The Greek that is translated as “keep (your) courage,” “take heart,” or “be cheerful” in English is translated in Bulu as “help the heart” and in Yamba as “to cause the heart to rest.” (Source: W. Reyburn in The Bible Translator 1959, p. 1ff. )
complete verse (Acts 27:36)
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 27:36:
- Uma: “From there, all their hearts became strong, they all ate.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “Then their livers became firm and they all also ate.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then our anxiety left us, and all of us ate also.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “Upon their seeing that, their minds became-strong, and they also ate.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “When the others saw, they all cheered up. They also now ate too.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Translation commentary on Acts 27:36
Most translators connect every with the subject of the first verb in the sentence, rather than with the second verb as the Good News Translation has done. (See Revised Standard Version “then they all were encouraged.”) The meaning is essentially the same either way.
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 .
SIL Translator’s Notes on Acts 27:36
27:36
They were all encouraged and took some food themselves: Luke wrote this book. He was on the ship with Paul. While he probably ate at this time, the focus is on the people of the ship.
They were all encouraged: After seeing Paul’s example, the people felt better about their chances to live through this storm.
food: This refers to any kind of food. The people probably did not cook. The food may have included the grain mentioned in 27:38.
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