Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 25:5:
Uma: “It is better for whoever of you are speakers to go with me to Kaisarea, so that there I can listen to your accusations, if there really is any wrong of his.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Let those of you who have authority come with me down to Kesarea and accuse him there if he has really done something bad.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “have your bosses go along with me so that they might make accusation against him if he has done anything wrong.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “So why don’t (lit. even-if) some of your leaders go-along to file-charges there, if he has done something wrong.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “What would be good is, you send some with me of your tribal-leaders. For if it is true that there is evil which he has done, there is where they are to bring up your case.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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. )
Let your leaders go to Caesarea is, of course, not an expression of permission, but of implied command—for example, “cause your leaders to go to Caesarea with me.”
If he has done anything wrong (see Moffatt “and charge the man with whatever crime he has committed”) is a direct interpretation of the Greek expression (literally “if there is anything out of place in the man”).
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 .
So: The Greek conjunction often translated as “therefore” introduces this verse. It introduces a logical conclusion for Festus going to Caesarea soon. The Berean Standard Bible and some other English versions translate this conjunction as So. For example:
So (Revised Standard Version)
Some English versions allow the context to indicate the connection and do not translate the conjunction.
wrong: The Greek word is literally “out of place.” It is a Greek euphemism that mildly refers to a crime or wrongdoing worthy of punishment. Festus probably used this word as a contrast to the urgent request of the Jewish leaders. It is not known if Festus already knew from Lysias (21:27–23:35) or from Felix that the Jewish leaders lacked proof that Paul did anything wrong (24:13). Other ways to translate this word are:
amiss -or-
at fault (Revised English Bible) -or-
improper
25:5b-c
let some of your leaders come down with me and accuse him there: These clauses are third person (“to them”) commands in Greek. English sometimes uses the word let for a third person command. Festus was the Roman leader over the Jews. Translate these clauses for someone with that kind of authority. For example:
Some of your leaders must come with me and press charges against the man there
25:5b
your leaders: This phrase in Greek is literally “the powerful ones among you.” This phrase probably refers to those Jews who would have the power/authority to represent the Jewish leadership in court before Festus. Only some of the Jews present would have that authority. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
the men of authority among you (Revised Standard Version) -or-
your authorities (God’s Word) -or-
representatives of your Sanhedrin -or-
those empowered among you ⌊for such a matter⌋
25:5c
accuse: This word refers to telling a judge what wrongs they believe a person has done and trying to prove that he did them. See how you translated this Greek word in 24:2 (“opened the prosecution”) or 24:19 (“bring charges”).
General Comment on 25:5a–c
In some languages it is more natural to have the “if” clause last. For example:
5bLet some of your leaders come with me 5cand press charges against the man there, 5aif he has done anything wrong. (New International Version)
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®).
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.