spirit of divination

The Greek that is translated in English as “(she had a ) spirit of divination” or similar is translated in Morelos Nahuatl as “in that girl’s heart lived a demon. That demon could say what was going to happen before it happened,” in Lalana Chinantec as “she carried an evil spirit. Therefore she was able to make words ahead of time as to what would happen,” or in Coatlán Mixe as “she has a devil with her with which she foretells.” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)

In Yalunka an existing local term for “spirit of divination” is used: ninginangana. (Source: Pruett 2014, p. 259)

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Acts 16:16)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, translators typically select the exclusive form (excluding the addressee).

Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.

complete verse (Acts 16:16)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 16:16:

  • Uma: “One other time, when we (excl.) went to the praying-place of the Yahudi, we (excl.) met a woman who was a slave [lit., who lived as a slave]. That woman had an anitu [familiar spirit]. From the power of that anitu, she was able to foretell what would happen before it happened. Her nobles received much money from her work.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “One day, while we were going to the place of prayer, we met a female slave who was possessed by a demon therefore she could tell the fortune. (magpayam) Her masters found/got much money because of her fortune-telling.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “One day about that time when we were going to the place where they prayed, we were met by a girl who was a slave who was inspired by a demon which allowed her to prophesy. Her owners were able to get much money through her prophesying.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “One day as-we (excl.) -were-going to the praying-place, there was a young-woman whom we (excl.) met who was a slave who was skilled in telling-fortunes, because an evil-spirit had possessed her. Because of that-aforementioned skill of hers, her slave owners were getting much money.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “There was another day when we (excl.) were going there to that prayer-place, when we (excl.) came across a female slave who was an predicter/astrologer/fortune-teller. What enabled her to predict was that she was indwelt by an evil-spirit. Her masters were really able to get money because, for each prediction, there was a charge.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Acts 16:16

The phrase the place of prayer is the same as the one referred to in verse 13. In the earlier verse one can render this as “a place where Jewish people habitually gathered together to pray to God.” In verse 16 a similar expression can be employed “a place where people habitually gathered to pray to God.” It may be necessary to specify habitual action and also the goal of prayer, namely, God. Otherwise the reader might assume that this was only a place where someone on some particular occasion happened to be praying.

We were met by a slave girl may, of course, be rendered in the active form as “a slave girl met us.” However, “met” must not be understood in the technical sense of becoming acquainted with, but simply “coming across” or “chance meeting up with.”

A slave girl may be rendered in some languages as “a girl who had been sold into slavery” or “a girl who had been bought as a slave.”

Who had an evil spirit in her that made her predict the future is literally “who had a python-spirit.” “Python” was originally the name given to the snake that guarded the sacred place at Delphi where divine oracles were given. Later, the word “python” was used of anyone who possessed the power to foretell the future. Looked at from the Christian point of view, this “python-spirit” would have been an evil spirit, and therefore the Good News Translation has rendered the phrase an evil spirit (in her) that made her predict the future. Predict the future may be rendered as “tell people what would happen in the future” or “tell people what was going to happen.”

Some persons have assumed that the owners were a man and his wife, but the incidents which took place later would seem to indicate that several men were involved as the owners of this slave girl.

Much money may also be taken in the sense of “much profit.” Telling fortunes (see New English Bible, Jerusalem Bible) better qualifies what she was doing than “foretelling the future” (Phillips). The word translated by telling fortunes appears only here in the New Testament, but when used in the Septuagint it never refers to true prophecy but is always used of lying prophets and of forbidden ways of seeking God’s will. In practically all languages there are expressions for telling fortunes—this is simply the practice of divination. But if there is no generally recognized term or expression for this practice, one can always translate “telling people what would happen to them in the future.”

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 .