Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 26:32:
Uma: “King Agripa said to Festus: ‘Actually, if he had not requested-to-be-taken-up his case to Kaisar, we could just release him.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Agarippa said to Pestus, ‘That man could have been freed if he had not said that he wants to be judged by the Leader King.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And Agrippa said also to Festus, ‘If only he had not appealed for help to the king in Rome because it’s possible that he should be set free.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “King Agrippa also said to Governor Festus, ‘He could be released if he hadn’t appealed his case to the Emperor.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “And then Agripa said to Festo, ‘If only he hadn’t said that he wanted to appeal to the Impiradur, that person could have freedom/release.’ (Note: All 1st person plural pronouns in this chapter are exclusive unless otherwise marked.)” (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 third person singular and plural pronoun (“he,” “she,” “it” and their various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. While it’s not uncommon to avoid pronouns altogether in Japanese, there are is a range of third person pronouns that can be used.
In these verses a number of them are used that pay particularly much respect to the referred person (or, in fact, God, as in Exodus 15:2), including kono kata (この方), sono kata (その方), and ano kata (あの方), meaning “this person,” “that person,” and “that person over there.” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
This man could have been released if he had not appealed to the Emperor is a statement by which Luke intends to verify not only the innocence of Paul but the truthfulness of the Christian message. Could have been released is emphatic in the Greek sentence structure. The treatment of this kind of condition, which is contrary to fact (that is to say, Paul had appealed to the Emperor and therefore could not be released), poses certain problems in translation into some receptor languages. In some languages one must say, for example, “if he had not appealed to the Emperor, but he has, then he could have been released, but now he cannot be released.” In certain other languages, however, this type of condition contrary to fact is represented as causal—for example, “but because he has appealed to the Emperor, this man cannot be released.”
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 .
This man could have been released if he had not appealed to Caesar: Paul appealed to Caesar in 25:11. Agrippa described here what might have happened if Paul had not appealed to Caesar. Other ways to translate these words are:
If this man had not appealed to Caesar, you could have freed him. -or-
We could let this man go free, but he has asked Caesar to hear his case. (New Century Version)
This man could have been released: This clause is passive. Festus could have freed Paul. Some languages must use an active clause. For example:
⌊You⌋ could have released this man
released: This refers to allowing the person to leave jail or custody of the authorities. Paul could then leave Caesarea or do as he chose. For example:
set free (New International Version)
appealed to Caesar: Paul called upon Caesar to decide the case against him. See how you translated a similar phrase (“I appeal to Caesar”) in 25:11.
Caesar: See how you translated this word in 25:11.
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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