30Since he wanted to find out what Paul was being accused of by the Jews, the next day he released him and ordered the chief priests and the entire council to meet. He brought Paul down and had him stand before them.
The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “chief priest” in English is translated in Muyuw as tanuwgwes lun or “ruler-of peace offering.” (Source: David Lithgow in The Bible Translator 1971, p. 118ff. )
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)
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 22:30:
Uma: “That head of the soldiers earlier wanted very much to know what exactly was Paulus’ wrong that resulted in the Yahudi people accusing him. That is why the next morning he called all the leading priests and the other leaders of the Yahudi religion to gather. After that, he released Paulus from jail and took him to face them.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “The colonel wanted to know what the Yahudi were really accusing Paul of. Therefore the next day he commanded the leading priests and all the council members to gather. Then he let Paul out of the fort and brought him to-face/before those council members.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And on the next day the captain loosed Paul. He wanted to know what it was that the Jews were accusing Paul of, so he gathered together the chiefs of the sacrificers and all of the elders, and he got Paul and placed him in front.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “The commander still wanted to come-to-know the correct/exact accusation of the Jews against Pablo. So when it was next-day/morning, he caused-to-be-gathered the leaders of the priests and all the elders. Then he had-Pablo -released in order to take-him to their meeting-place, and he had-him-stand before them.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Therefore, next day, that highest-ranking-officer caused Pablo to be unchained. And then he called for the chiefs of the priests and all the other leaders of the Jews, all who were members of the Sanedrin. He wanted to comprehend the truth, what charge they were bringing against Pablo. When they were all assembled, he then had Pablo fetched and stood him in the presence of that crowd.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
This verse is related to the preceding account by taking up the same theme which has been introduced in verse 24, namely, the commander’s desire to find out precisely why the Jews had accused Paul so vehemently.
In Greek, verse 30 is one sentence beginning with the phrase “so the next day.” For the sake of the English reader the sentence has been broken in the Good News Translation into two sentences, the order rearranged, participants in the narrative made explicit (the commander, Paul, Paul’s), and certain participles made into finite verbs (wanted and took).
Had Paul’s chains taken off is understood by some to mean that Paul was released from prison (see Jerusalem Bible “he freed Paul”), since they believe that Paul’s chains would have been taken off the previous day as soon as the Roman officer found out that Paul was a Roman citizen. He had Paul’s chains taken off must, of course, be understood as a causative, “he caused the soldiers to take off Paul’s chains” or “he ordered the soldiers, Take the chains off Paul.” One normally cannot employ a so-called possessive expression with “chains.” They were not the chains that belonged to Paul, but the chains which were used to bind him.
In speaking of the whole Council, it may be necessary to say “the Council of all the Jewish leaders.” This is, in fact, precisely the phrase used in some languages for the Sanhedrin.
Took Paul may be rendered in some languages as “caused Paul to go” or “had him led.”
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 .
In this section, the Roman commander still did not know why the Jews wanted to kill Paul, so he arranged for Paul to stand before the Jewish ruling council so that their discussion could inform him. But the members of the Jewish ruling council considered this as an opportunity to judge Paul according to their laws.
The ruling Jews belonged to one of two religious groups: the Pharisees and Sadducees. One way they differed was that the Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the dead, but the Sadducees did not believe in it.
Paul saw that they intended to judge him. So, he declared that he believed in the resurrection of the dead in order to start them arguing. And indeed, the Pharisees and Sadducees began to argue with one another. These two groups argued so violently that the commander thought that it was dangerous for Paul to remain there. So he ordered soldiers to rescue Paul and bring him back to the barracks.
Other examples of headings for this section are:
Paul before the Council (New Revised Standard Version) -or-
Before the Sanhedrin (New International Version) -or-
Paul caused the Jewish leaders to argue
Paragraph 22:30
22:30a
The next day: This phrase refers to the day after the one mentioned in 22:24. It goes with 22:30b. For example:
30aSince the commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews, the next day30bhe released him…
the commander: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as commander means “leader of one thousand soldiers.” This kind of officer commanded six hundred to a thousand soldiers in the Roman army. See how you translated this word in 21:31 or 22:24.
the real reason: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the real reason is literally “something definite.” It refers to a reason that the commander could be reasonably certain was correct. At this time the commander did not know why the Jews were so angry with Paul. Other ways to translate this word are:
exactly (New International Version) -or-
for sure (New Jerusalem Bible) -or-
really
Paul was accused by the Jews: This clause is passive. Some languages must use an active clause. For example:
the Jews were accusing Paul
22:30b
released him: There are two ways to interpret the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as released:
(1) It means allowed to leave prison. The commander had kept Paul in prison overnight to protect him from the angry Jews outside. For example:
he freed Paul (New Jerusalem Bible)
(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, Revised Edition, New American Standard Bible, New Living Translation (2004), God’s Word, NET Bible, Revised English Bible)
(2) It means removed his chains. For example:
he had Paul’s chains taken off (Good News Translation)
(Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, English Standard Version, New Century Version, King James Version)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because the commander would not insult Paul by leaving chains on him after he discovered that Paul was a Roman citizen. Other ways to translate this clause according to interpretation (1) are:
released ⌊from prison⌋ -or-
allowed to leave ⌊prison⌋
22:30c
the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin: The chief priests were part of the Sanhedrin. For example:
the chief priests and the rest of the Sanhedrin
chief priests: This phrase refers to the priests who were leaders of the other Jewish priests. Other ways to translate this word are:
the leader of the priests -or-
the priests who led of all ⌊of the other Jewish⌋ priests
See how you translated this phrase in 4:6 or 9:21.
Sanhedrin: The word Sanhedrin is a Greek word that means “council.” Here it refers to the group of Jewish men with the highest authority over their people. They made laws and decided court cases. Some ways to translate Sanhedrin are:
council (Revised Standard Version) -or-
Jewish council (New Century Version) -or-
Jewish high council (New Living Translation (2004))
See how you translated this word in 4:15 or 6:12.
to assemble: The Jewish council probably met in their usual meeting place. They would not have met in a Roman house.
22:30d
he brought Paul down: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as brought…down indicates a downward direction. It was downhill from the barracks to the building where the Sanhedrin met. In some languages it is important to indicate that direction as the Berean Standard Bible has done. But in some languages the direction down is not important here.
stand before them: This clause indicates that Paul would speak to the Sanhedrin. The commander did not intend for the Sanhedrin to judge Paul.
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®).
.jpg){kind=link}
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.