Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 25:12:
Uma: “When he heard that, Festus spoke with his fellow judges. After that, he said to Paulus: ‘Since you (sing.) request to take up your (sing.) case to the deciding-place of Kaisar, OK, you will indeed go to the town of Roma to meet Kaisar.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Then after Pestus had conferred/agreed with his officials, he answered Paul, he said, ‘Because you want to be judged by the Leader King, so you will be sent to the Leader King.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then Festus asked some questions of his advisors, and then he said to Paul, ‘Since you have appealed for investigation to our king in Rome, I will send you to him.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Festus and the officials who were his helpers went and conversed-together. Then he said to Pablo, ‘You (sing.) have appealed your (sing.) case to the Emperor. The Emperor therefore is the one to-whom-I-will-have-you (sing.) -be-taken.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “When Festo heard that, he discussed it with his officials. And then he turned to Pablo again. He said, ‘Well, since it’s like that, that you appeal to the Impiradur, without anything further, you will be taken there.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.
In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
The appeal to Caesar was of such moment that Festus thought it best to confer with his advisers before making the decision regarding Paul’s fate. The first part of this verse may be translated as “then Festus first conferred with his advisers and then answered Paul.”
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 .
Then: Here the Berean Standard Bible translates the Greek conjunction as Then because it introduces something that occurred after the previous event. Many other English versions also translate this conjunction as Then here. For example:
Then (Revised Standard Version)
Festus conferred with his council: The word council refers to a group of people who advised Festus. He probably wanted to be sure of the right thing to do, so he asked the council. The council probably included people who were experienced in legal matters. After discussing the matter of appeal with them, Festus then decided what he would do next. Other ways to translate this clause are:
Festus talked about this with his advisors (New Century Version) -or-
After Festus discussed with those who advised him about what to do
and replied: This clause in Greek is literally “he answered.” Festus replied to Paul’s appeal so the Berean Standard Bible uses the word replied here. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
answered (Revised Standard Version) -or-
he told Paul (Contemporary English Version)
25:12b
You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!: The phrase to Caesar in Greek is emphasized both times. For example:
To Caesar you have appealed; to Caesar you will go!
If possible, emphasize the phrase to Caesar in your translation.
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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