The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated “boat” or “ship” in English is translated in Chichimeca-Jonaz as “that with which we can walk on water” (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.), in Chitonga as a term in combination with bwato or “dugout canoe” (source: Wendland 1987, p. 72), and in Tangale as inj am or “canoe-of water” (inj — “canoe” — on its own typically refers to a traditional type of carved-out log for sleeping) (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin).
In Kouya it is translated as ‘glʋ ‘kadʋ — “big canoe.”
Philip Saunders (p. 231) explains how the Kouya team arrived at that conclusion:
“Acts chapter 27 was a challenge! It describes Paul’s sea voyage to Italy, and finally Rome. There is a storm at sea and a shipwreck on Malta, and the chapter includes much detailed nautical vocabulary. How do you translate this for a landlocked people group, most of whom have never seen the ocean? All they know are small rivers and dugout canoes.
“We knew that we could later insert some illustrations during the final paging process which would help the Kouya readers to picture what was happening, but meanwhile we struggled to find or invent meaningful terms. The ‘ship’ was a ‘big canoe’ and the ‘passengers’ were ‘the people in the big canoe’; the ‘crew’ were the ‘workers in the big canoe’; the ‘pilot’ was the ‘driver of the big canoe’; the ‘big canoe stopping place’ was the ‘harbour’, and the ‘big canoe stopping metal’ was the ‘anchor’!”
In Lokạạ it is translated as ukalangkwaa, lit. “English canoe.” “The term was not coined for the Bible translation, but rather originated in colonial times when the English arrived in Nigeria on ships. The indigenous term for a canoe was modified to represent the large, ocean-going ship of the English.” (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )
Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)
The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).
For this verse, translators typically select the exclusive form (excluding the addressee).
Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 27:15:
Uma: “Because the ship was no-longer able to face the wind, that is why the workers on the ship said, just let the ship be blown by the wind so.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “The ship was hit by the wind and because the ship could not meet/go-against the wind, we (excl.) just allowed the ship to be carried along by the wind.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “and it struck the ship and since the ship was no longer able to face the wind, we just never minded where the ship would be carried by the wind.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “It was whipped into the ship, and they had no way to face-into the wind. So they conceded-defeat-by-letting us (excl.) be blown (lit. winded) to-where-it-was-directing.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “When the ship was now right-in-its-path, there was nothing which could be done. We just let ourselves be taken along by the wind which was driving us along.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
It hit the ship may need to be somewhat altered in some languages since winds cannot be spoken of as “hitting anything”; therefore, “the wind blew against the ship” or “the wind caused the ship to shake” (as a means of describing the suddenness with which the wind came upon the ship).
In an effort to bring the ship back into the harbor, the place called Safe Harbors, the sailors apparently tried to head the ship into the wind. Since they found this to be impossible, they had to let the ship be carried along by the wind.
In the Greek sentence there is a phrase which may be understood either in the sense of “into the wind” or “by the wind.” At first glance it may seem as if the Good News Translation has translated this phrase twice, but that is not the case. This phrase is rendered in the Good News Translation by into the wind, while by the wind is the means whereby the Good News Translation has made explicit what it was that carried (the ship) along.
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 .
the ship was caught up: This clause is passive. Some languages must use an active clause. For example:
It caught the ship (Revised English Bible)
caught up: Here the words caught up refer figuratively to the storm controlling the ship. In some languages a literal translation would not have the correct meaning. If so, translate the correct meaning. For example:
the storm controlled the ship -or-
the strong wind caused the sailors to be unable to control the ship -or-
The wind carried the ship away (God’s Word) -or-
The wind blew against the ship and directed it ⌊as it wanted to⌋
27:15b
Unable to head into the wind: The ship could only sail in the direction that the wind was blowing or somewhat to the right or left. This phrase indicates that they could not sail even in the smallest part toward the wind because of the strong wind. In the diagram below the ship could only travel in the general direction of the green arrows but not the red dashed arrows.
The strong wind would push the front of the ship downwind if they tried to turn the ship upwind. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
could not steer toward/against the wind -or-
could not face the wind (Revised Standard Version) -or-
The sailors couldn’t turn the ship into the wind (New Living Translation (2004)) -or-
the wind forced the front of the ship away/downwind
27:15c
we gave way: This clause indicates that the sailors stopped trying to go in the direction they wanted. Other ways to translate this clause are:
we stopped trying (New Century Version) -or-
we surrendered/submitted to it -or-
we allowed it
let ourselves be driven along: This phrase in Greek is literally “were being carried/led.” It indicates that the wind controlled the direction in which the ship traveled. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
be carried along by the wind (Good News Translation) -or-
were blown/pushed by it
Some ways to translate this clause as an active clause are:
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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