complete verse (Acts 19:16)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 19:16:

  • Uma: “From there, the person who was indwelt by the demon threw-himself-forward and hugged/wrestled them. They were not strong enough to oppose him, because he was indeed strong. They fled from inside the house, wounded and naked because he had shredded/ripped-off their clothes.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Immediately those men were jumped upon and (had their) clothes-torn-in-shreds by the man who had the demon. They were not able to fight/challenge. They all ran from the house of that person wounded and already naked.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then the person who was afflicted by the demon, he jumped at them and beat them and tore off their clothing. Because of this they were afraid and they ran away from the house naked and wounded.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Right-then the one possessed by the spirit suddenly-caught them, and extreme was the way he fought them until they were all defeated. And-so they escaped-from his house stripped-naked and wounded.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “What else but that possessed person then rushed at those seven people and kept on hitting/hurting them. There was nothing they could do, they were defeated. They couldn’t take-care-of-themselves when they left the house. They were in a state of undress and multiply-wounded too.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Acts 19:16

With such violence that he defeated them actually translates a verb and a particle which are almost equal in meaning. The Good News Translation understands the participle as intensifying the force of the verb, and so has translated it in this way. (Note Jerusalem Bible “overpowered … and handled them so violently.”)

In some languages it is preferable to invert the order of events in the last sentence of verse 16—for example, “He wounded them and tore their clothes off and then they ran away from his house.”

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 .