complete verse (Acts 21:33)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 21:33:

  • Uma: “The head of the soldiers went and arrested him and commanded his soldiers to tie both his hands with chains. After that he asked: ‘Who is this person? What has he done?'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “The colonel went near and seized Paul and commanded his soldiers to chain him with two chains. Then he asked the people, he said, ‘Who is this man and what is his sin?'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Now as for the captain, he went to Paul and grabbed him and he commanded that he be tied up with two chains. And then he asked the people who this man was and what was his sin.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Then the commander arrested him, and had-him-bound with two chains. He then said to the many-people, ‘Who is this person? What has he done?'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “When that highest-ranking-officer arrived, he at once arrested Pablo and caused him to be tied up with two chains. And then he asked who he was and what he had done.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Acts 21:33

That the commander ordered Paul to be tied up with two chains perhaps means that Paul was ordered to be chained to a Roman soldier on either side of him (see 12.6). The commander’s question, Who is this man, and what has he done? is addressed to the crowd, not to Paul as one might conclude from a literal rendering (“he inquired who he was and what he had done”). With the exception of the Good News Translation and Barclay, all translations apparently use indirect discourse rather than direct discourse for the commander’s question. In such a setting direct discourse seems much more forceful for the English reader than does indirect discourse. In fact, in many languages direct discourse would be obligatory in this type of context.

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 21:33

21:33a

The commander came up: Here the phrase came up is an English idiom that means “came near.” It implies that the commander came through the crowd to stand near Paul. Other ways to translate this clause are:

The commander went over (Good News Translation)
-or-
The top/main officer approached

arrested: This word refers to taking hold of someone for the purpose of putting him under the authority of police or others. Other ways to translate this word are:

took hold (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
took…into custody (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
grabbed (God’s Word)

21:33b

ordering that he be bound with two chains: This phrase indicates that the commander ordered his soldiers to fasten a chain around each wrist. The clause he be bound is passive. Some languages must use an active clause. For example:

ordered ⌊his soldiers⌋ to bind him with two chains

The verse implies that the soldiers obeyed what the commander told them to do. In some languages this must be explicit. For example:

ordered ⌊soldiers⌋ to bind him with two chains, ⌊and they did⌋

21:33c

Then he asked who he was and what he had done: The commander asked the crowd who Paul was, and what he had done.

In some languages, it will be more natural to use direct speech. For example:

Then he asked, “Who is this man, and what has he done?” (Good News Translation)

asked: The Greek verb probably indicates that he asked these questions more than once. As 21:34 explains, the crowd did not answer him clearly, so he had to ask more than once. For example:

began asking (New American Standard Bible)

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