he spoke and argued with the Hellenists

The Greek in Acts 9:29 that is translated as “he spoke and argued with the Hellenists” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) with Er predigte auch den griechischsprechenden Juden und geriet mit ihnen in Dauerstreit or “He also preached to the Greek-speaking Jews and was in constant conflict with them.”

complete verse (Acts 9:29)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 9:29:

  • Uma: “He also exchanged-talk with argued with the Yahudi who spoke Yunani. That’s why those Yahudi wanted to kill him.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “He also spoke and discussed with the Yahudi whose language was Girik. But they wanted to kill Saul.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And he talked and he debated with the Jews who spoke Greek, and they decided that they would kill him.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “He also conversed-with and debated-with Jews whose language was Griego, but they searched-for how they might kill him.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “And he taught to the Jews whose language was Ginirego, but they disagreed-violently with him. What else but they decided to kill him.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Acts 9:29

He also talked and disputed translates verb tenses in Greek which indicate that this is something which Paul habitually or frequently did.

Greek-speaking Jews translates the same word as was used in 6.1.

In the statement they tried to kill him the verb translated tried does not necessarily indicate failure; the idea of failure comes, not from the verb itself, but from the context. The New English Bible is correct in understanding the meaning of this as “they planned to murder him.” Although Phillips tries to express the meaning of the Greek verb tense, which may signify continuous action in past time, he certainly reads too much into the meaning of the verb by his translation “but they made several attempts on his life.” Had Luke intended to say that “they made several attempts” he could certainly have said this clearly and easily. The meaning of the verb and the force of its tense much more naturally mean something like “they were continuously looking for a way to kill him.”

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 .