The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “chief priest” in English is translated in Muyuw as tanuwgwes lun or “ruler-of peace offering.” (Source: David Lithgow in The Bible Translator 1971, p. 118ff. )
In many English translations the Greek terms “hieron” (the whole “temple” in Jerusalem or specifically the outer courts open to worshippers) and “naos” (the inner “shrine” or “sanctuary”) are translated with only one word: “temple” (see also for instance “Tempel” in German [for exception see below] and “tempel” in Dutch, Danish, or Afrikaans).
Other languages make a distinction: (Click or tap here to see more)
Navajo (Dinė): “house in which worship is carried out” (for naos)
Balinese: “inner part of the Great Temple” (“the term ‘inner part’ denoting the hindmost and holiest of the two or three courts that temples on Bali usually possess”) vs. “Great Temple”
Telugu: “womb (i.e. interior)-of-the-abode” vs. “abode”
Thai: a term denoting the main audience hall of a Buddhist temple compound vs. “environs-of-the-main-audience-hall”
Kituba: “place of holiness of house-God Lord” vs. “house-God Lord”
Shipibo-Conibo: “deep in God’s house” vs. “God’s house” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Germandas Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022): “inner court of the temple” (Tempelinnenhof) vs. “temple”
Languages that, like English, German, Dutch, Danish, or Afrikaans, don’t make that distinction include:
Toraja-Sa’dan: “house that is looked upon as holy, that is sacred, that is taboo and where one may not set foot” (lit. “house where-the-belly-gets-swollen” — because taboo is violated — using a term that is also applied to a Muslim mosque) (source for this and the three above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Aguaruna: “the house for talking to God” (source for this and above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
Guhu-Samane: “festival longhouse of God” (“The biiri, ‘festival longhouse’, being the religious and social center of the community, is a possible term for ‘temple’. It is not the ‘poro house’ as such. That would be too closely identified with the cult of poro. The physical features of the building, huge and sub-divided, lend it further favor for this consideration. By qualifying it as ‘God’s biiri’ the term has become meaningful and appropriate in the context of the Scriptures.”) (Source: Ernest Richert in The Bible Translator, 1965, p. 81ff. )
Enga: “God’s restricted access house” (source: Adam Boyd on his blog )
Another distinction that tends to be overlooked in translations is that between hieron (“temple” in English) and sunagógé (“synagogue” in English). Euan Fry (in The Bible Translator 1987, p. 213ff. ) reports on this:
“Many older translations have simply used transliterations of ‘temple’ and ‘synagogue’ rather than trying to find equivalent terms or meaningful expressions in their own languages. This approach does keep the two terms separate; but it makes the readers depend on explanations given by pastors or teachers for their understanding of the text.
“Translators who have tried to find meaningful equivalents, for the two terms ‘temple’ and ‘synagogue’ have usually made a distinction between them in one of two ways (which focus on the contrasting components of meaning). One way takes the size and importance of the Temple to make a contrast, so that expressions such as ‘sacred meeting/ worship house of the Jews’ and ‘big sacred meeting/worship house of the Jews’ are used. The other way focuses on the different nature of the religious activity at each of the places, so that expressions such as ‘meeting/worship house of the Jews’ and ‘sacrifice/ceremony place of the Jews’ are used.
“It is not my purpose in this article to discuss how to arrive at the most precise equivalent to cover all the components of meaning of ‘temple’. That is something that each translator really has to work through for himself in the light of the present usage and possibilities in his own language. My chief concern here is that the basic term or terms chosen for ‘temple’ should give the reader of a translation a clear and correct picture of the location referred to in each passage. And I am afraid that in many cases where an equivalent like ‘house of God’ or ‘worship house’ has been chosen, the readers have quite the wrong picture of what going to the Temple or being in the Temple means. (This may be the case for the word ‘temple’ in English too, for many readers.)”
Here are some examples:
Bambara: “house of God” (or: “big house of worship”) vs. “worship house” (or: “small houses of worship”)
Toraja-Sa’dan: “house where-the-belly-gets-swollen” (see above) vs. “meeting house for discussing matters concerning religious customs” (and “church” is “house where one meets on Sunday”)
Navajo (Dinė): “house in which worship is carried out” vs. “house of gathering” (source for all above: Bratcher / Nida)
Click or tap here to see a short video clip about Herod’s temple (source: Bible Lands 2012)Click or tap here to see a short video clip showing synagogues in New Testament times (source: Bible Lands 2012)
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 5:24:
Uma: “When they heard that, the head of the police of House of God was confused, along with the chief priests, just what had happened to those apostles. And they were also apprehensive, about what might happen.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “When the captain of the temple guards and the leaders of the priests heard this, they wondered greatly as to what had happened to the commissioned ones.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And when the captain of the guard there at the church and the chief priests heard this, they asked each other, ‘Where maybe are the apostles?'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “When the captain of the Temple police and the leaders of the priests heard (it), they were disturbed and they said in their mind/thoughts, ‘Where perhaps will this lead-to?'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “When the chiefs of the priests and the chief of the guards of the Templo heard, their mind/thinking was really agitated for they didn’t know what results would come from it.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
The officer in charge of the temple guards is the same term used in 4.1 They wondered what had happened to the apostles is one possible meaning of the difficult Greek expression in this verse. An American Translation* (“they were very much at a loss as to what would come of it”) and Jerusalem Bible (“they wondered what this could mean”) are two other possible translations of this somewhat puzzling expression.
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 captain of the temple guard:
The captain of the temple guard was in charge of the temple police who guarded and maintained order in the temple area. See how you translated this word in 4:1.
the chief priests: This phrase refers to the leaders of the priests. See how you translated this phrase in 4:23.
were perplexed: Hearing that the apostles had disappeared from their jail cell, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests did not know what to do. The Greek word indicates that they were very confused. The Greek tense indicates that they were confused for some time. Here are some other ways to translate this:
were puzzled (New International Version) -or-
were very confused about it
5:24b
as to what was happening: The Greek clause is more literally “what might this be/become.” There are three possible interpretations for it:
(1) It means what had happened to the apostles. For example:
what had happened to the apostles (Good News Translation)
(Good News Translation, God’s Word, NET Bible, Revised English Bible)
(2) It means “what is happening now in regard to the disappearance of the apostles. For example:
what could be happening (New Jerusalem Bible)
(Berean Standard Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, God’s Word, New Revised Standard Version, New Century Version)
(3) It means what might this disappearance of the apostles become. For example:
what this would come to (Revised Standard Version)
(Revised Standard Version, New International Version, King James Version, New American Standard Bible, English Standard Version, New Living Translation (2004), New American Bible, Revised Edition)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) because the Greek word “this” refers to the disappearance of the apostles. The captain needed to know how they escaped a locked jail cell. After that immediate concern, he could ask where they might have gone, then watch for any results of their escape (such as him losing his job).
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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