peace (inner peace)

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The Hebrew and Greek that is usually translated into English as “peace,” when referring to one’s inner peace, is (back-) translated with a variety of idioms and phrases:

In American Sign Language it is signed with a compound sign consisting of “become” and “silent.” (Source: Yates 2011, p. 52)


“Peace” in American Sign Language (source )

See also peace (absence of strife) and this devotion on YouVersion and this one on Bible Gateway .

complete verse (Acts 7:26)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 7:26:

  • Uma: “‘The next day he also saw two men fighting, both Israel people. So, because he wanted to make them at peace, that’s why he said to them: ‘Why are you fighting, you who are relatives?'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “The next morning, he saw two people of Isra’il having a fist fight. He wanted to reconcile them. ‘Friends,’ he said, ‘you are equally of the tribe of Isra’il. Why do you beat/inflict-pain-on one another?'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And the next day Moses returned, and he saw two Jews who were fighting. He wanted to settle the problem between the two, and he said, ‘Brothers, don’t fight because you are brethren.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “When it was the next day (lit. again light), he came-upon two descendants of Israel who were fighting, and he tried to stop-them -fighting saying, ‘Companions, how-come you are hurting-one-another? You are brothers after-all!'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Next day, he saw two of his own people who were fighting. He approached them to stop (them), so that they would settle-their-differences. He said, ‘Expl.! Don’t fight for you are of one blood.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Lalana Chinantec: “It was on a previous day that that happened that Moses went again to see his companions. He met two of his companions who were there fighting. Moses wanted them no longer to fight. He told his companions, ‘You’re of the same type, why are you mistreating your companion?’ That’s what Moses said.”
  • Morelos Nahuatl: “The next day Moses found two Israelites fighting. He wanted to stop them. He said to them, ‘Listen. You are brothers. Why are you fighting?'” (Source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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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 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).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Acts 7:26

He saw two Israelites fighting translates a clause that literally reads “he appeared to them as they were quarreling.” From the context it is obvious that Moses came across two men (most translations add “two”), and that these men were fellow Israelites.

Tried to is implied in the meaning of the verb tense, which is literally translated as “he was making peace between them.” Expressions for make peace differ radically from language to language, for example, “caused them to cease fighting,” “caused them to receive one another again,” or “caused them to snap fingers together again,” the local equivalent in some languages of “shaking hands.”

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 .