11By punishing them often in all the synagogues I tried to force them to blaspheme, and since I was so furiously enraged at them, I pursued them even to foreign cities.
Chichewachipongwe Mulungu. Chipwonge is used to refer to acts or derogatory remarks that dishonor another person. (Mulungu is the Choichewa word for “God.”) (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “fury” or “furious” or similar in English is translated in Low German with the alliteration and idiom Gift un Gall speeten or “spit poison and bile” (translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1937, republ. 2006).
Fittingly, it is also used in Acts 14:2 to translate the Greek (ἐκάκωσαν τὰς ψυχὰς) that is translated as “poison the mind” in English.
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 26:11:
Uma: “Many times I persecuted them in the houses of prayer, and I forced them to repudiate their belief in Yesus. My heart just boiled, with the result that I went to far towns to persecute them.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “I often inflicted-pain-on/beat the ones trusting in Isa in the prayer-houses in order that they would let-go-of their believing in Isa. And because of my anger (lit. painful liver) toward them, I kept going after them even in other lands/places so that I could persecute them.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “I was always causing them to be punished in the churches because I tried to force them to give up their faith. And because of the fact that I was so angry at them, I pursued them even in far towns so that they could be punished.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Many times also I went to the various-synagogues to punish those who believed to force, if possible, that they speak-evil-of Jesus. Even to the far countries of the Gentiles, I also went there to persecute (lit. make-pitiful) them (i.e. believers), because extreme was my hatred for them.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “I would enter the worship-places and whoever I caught who was a believer, I would cause them to be beaten/hurt for I wanted them to be forced to insult that Jesus. Proof that my anger against them was great was, I hounded them even to/in other cities.'” (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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-na (御名) or “name (of God)” in the referenced verses.
I had them punished is literally “I punished them,” but the meaning is not that Paul did this on his own but that he had others punish them.
Most translators understand the Greek phrase “made them deny their faith” in the sense of tried to make them deny their faith, though the King James Version and Moffatt indicate that he did in fact make them deny their faith. The question cannot be settled absolutely and depends on whether or not one assumes that Paul was successful in some cases, while in others he was unsuccessful, otherwise he would not have had them put in prison and sentenced to death.
Tried to make them deny their faith is rendered in some languages as “tried to make them say, We no longer believe in Jesus.”
To persecute them may simply be rendered as “to cause them harm” or, in a more technical sense, “to bring accusations against them,” but such actions were designed primarily to cause serious difficulty and harm.
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 .
I frequently had them punished in the synagogues: This clause in Greek is literally “throughout all the synagogues often punishing them.” The word “often” probably indicates that Paul punished Christians on many occasions. This clause also describes what Paul was doing when he tried to force them to blaspheme (26:11b). Other ways to translate this clause are:
And I punished them often in all the synagogues (Revised Standard Version) -or-
And as I punished them often in all the synagogues (New American Standard Bible)
punished: This word refers to causing someone to feel pain or suffering because of an evil deed that he has done. Paul believed that Jesus followers blasphemed God when they said that Jesus was the Christ and God’s Son. The punishment was either a beating with a stick or a whipping. Translate this word in a way that allows one or both of those kinds of punishment.
synagogues: Here the word “synagogue” refers to a building where Jews would teach and discuss religious matters. See how you translated this word in 9:20 or 24:12.
26:11b
and I tried to make them blaspheme: This clause in Greek is literally “I was forcing them to blaspheme.” The tense on the verb probably indicates doing this to many Christians.
There are two ways to interpret this clause:
(1) Paul was able to make Christians say something offensive to Jews and their view of God, like “Jesus is the Son of God.” This sense would be like Matthew 26:63–65.
(2) Paul tried to make Christians say something offensive about Jesus, like “Jesus is not the Christ.” For example:
and tried to make them speak against Jesus (New Century Version)
(Good News Translation, New Living Translation (2004), God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version)
Some other English versions probably imply interpretation (2) when they add tried. Many scholars support it. But Paul, when he was a Pharisee,
(a) would have had the same thinking as the priests in Matthew 26:63–65, when they believed that Jesus blasphemed God when he agreed that he was God’s Son.
(b) The Greek connects punishing with blaspheming. But Paul would not have punished those who blasphemed Jesus, but rather would have let them go.
(c) If it is “tried to force,” it should be “tried to persecute” in 26:11c, because the Greek grammar on the two verbs are the same. But no English version or scholar supports that.
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) for the above reasons. Some ways to translate are:
I forced them to blaspheme ⌊God⌋ -or-
I made them insult ⌊God⌋
But the believers blasphemed God only as Paul as a Pharisee thought they would, because they said that Jesus was the Christ and the Son of God. In many languages this would need to be explained:
• In your translation. For example:
I forced them to blaspheme ⌊God⌋ ⌊by saying that Jesus is his son⌋ -or-
I made them insult ⌊God⌋ ⌊by saying that Jesus is his son⌋
• In a footnote. An example footnote is:
Paul, as a Pharisee, would consider that believers saying that Jesus is God’s son insults God. But Christians believe that Jesus is God’s Son.
However, if the major language version follows interpretation (2), you may want to follow that. For example:
tried to make them blaspheme (Revised Standard Version) -or-
to get them to curse Jesus (New Living Translation (2004)) -or-
I used to try and force them to deny their Lord (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
26:11c
In my raging fury against them: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as raging fury refers to extreme anger, perhaps even to the point where the person can no longer think properly. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
in my obsession against them (New International Version) -or-
my fury against them was so extreme that (New Jerusalem Bible) -or-
I was extremely angry toward them
I even went to foreign cities to persecute them: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as persecute has several meanings:
(1) It means pursue here. For example:
I even pursued them into foreign cities (New Jerusalem Bible)
(New Jerusalem Bible, New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, Revised Edition, New American Standard Bible, New Living Translation (2004), God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version)
(2) It means persecute here. For example:
I persecuted them even to foreign cities (Revised Standard Version)
(Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, New International Version, Good News Translation, King James Version, English Standard Version, NET Bible, Revised English Bible)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because the Greek phrase that means “even as far as to” makes more sense with “pursue” than “persecute.”
Other ways to translate this clause according to interpretation (1) are:
I pursued them even to foreign cities (New Revised Standard Version) -or-
I even chased after them into foreign cities
foreign cities: This refers to cities outside of Israel. Damascus (26:12a) was a foreign city to the Jews. Other ways to translate this word are:
cities of other countries/lands -or-
cities outside of Israel
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.