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 26:28:
Uma: “King Agripa said to Paulus: ‘So you (sing.) think it is easy, do you (sing.), to coax me to become a Christian in a moment [lit., in one time passing]?'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Agarippa said to Paul, ‘Perhaps you think you can hurriedly convince me to follow Almasi.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then Agrippa answered, ‘Perhaps you suppose that in a short time you will make me into a believer in Christ.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “But King Agrippa said, ‘Do you (sing.) think that your (sing.) convincing me to become a Cristiano will-be-easy?'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Agripa replied, ‘You have caused me to believe just a little bit now in that Jesus you refer to as Cristo.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
In Malay, the pronoun beta for the royal “I” (or “my” or “me”) that is used by royals when speaking to people of lower rank, subordinates or commoners to refer to themselves in these verses. This reflects the “language of the court because the monarchy and sultanate in Malaysia are still alive and well. All oral and printed literature (including newspapers and magazines) preserve and glorify the language of the court. Considering that the language of the court is part of the Malaysian language, court language is used sparingly where appropriate, specifically with texts relating to palace life.” (Source: Daud Soesilo in The Bible Translator 2025, p. 263ff.)
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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 Greek text here translated In this short time do you think you will make me a Christian? has been rendered in a number of ways by other translators, as can be easily seen by consulting various translations. The sentence itself may be understood either as a statement of fact, indicating Agrippa’s interpretation of Paul’s intention, “you are trying to make me a Christian,” or as a sarcastic statement on the part of Agrippa, “so you think you can make a Christian of me!” The Good News Translation interprets this as a sarcastic statement and expresses it by means of a question.
In this short time may be understood as in the Good News Translation, though there are several other possibilities: (1) “with such little effort”; (2) “with a few words”; (3) with the sense of “to sum it all up,” that is, “briefly what you intend….” The same possibilities exist for the interpretation of the phrase in verse 29, a short time. Another question that is raised is whether or not Luke used this phrase in the same sense in both occurrences, and for that reason the translation is the same in each instance. No firm conclusion can be reached, but the Good News Translation has the advantage of suiting the context quite well. Agrippa realizes that in the short time Paul has to speak to him, he is trying to make him a Christian. To this Paul replies, Whether a short time or a long time … my prayer to God is that you and all the rest of you who are listening to me today might become what I am (that is, a Christian).
My prayer to God is may be rendered as “I pray to God that….”
The final expression except, of course, for these chains may be rendered as “of course, I do not pray that you should be in chains,” “of course, I do not want you to be chained,” or “but of course, I do not want you to be a prisoner.”
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 .
(Revised Standard Version🙂 In a short time you think to make me a Christian: There are two ways to interpret this sentence:
(1) It is a statement. King Agrippa saw what Paul was trying to do and objected.
(Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Standard Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition, King James Version, Revised English Bible)
(2) It is a question. King Agrippa saw what Paul was trying to do and asked Paul if he thought he could persuade him so quickly. For example:
In this short time do you think you will make me a Christian? (Good News Translation)
(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Good News Translation, New Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version, New Living Translation (2004), God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, NET Bible, New Century Version)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because the Greek NT 4 supports it.
(Revised Standard Version🙂 In a short time: This phrase in Greek is literally “in little.” There are three ways to interpret the Greek phrase:
(1) It means a short time. For example:
In a short time (Revised Standard Version)
(Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, New International Version, Good News Translation, New American Bible, Revised Edition, New American Standard Bible, New Living Translation (2004), God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, NET Bible, New Century Version, English Standard Version)
(2) It means little effort. For example:
With a little more of your persuasion (Revised English Bible)
(New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible)
(3) It means almost. For example:
almost (King James Version)
(King James Version)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because many English versions support it.
you think to make me a Christian: There are two ways to interpret what King Agrippa thought about the possibility of he becoming a Christian:
(1) He thought that it was unlikely that he would become a Christian. As king over Jews, he would not follow a religion that the Jews despised.
(Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, New International Version, Good News Translation, New Living Translation (2004), God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version)
(2) He thought that it was likely that he would become a Christian. He thought that Paul was very persuasive. For example:
A little more, and your arguments would make a Christian of me. (New Jerusalem Bible)
(New Jerusalem Bible, New American Standard Bible, King James Version, Revised English Bible)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because it is unlikely that the king would publicly reject the religion of his people, the Jews.
(Revised Standard Version🙂 you think to: The Greek word that the Revised Standard Version translates as think is literally “are persuading.” Paul was trying to persuade King Agrippa to become a Christian. With this sentence, King Agrippa indicates that he will not become a Christian. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
you try to convince me to become a Christian -or-
you are trying to make me a Christian! -or-
you try/attempt to make me change my mind and become a Christian
(Revised Standard Version🙂 make me a Christian: This phrase refers to convincing someone to begin believing that Jesus is the Christ/Savior. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
become a Christian (New Century Version) -or-
believe in Jesus as the Christ
But also see the note below.
Christian: At that time people who believed in Jesus usually called themselves “followers of the Way,” as Paul did in 24:14. Unbelievers called believers in Jesus “Christians.” Agrippa probably used this word here to imply that he was not interested in becoming a follower of the Way. He did not use it as an insult or to belittle Paul. In some languages unbelievers use a different term for believers that is not an insult. If so, you may want to use that word here.
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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