16A great number of people would also gather from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all cured.
The Greek in Acts 5:16 that is translated as “the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed” or similar is translated in Tepeuxila Cuicatec as “the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed sand the evil spirits left them.” Larson (1998, p. 20) explains: “In Tepeuxila Cuicatec, ‘healed’ can be used only to talk about ‘sickness,’ not to talk about ‘casting out evil spirits.’ to be sure these people were helped as well, an obligatory addition was made.”
The Greek that is translated as “tormented by unclean spirits” or similar in English is translated as “were bothered by evil spirits inside them” in Ayutla Mixtec, “had henchmen of the devil spirits” in Lalana Chinantec, “molested by the not-good-one (devil)” in Morelos Nahuatl, “bothered by the sent ones of the devil” in Chuj, or “the devils hurt they-do-to-them” in Chichimeca-Jonaz.
The Hebrew and Greek that is typically translated/transliterated in English as “unclean spirit” or “evil spirit” is translated in Paasaal it is translated as gyɩŋbɔmɔ, which is also the term used for “demon.” Wyɩŋbɔmɔ are “beings that are in the wild and can only be seen when they choose to reveal themselves to certain people. They can ‘capture’ humans and keep them in hiding while they train the person in herbalism and divination. After the training period, which can range from a week to many years, the ‘captured’ individual is released to go back into society as a healer and a diviner. The gyɩŋbɔmɔ can also be evil, striking humans with mental diseases and causing individuals to get lost in the wild. The Pasaale worldview about demons is like that of others of the language groups in the area.” (Source: Fabian N. Dapila in The Bible Translator 2024, p. 415ff.)
Note that often the words for “demon” “unclean spirit” are being used interchangeably.
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 5:16:
Uma: “So, the people flocked from other villages going to the village of Yerusalem, carrying their sick relatives and people that were entered by spirits. They were all healed.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Many people from the places surrounding Awrusalam also went bringing the sick and those possessed by demons, and they were all healed.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “The inhabitants of the villages near Jerusalem, they went to Jerusalem taking the sick and those who were afflicted by evil spirits. And all of them were healed.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “There were many moreover who were going to Jerusalem from the surrounding towns taking the sick-ones and those possessed by evil-spirits, and they all got-well.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “And people kept on arriving coming from the towns round about Jerusalem. They were bringing their sick folk, including those possessed by evil-spirits. All of those being brought really got well.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:
While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)
“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
The phrase crowds of people is a reference primarily to the great number of people. Therefore in many languages “many people” or “very, very many people” might be used.
A term for towns must distinguish smaller communities from the large city of Jerusalem. In some contexts, therefore, a word for town will be more or less equivalent to “village.” It is the relative size, not the specific number of people, which is significant in this type of context.
The phrase bringing their sick will probably need to be translated in many languages as “carrying their sick.” The manner of bringing those with evil spirits may need to be contrasted as “and leading those who had evil spirits in them.”
In many languages evil spirits do not live in people but “control them” or “command them.” Those who had evil spirits in them literally translates “those who were being troubled by unclean spirits.” But in biblical terminology “evil spirits” and “unclean spirits” are essentially synonymous. There are, however, serious difficulties encountered in employing an adjective such as “unclean,” for this can turn out to be simply “dirty.” Quite naturally the emphasis in the Bible is on the fact that these spirits caused people to become unclean in a religious sense, that is, they defiled them, so that they could not worship God.
The passive expression they were all healed may be transformed into an active as “they all got well” or “none was any longer sick.”
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 .
Crowds: The Greek word is singular and refers in general to a large number of people. A large number of people gathered from the towns around Jerusalem. Here are some other ways to translate this:
A great number of people (New Revised Standard Version) -or-
A lot of people (Contemporary English Version)
gathered: The Greek tense indicates an ongoing action. More people gathered each day (and probably went home later). For example:
were gathering ⌊each day⌋ -or-
were coming
the towns around Jerusalem: The word around probably indicates that these towns were as much as one or more days walk away.
towns: The Greek word here probably refers any size town. Some languages would use “village” for the general word for this meaning. Other languages would use “city” for the general word.
5:16b
those tormented by unclean spirits: This clause is passive. Some languages must translate it as an active clause. For example:
those whom evil spirits tormented
tormented by unclean spirits: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as tormented indicates an ongoing action at this time. For example:
who were being tormented by evil spirits -or-
whom evil spirits were tormenting
tormented: This word refers to causing physical or mental pain or annoying someone. Here are some other ways to translate this:
troubled (God’s Word) -or-
disturbed (New American Bible, Revised Edition) -or-
harassed (Revised English Bible) -or-
were being caused pain
unclean spirits: The spirits are unclean in the sense that they have rebelled against God and do evil things. Consider how to translate that meaning in your language.
spirits: This refers to beings who do not have a body. Here it does not refer to the spirits of dead people.
5:16c
all of them were healed: The Greek tense indicates an ongoing action at that time. God was healing people, probably every day. It does not imply that each healing took a long time. For example:
They were all being healed (NET Bible) -or-
who were all being healed (LEB)
The clause is passive. Some languages must use an active clause. For example:
⌊God⌋ was healing all of them
This clause refers to both God making the sick people well and God removing the evil spirits from people. In some languages a separate clause must be used to refer to making well the people with evil spirits. For example:
all of them were healed and the evil spirits were removed/cast-away
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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