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 21:29:
Uma: “The reason they spoke like this was because they had seen an Efesus person with Paulus in the city earlier. The name of that Efesus person was Trofimus, he was not a Yahudi person. So, they thought that Paulus had brought Trofimus into the House of God.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “(They said this because they had seen Toropimus, a man of Epesus, together with Paul there in the city and they thought-mistakenly that Paul had brought him into the temple.)” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “The reason they said this is because they saw Trophimus with Paul in the village, and Trophimus was from Ephesus and was not a Jew. They supposed that Paul had taken him with him into the church.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “They said that, because they had-been-seeing Pablo accompanying a person-from-Efeso who was Trofimus there in Jerusalem, and they thought he had also had-him -enter the Temple.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Their words were like this because once they had seen Trofimo the taga Efeso walking as Pablo’s companion in the street. They mistakenly-thought that Pablo had caused him to accompany him inside the Templo.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
The name that is transliterated as “Trophimus” in English is translated in Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) with a sign that combines “nutritious” and “foster child” (the meanings of the name). (Source: Missão Kophós )
This verse is a parenthetical statement given by Luke by way of explanation (see 1.18-19). On Trophimus, see 20.4 and 2 Timothy 4.20.
In some languages it is not possible to combine a series of terms merely with prepositional links—for example, Trophimus from Ephesus with Paul in the city. Rather, one must say “they had seen Trophimus going around with Paul in the city; Trophimus was from the city of Ephesus.”
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 .
The New International Version uses parentheses around 21:29a–b to indicate that it is added information related to the main story. Some languages may use punctuation like the Berean Standard Bible to indicate that. Some languages may use grammar or a phrase to indicate that. (See next note about the Greek conjunction.) Other languages allow the context to indicate that.
21:29a
The Greek conjunction often translated as “for” introduces this verse, as in the Berean Standard Bible. Here it introduces an explanation of why the Jews from Asia spoke as they did in 21:28. For example:
For they had previously seen (Revised Standard Version) -or-
They said this because they had seen… (Good News Translation)
The New International Version and some English versions omit the conjunction and allow the context to indicate that meaning.
For they had previously seen: This phrase indicates that the Jews of Asia had seen Trophimus perhaps a day or two before. They were not looking at him at the time they said these words.
Trophimus the Ephesian: The name Trophimus is a Greek name. The word Ephesian indicates that he was from Ephesus. Greek people began the city of Ephesus and the city was still mostly Greek at that time. At that time both words would clearly indicate that Trophimus was Greek (21:28d) and not Jewish.
In some languages neither word would clearly indicate that Trophimus was Greek. If that is true in your language, you may want to:
• Explain it in a footnote. An example footnote is:
“Trophimus” is a Greek name and Ephesus was a Greek city. -or-
Trophimus was Greek.
• Explain it in your translation. For example:
⌊the Greek,⌋ Trophimus from Ephesus
the Ephesian: The word Ephesian indicates that Trophimus was from Ephesus. Another way to translate this phrase is:
from Ephesus (Good News Translation)
in the city: This phrase refers to generally to Jerusalem. Here it implies outside of the temple area.
21:29b
assumed: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as assumed means to believe that something is true without having proved that it is true. Here it indicates that the Jews from Asia believed that Paul took the non-Jewish Trophimus into the temple courtyard reserved for Jewish men. But that was not true. Other ways to translate this word are:
supposed (Revised Standard Version) -or-
mistakenly thought
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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