gall of bitterness

The Greek in Acts 8:23 that is translated as “gall of bitterness” or similar in English is translated in Elhomwe as “great jealousy.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

complete verse (Acts 8:23)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 8:23:

  • Uma: “Because I know that you (sing.) are very jealous, and you (sing.) are enslaved by sin.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “For I understand,’ Petros said, ‘that you are really very jealous and you are like a slave of your sin.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “because you are enslaved by jealousy, and you are not able to avoid your evil behaviour.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because I-can-see that your (sing.) jealousy is extreme, and your (sing.) sins still have-you-tied-up.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “For I observe that apparently what is in your mind is extremely evil, and you really are still a slave to this evil.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Lalana Chinantec: “‘I am aware of what you are like. As a round thing that is bitter which people do not like are you. God does not like what you do. Sin is mistreating you. It is as though you were tied up.’ That’s what Peter said to Simon.” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)

2nd person pronoun with low register (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 second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.

In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also first person pronoun with low register and third person pronoun with low register.

Translation commentary on Acts 8:23

The language of this verse is drawn from Old Testament passages such as Deuteronomy 29.17b and Isaiah 58.6. The Good News Translation understands “gall of bitterness” in the sense of bitter envy; but others, in light of the fact that in Deuteronomy the phrase is connected with idolatry, refer this specifically to heathen worship: “bitterness like gall which godless worship brings” (Barclay). The interpretation of this particular phrase is also related to the overall understanding of the verse, since the Greek preposition with which the verse begins may mean either “in” or “into.” Most translations accept the same conclusions of the Good News Translation: you are full of (that is, “in”) bitter envy, and are a prisoner of sin (see Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, Jerusalem Bible, Phillips, Zürcher Bibel, Moffatt). Others understand the phrase to mean “I see you are a prisoner of sin and headed for” (that is, “into”) “a bitter fate” (see New English Bible and Barclay).

The phrase full of bitter envy is especially difficult to translate in a number of languages. In the first place, full of must usually be rendered as “being very envious.” The term bitter is not so much a description of envy itself as the effect which envy has upon the individual who is envious. On the other hand, it may refer to the intensity of envy or its evil nature.

The phrase prisoner of sin is equivalent to “being made a prisoner by sin” or “sin makes you its prisoner.” However, in many languages one cannot employ a term such as sin, which refers to an event, as the agent of causing someone to be a prisoner. There is a causal relationship and therefore one can say in some languages “because of your sin you are a prisoner” or “because of your sin you are tied like a prisoner.”

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 .