scripture

The Greek that is translated “scripture” or “scriptures” in English is translated as “God’s word which people wrote” in Guerrero Amuzgo (source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125) and “paper writings” in Copainalá Zoque (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.).

While the term “Bible,” often used as a synonym, does not appear in the Bible itself, there’s an interesting translation of that word in Dehu. Missionaries had translated “Bible” as “Container of the Word” until they realized that this was also used for “penis sheath.” (Source: Clifford 1992, p. 87)

For other translations of scripture see all scripture is inspired by God and examined the scriptures.

complete verse (Acts 17:11)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 17:11:

  • Uma: “The Yahudi people in Berea had good hearts, not like those in Tesalonika. They were happy to hear the News of Yesus, and every day they examined the Holy Book so that they would know if the words of Paulus were true or not.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “The Yahudi there, their livers were more tender/pliable than the Yahudi in Tessalonika. They were very glad to listen to the teaching/preaching of Paul and company and every day they studied the holy-book to see/watch if the teaching of Paul was really true.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And as for these Jews here in Berea, they were better than the Jews in Thessalonica because they were generous/kind/friendly. They really liked to listen to what was preached to them, and every day they looked in the written word of God because they would find out whether what Paul was teaching was true.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “The Jews in Berea, they were more receptive/open-minded than those-from-Tessalonica, because they very-much-liked to hear the word of God, and they read it daily to see if what Pablo was teaching was true.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well, the ways/nature of the taga Berea were really good, better than the taga Tesalonica. For they listened happily to that teaching of Pablo-and-co, and every day they were really studying well the writings which are the word of God, as to whether all that which was being said was true.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Acts 17:11

Open-minded translates a word which originally referred to persons of noble birth (see Revised Standard Version “noble”), but which later came to be used of those qualities which were expected in a person of such birth. In the present context the reference is to the attitude of the Bereans toward the Christian message and is best understood in the sense of “receptive.” In a context such as this, open-minded may be rendered in some languages in a negative fashion—for example, “their minds were not closed” or “their ears were not stopped up.” On the other hand, expressions for open-minded may be positive: “their minds received what he said,” “their ears were opened to hear,” or “they were willing to listen.”

Listened to the message with great eagerness is rendered in some languages as “wanted very much to listen to the message” or “desired very much to hear what Paul said.” The term eagerness is essentially the quality with which the people desired to listen and it is therefore possible to transfer this element of the meaning to a verb such as “to desire” or “to want to.”

To see if what Paul said was really true literally translates “to see if these things were so.” But the meaning, of course, is that the people of Berea studied the Scriptures to see if what Paul taught them was true. The New English Bible at this point is ambiguous, since the final “they” in the expression “whether it was as they said” could be understood in two different ways.

In some languages a translation of true, in referring to some statement or declaration, must be rendered by a verb “to agree with.” Therefore, one may need to restructure this final sentence of verse 11 to read “every day they studied the Scriptures in order see if what Paul had said agreed with what the Scriptures said” or “… to see if what was written in the Scriptures agreed with what Paul had said.”

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 .