3Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and had him circumcised because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
Orthodox Icons are not drawings or creations of imagination. They are in fact writings of things not of this world. Icons can represent our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. They can also represent the Holy Trinity, Angels, the Heavenly hosts, and even events. Orthodox icons, unlike Western pictures, change the perspective and form of the image so that it is not naturalistic. This is done so that we can look beyond appearances of the world, and instead look to the spiritual truth of the holy person or event. (Source )
The term that is transliterated as “Timothy” in English is translated in American Sign Language with a sign that combines the signs for the letter T and “young,” referring to 1 Timothy 4:12 et al. (Source: RuthAnna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Timothy” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
The term that is transliterated as “Paul” in English is translated in American Sign Language with a sign that signifies the many letters he wrote. (Source: RuthAnna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Paul” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
In Spanish Sign Language it is translated with a sign depicting putting away a sword, referring to his conversion from a persecutor of Christians to a Christian leader. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
The Hebrew and Greek terms that are translated as “circumcise” or “circumcision” in English (originally meaning of English term: “to cut around”) are (back-) translated in various ways:
Tetelcingo Nahuatl: “put the mark in the body showing that they belong to God” (or: “that they have a covenant with God”)
Indonesian: disunat — “undergo sunat” (sunat is derived from Arabic “sunnah (سنة)” — “(religious) way (of life)”)
Ekari: “cut the end of the member for which one fears shame” (in Gen. 17:10) (but typically: “the cutting custom”) (source for this and above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Hiri Motu: “cut the skin” (source: Deibler / Taylor 1977, p. 1079)
Garifuna: “cut off part of that which covers where one urinates”
Bribri: “cut the soft” (source for this and the one above: Ronald Ross)
Amele: deweg cagu qoc — “cut the body” (source: John Roberts)
Eastern Highland Otomi: “cut the flesh of the sons like Moses taught” (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.)
Newari: “put the sign in one’s body” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 16:3:
Uma: “It was Paulus’s desire that Timotius go with him on his journey to carry the Good News. That is why he circumcised him first according to the Law of Musa. His intention in circumcising him was so that the Yahudi would receive him, because all the Yahudi people in that land knew that his father was Yunani.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Paul wanted to take Timoteo along as his travelling companion. But all the Yahudi in those places knew that Timoteo’s father was a Girik therefore Paul first circumcised Timoteo so that he would be respected by the Yahudi.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Paul wanted to take Timothy along with them, so he circumcized him. The reason he circumcized Timothy was so that the Jews there in the villages where they travelled would not be disgusted with Timothy, because all the Jews there, they knew that Timothy’s father was a Greek.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “and Pablo wanted to take-him -along. But because all the people there knew that his father was a Gentile, Pablo had-him -circumcised first so that the feelings (lit. thoughts) of their fellow Jews in the various-towns where-they -would-go would not be injured.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Pablo wanted to cause him to go along on that journey of theirs, therefore he asked him. But before they set out, he circumcized him so that the minds/thinking of the Jews there wouldn’t be agitated. For everyone knew that Timoteo’s father was a Griego, and as for the Griego, circumcizing wasn’t their custom.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Apinayé: “Paul arrived and saw him, and wanted to take him along with them. But Timothy was a mixed breed. His mother was an Israel but his father was a non-Israel. Thus Timothy was a mixed breed. Because the Israel ones knew it, Paul circumcised Timothy.” (Source: Callow 1972, p. 47f.)
The Greek text says that he (Paul) circumcised him (Timothy). This is taken by some to mean that Paul himself actually circumcised Timothy, but most scholars understand it to mean that Paul had him circumcised (that is, by someone else). The reason for Paul’s action is given in this verse: since the Jews knew that Timothy’s father was a Gentile, and Timothy had therefore not been circumcised, it would presumably have been difficult for Paul to use him to take the Christian message to the Jewish people. It may be necessary in some instances to add a marginal note at this point to indicate that, since Timothy’s father was a Gentile, Timothy had not been circumcised in his infancy.
Some understand the clause Timothy’s father was Greek to indicate that Timothy’s father was dead, and so translate “Timothy’s father had been a Greek” (see Moffatt and Barclay).
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 .
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