21Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul then stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and thereby avoided this damage and loss.
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 name that is transliterated as “Crete” in English is translated in Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) with a sign that combines the signs for “meat” (a possible meaning of the name) and the geographical formation of Crete. (Source: Missão Kophós )
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 27:21:
Uma: “For several days the workers on the ship did not manage to eat, carried by their busy-ness. From there, Paulus stood in their midst and said to them: ‘If you had believed me the other day, that we should not-yet leave from Kreta, we (sing.) would not have suffered loss like this.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Then, because for quite a time none of the people had been able to eat, Paul stood up in their midst and he said to them, ‘Friends, if you had listened to me, we (incl.) would not have sailed from Kerete island. And we (excl.) would not have hardship and loss.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “It was a long time then that we had not eaten when Paul stood up and he said, ‘Companions, I wish that you had listened to my advice that we not leave the island of Crete, because if you had, this would not have happened to us.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “It was also a long-time that we (excl.) had absolutely not eaten, and Pablo stood-up and said, ‘Companions, had you believed what I said so that we wouldn’t have left Creta, nothing would have been ruined and thrown-away.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “When it had now been a long time that they hadn’t been eating, Pablo stood up in the presence of them all and spoke. He said, ‘Companions, if only you had believed/obeyed me that we not leave Creta, big hardship and loss/damage like this wouldn’t have happened to us (incl.).” (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 to do this is through the usage of appropriate suffix title referred to as keishō (敬称) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017 by either using -san or –sama with the latter being the more formal title.
In these verses, the Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “everyone” or similar in English is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as mina-san (皆さん), combining the word for “everyone” (nī) and the suffix title –san. This creates a higher sense of familiarity and equality than for instance the same term with the more respectful title –sama at young people (Japanese honorifics). (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
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 formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).
After the men had gone a long time without food must not be taken to imply either that there was no food or that the men were deliberately fasting for religious or other reasons. It seems, rather, that the men had been so busy trying to protect themselves and the ship from the storm that they had not taken time to eat, or that the violence of the storm had taken away their desire for food.
Paul stood before them is literally “Paul stood in their midst” (see the quite similar scene in 17.22). Should have translates the same verb rendered had to in 1.16 (see the comments there). It is difficult to know whether or not Luke intended the verb to be taken here with the same force of divine necessity as it apparently had in 1.16. You should have listened to me is rendered in some languages as “it would have been better if you had listened to me.”
And not have sailed from Crete may also be rendered as “it would have been better if you had not sailed from Crete” or “you did what you should not have done—you sailed from Crete.”
The final clause, then we would have avoided all this damage and loss, is difficult to render in some languages, since it implies a condition contrary to fact—for example, “if we had not sailed, we would have avoided….” The equivalent in many languages, however, is a statement of actual events: “but now that we have sailed, we have incurred this damage” or “but since we have sailed, we have suffered this damage.”
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 .
After the men had gone a long time without food: The Greek words are literally “many having a loss of appetite.” The words in the Greek do not say who went without food, but the Greek grammar probably implies that many of the people on the shiphad gone a long time without food. For example:
After everyone ⌊on the ship⌋ had gone a long time without food (Good News Translation)
had gone…without food: The Greek words are literally “having a loss of appetite.” Since the wind and waves tossed the ship back and forth, many people were seasick and did not want to eat. Others were perhaps too worried to eat. Other ways to translate this clause are:
No one had eaten (New Living Translation (2004)) -or-
none of us had eaten anything (Contemporary English Version) -or-
many…had no desire to eat (NET Bible)
a long time: 27:27 refers to the storm lasting for fourteen days and nights. So the phrase a long time probably refers to most of that time, perhaps ten to thirteen days or even the fourteenth day. Another way to translate this phrase is:
many days
27:21b
Paul stood up among them: The sailors had probably gathered together, so Paul could speak to them as a group. For example:
Paul stood up among the men (New Jerusalem Bible)
them: This pronoun refers to the “men” in 27:21c. It probably refers to the sailors (27:17, 27:19), but includes those who decided to sail from Crete (27:11–12), because Paul talked about that decision here. If you translated 27:11–12 as referring to men only, you should refer to men only here. For example:
the men (Contemporary English Version)
But if you translated 27:11–12 as referring to the people on the ship, you should refer to people here. For example:
the people
27:21c
Men: Paul began his talk with this polite address.
Translate in a way that allows the same meaning for the group that decides in 27:11–12.
you should have followed my advice not to sail from Crete: The Greek words are literally “having obeyed me, it was necessary not to sail from Crete.” This is probably a reminder of their previous mistake of not doing what Paul advised, so that they would not make the same mistake again.
Other ways to translate this clause are:
You should have listened to me and not have sailed from Crete (Good News Translation) -or-
if you had believed what I said so that we had not left Crete -or-
if you had done as I advised, we would not have sailed from Crete
27:21d
Then you would have averted this disaster and loss: The word averted refers to avoiding something. If the people had followed Paul’s advice, they would have avoided this disaster and loss to the ship and cargo. Other ways to translate this clause are:
and thereby avoided this damage and loss (New Revised Standard Version) -or-
you would not have had this damage and loss (Contemporary English Version)
this disaster and loss: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as disaster here could also be translated as “damage.” The storm had damaged the ship and other things still on the ship. People threw some things overboard so they were lost. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
these things being broken and other things being lost -or-
the storm damaging many things and requiring you to throw other things overboard
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