The term that is transliterated as “Barnabas” in English is translated in American Sign Language with a combination of the signs for the letter B and “encourage” (referring to Acts 11:23). (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Barnabas” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
The term that is transliterated as “Titus” in English is translated in Swiss-German Sign Language with a sign for “encouragement,” referring to 2 Corinthians 7:6 and following.
Following are a number of back-translations of Galatians 2:1:
Uma: “Fourteen years after that, I went again to Yerusalem with Barnabas. And I also took along Titus.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “After 14 years passed, I went again to Awrusalam along with Barnabas. Titus was also taken by me.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Fourteen years after that I returned to Jerusalem. Barnabas went with me and I also took along Titus.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “When fourteen years passed-by, I went again to Jerusalem taking-as-a-companion Barnabas. We (excl.) also took-along Tito.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Well, after fourteen years I went to Jerusalem again, along with Bernabe. I also took Tito along.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Having finished fourteen years, again I went to Jerusalem. With me went Barnabas and Titus.” (Source: Tenango Otomi 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)
Fourteen years later. Again, Paul leaves us guessing as to the beginning of what he mentions as a specific period of time. Do the fourteen years date from his conversion or from his last visit to Jerusalem? Either interpretation is possible, but most commentators favor the latter. The emphasis here is on how long Paul stayed away from the other apostles. In many languages it is obligatory to indicate the reference point for a temporal phrase such as fourteen years later. In this instance one is perhaps best advised to employ an expression such as “fourteen years after I had visited Jerusalem,” “… after my earlier visit to Jerusalem,” “… after Jesus revealed himself to me,” or “… after I became a believer,” depending upon which interpretation is followed.
With Barnabas is to be understood as Barnabas accompanying Paul rather than vice versa. Barnabas is mentioned as Paul’s companion in his first missionary journey (Acts 13.1-3) and as accompanying him to Jerusalem on the occasion of the Jerusalem council (Acts 15.2 ff.). In order to indicate the proper relationship between Paul and Barnabas, it may be best to say “I went along with Barnabas.”
Titus was a Greek, that is, a non-Jew. He played an important role in the correspondence between Paul and the church at Corinth. (See 2 Cor 2.13; 7.6; and other places. Some persons have thought that “Silas” in the book of Acts is another name for Titus.) In translating taking Titus along with me, it is important to avoid an expression for taking which would suggest “lead” (as one would lead a small child). An equivalent of this expression in some languages is “I had Titus go along with me.” However, since Barnabas has already been mentioned as accompanying Paul, it may be necessary to say “… along with us,” in order to indicate clearly that three persons were involved.
Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Galatians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1976. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
The church leaders accepted Paul’s apostleship and his message
In this section, Paul explained to the Galatians one reason why they should hold firm to the gospel that he had taught them. He did this by telling them about the meeting that he had in Jerusalem with the apostles there. At this meeting, the apostles recognized Paul’s authority as an apostle. They also agreed that he preached the true gospel.
This meeting became necessary because of the message of some false teachers. These false teachers insisted that a person was not truly saved unless he also became circumcised and kept the laws of Moses. (See Acts 15:1–2 and Galatians 2:4.) At the meeting, the apostles agreed with Paul. They agreed that no one should force non-Jewish believers to be circumcised and obey the Law that God gave to Moses. This showed the Galatians that these teachers were wrong.
Some other possible headings for this section are:
Paul Was Accepted as an Apostle by the Leaders in Jerusalem (God’s Word) -or-
The apostles accept Paul -or-
Paul’s apostleship and message -or-
The Jerusalem leaders recognized Paul’s apostleship and message
Paragraph 2:1–5
In this paragraph, Paul told about the meeting that he and Barnabas had with church leaders in Jerusalem. In this meeting, Paul wanted to see whether the leaders would accept the message that he was teaching to Gentiles. The fact that the leaders did not require Titus, a Greek, to be circumcised showed that they accepted Paul’s message. They accepted his message in spite of some opposition from false brothers.
2:1a
Fourteen years later: There are two ways to interpret the phrase Fourteen years later :
(1) It means fourteen years after Paul’s previous visit to Jerusalem to see Peter in 1:18.
(2) It means fourteen years from Paul’s conversion in 1:16.
If possible, you should translate as generally as in the Berean Standard Bible and the Greek. In other words, you should not specifically state from which event these fourteen years are counted. However, if you cannot leave it ambiguous, follow interpretation (1). Most scholars agree with interpretation (1).
Another way to translate this phrase is:
Then fourteen years after ?my visit to Jerusalem?
I went up again to Jerusalem: The verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as went up indicates that the city of Jerusalem was built on a hill. So anyone going to Jerusalem had to walk up or ascend the hill.
In some languages, it is important to say whether people go up or go “down” when they travel. In other languages, this will be unusual or may be confusing. If it is confusing in your language, you should simply say:
I went to Jerusalem again (God’s Word)
The same Greek verb occurs in 1:18b.
again: The word again indicates that this was another visit that Paul made to Jerusalem.
Some ways to translate this entire clause are:
I ascended to Jerusalem again -or-
I went back to Jerusalem once again -or-
I returned to Jerusalem
accompanied by Barnabas: The word Barnabas is the name of a man. Barnabas had accompanied Paul on his mission trip to Galatia. He went again with Paul on this trip to Jerusalem.
Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
this time with Barnabas (New Century Version) -or-
taking Barnabas as a companion -or-
Barnabas went with me
2:1b
I took Titus along also: The verb took…along implies that Paul and Barnabas invited Titus to go with them to Jerusalem.
Some other ways to translate this clause are:
and we took Titus with us (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English) -or-
I also took Titus with me. (New Century Version)
Titus:Titus was a Greek man who became a Christian as a result of Paul’s ministry. As a Greek, a non-Jew, he was not circumcised.
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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