the-abode” vs. “abode”
Thai: a term denoting the main audience hall of a Buddhist temple compound vs. “environs-of-the-main-audience-hall”
Kituba: “place of holiness of house-God Lord” vs. “house-God Lord”
Shipibo-Conibo: “deep in God’s house” vs. “God’s house” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Germandas Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022): “inner court of the temple” (Tempelinnenhof) vs. “temple”
Languages that, like English, German, Dutch, Danish, or Afrikaans, don’t make that distinction include:
Toraja-Sa’dan: “house that is looked upon as holy, that is sacred, that is taboo and where one may not set foot” (lit. “house where-the-belly-gets-swollen” — because taboo is violated — using a term that is also applied to a Muslim mosque) (source for this and the three above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Aguaruna: “the house for talking to God” (source for this and above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
Guhu-Samane: “festival longhouse of God” (“The biiri, ‘festival longhouse’, being the religious and social center of the community, is a possible term for ‘temple’. It is not the ‘poro house’ as such. That would be too closely identified with the cult of poro. The physical features of the building, huge and sub-divided, lend it further favor for this consideration. By qualifying it as ‘God’s biiri’ the term has become meaningful and appropriate in the context of the Scriptures.”) (Source: Ernest Richert in The Bible Translator, 1965, p. 81ff. )
Enga: “God’s restricted access house” (source: Adam Boyd on his blog )
Another distinction that tends to be overlooked in translations is that between hieron (“temple” in English) and sunagógé (“synagogue” in English). Euan Fry (in The Bible Translator 1987, p. 213ff. ) reports on this:
“Many older translations have simply used transliterations of ‘temple’ and ‘synagogue’ rather than trying to find equivalent terms or meaningful expressions in their own languages. This approach does keep the two terms separate; but it makes the readers depend on explanations given by pastors or teachers for their understanding of the text.
“Translators who have tried to find meaningful equivalents, for the two terms ‘temple’ and ‘synagogue’ have usually made a distinction between them in one of two ways (which focus on the contrasting components of meaning). One way takes the size and importance of the Temple to make a contrast, so that expressions such as ‘sacred meeting/ worship house of the Jews’ and ‘big sacred meeting/worship house of the Jews’ are used. The other way focuses on the different nature of the religious activity at each of the places, so that expressions such as ‘meeting/worship house of the Jews’ and ‘sacrifice/ceremony place of the Jews’ are used.
“It is not my purpose in this article to discuss how to arrive at the most precise equivalent to cover all the components of meaning of ‘temple’. That is something that each translator really has to work through for himself in the light of the present usage and possibilities in his own language. My chief concern here is that the basic term or terms chosen for ‘temple’ should give the reader of a translation a clear and correct picture of the location referred to in each passage. And I am afraid that in many cases where an equivalent like ‘house of God’ or ‘worship house’ has been chosen, the readers have quite the wrong picture of what going to the Temple or being in the Temple means. (This may be the case for the word ‘temple’ in English too, for many readers.)”
Here are some examples:
Bambara: “house of God” (or: “big house of worship”) vs. “worship house” (or: “small houses of worship”)
Toraja-Sa’dan: “house where-the-belly-gets-swollen” (see above) vs. “meeting house for discussing matters concerning religious customs” (and “church” is “house where one meets on Sunday”)
Navajo (Dinė): “house in which worship is carried out” vs. “house of gathering” (source for all above: Bratcher / Nida)
Click or tap here to see a short video clip about Herod’s temple (source: Bible Lands 2012)Click or tap here to see a short video clip showing synagogues in New Testament times (source: Bible Lands 2012)
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 21:26:
Uma: “That advice Paulus indeed believed / paid-attention-to. The next day he did go with those four to do the religious ceremony of cleansing of the body. After that he entered the House of God and said to the priest how many more days it would be before [lit., how many more day and only then] the time of their cleansing would be finished. Because when the time of their cleansing was finished, Paulus and his four companions must each bring his sacrifice.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Then Paul took the four men and the next day they went together to perform the Yahudi customs about purification. After they had done that, Paul went to the temple to tell the priests as to when their purification would be fulfilled, and as to when each one of them would offer-sacrifice to God.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And the next day Paul went with these men, and he took part in their fulfilling the custom of purification. Paul went into the House of God so that he might let them know how many days yet before their purification would be finished, because when that was finished there would be an offering given by each one of them.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Therefore on the next morning, Pablo accompanied those-aforementioned four men, and he joined in what they did to begin to cleanse their bodies. Then they went to the Temple, and Pablo told the priest the date of its (the cleansing) conclusion, in order that that’s when-his four companions -would-butcher and -would-get-balded.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Well, that which the overseers said was okay with Pablo, therfore the following day, he caused those four persons to accompany him to the Templo. When they had done their custom of cleansing, in which Pablo had also joined in, they then went in to the priest and informed him of what day that cleansing would be ended and then they would each bring his share of the sacrifice and thank-offering which would be burned. But as-had-been-said, Pablo would be the one responsible for paying.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999): “Paul then took care of the Nazirites the following day, submitted to their ritual rules and went to the temple regularly. He promised them that he would pay for the sacrificial animals for each of them and thus promised them the end of their Nazirite period.” (see also under a vow)
The transitional particle so is particularly important to mark the break between the statement attributed to the church elders and what Paul did as the result of their advice.
Took the men may be rendered in some languages as “went along with the men” or even “accompanied the men.”
Once again there is the problem of defining exactly what ceremony of purification is referred to. Some commentators conclude that it would have been necessary for Paul to have undergone a type of purification ceremony before entering the temple, since he had recently returned from an extended visit in Gentile countries, and it seems quite possible that this is the ceremony of purification referred to in the present verse. Inasmuch as Paul was considered ceremonially impure, he would have undergone this ceremony of purification before entering the temple to take part in the act of purification with the four Nazirites. That this is the correct interpretation is supported by the observation that Paul did not go into the temple until after he had performed the ceremony of purification, and that this took place several days before the sacrifice for these four men was to be offered.
The word used for temple in this verse is a word that normally refers to the entire temple area, but in the present context the meaning seems to be limited to the temple proper; and this would be true also for the use of temple in verses 27 ff. The period of purification refers to the seven-day period that the four men who had taken the Nazirite vow had to undergo before they would be considered ceremonially pure to carry out the sacrifice. Each one of them refers to the four Nazirites; a sacrifice would not have been offered for Paul himself at the end of this period.
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 .
This verse implies that Paul agreed to do as the elders said. In some languages this needs to be explicit. For example:
⌊Paul agreed to do what the elders/leaders requested.⌋ The next day…
21:26b
purified himself along with them: The purification here is probably when a person sprinkled himself with special water of purification several times and then washed his clothes. Each man did that for himself. See the note at 21:24a.
Other ways to translate this phrase are:
performed the ceremony of purification with them (Good News Translation) -or-
went through the purification ceremony with them (God’s Word) -or-
shared in the cleansing ceremony with them (New Century Version) -or-
they ritually purified themselves
21:26c
Then he entered the temple: Paul and the men only went to the temple courtyards after they were purified.
the temple: Here the word temple refers to the building in Jerusalem where people believe that God is present in a special way. People worship there.
Luke used the word temple here to refer to the temple courtyards. The temple courtyards are areas around the main temple building. Each courtyard had a wall with gates to enclose it.
Only priests were allowed in the actual temple building. Paul went only to the temple courtyards. In some languages this must be explicit for the correct meaning. For example:
into the temple courtyard (God’s Word)
See how you translated this word in 2:46 or 19:27.
21:26d–e
to give notice of the date when their purification would be complete and the offering would be made for each of them: The phrase give notice indicates that Paul talked to the priests at the temple. He told them when he and the four men would finish their purification rite. He also told them when the four men would offer the required sacrifices for the closing ceremony of their vows.
The end of their purification was the same day that the men would make the offering. Other ways to translate these clauses are:
gave notice of how many days it would be until the end of the period of purification, when a sacrifice would be offered for each one of them (Good News Translation) -or-
he publicly announced the date when their vows would end and sacrifices would be offered for each of them (New Living Translation (2004))
21:26d
when their purification would be complete: The next verse implies that the ending ceremony would be seven days later.
21:26e
the offering would be made for each of them: The four men would give food and drink to the priests as offerings. They would also give a number of animals to the priests for them to sacrifice (Numbers 6:13–21). Other ways to translate this clause are:
the offering would have to be presented on behalf of each of them (New Jerusalem Bible) -or-
he would give the animals and other things ⌊to the priests⌋ to offer them on behalf of each of the ⌊four⌋ men
the offering would be made: This clause is passive. Some languages must use an active clause. For example:
⌊he⌋ would give the offerings -or-
⌊the priests⌋ would offer the animals and other things
for each of them: The word for indicates that Paul bought the offerings. The priests would use those offerings in the ceremony that ended the vows of the four men.
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
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