Peter

Following is a Armenian Orthodox icon of Peter (found in the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in Shusha, Azerbaijan).

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 )

Following is a hand colored stencil print on momigami of Peter by Sadao Watanabe (1970):

Image taken with permission from the SadaoHanga Catalogue where you can find many more images and information about Sadao Watanabe. For other images of Sadao Watanabe art works in TIPs, see here.

In Finnish Sign Language it is translated with the sign signifying “key” (referring to Matthew 16:19). (Source: Tarja Sandholm)


“Peter” or “Cephas” in Finnish Sign Language (source )

In Swiss-German Sign Language it is translated with the sign for “rock,” referring to the meaning of the Greek word for “Peter.”


“Peter” in Swiss-German Sign Language, source: DSGS-Lexikon biblischer Begriffe , © CGG Schweiz

See also Peter – rock.

complete verse (Acts 2:14)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 2:14:

  • Uma: “From there, Petrus stood with his eleven companions and he spoke to the many people. He spoke loudly, he said: ‘Yahudi relatives, and you who live in Yerusalem! Listen well you, because what is happening here I will explain to you.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But Petros stood up together with his eleven companions and he spoke loudly, he said, ‘My fellow Yahudi and all of you living in Awrusalam. Listen very well and I will explain to you as to what is happening here.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Then Peter stood up, and his companions the other eleven apostles stood up also, and he spoke aloud. He said, ‘You, my companion Jews, and all of you residents here in Jerusalem, listen so that you might understand what I have to say.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “When that was so, Pedro and his eleven companions stood-up, and he raised (lit. made-strong) his voice saying, ‘My fellow Jews and all you who are staying in Jerusalem, listen please so I will tell what this means to say.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But Pedro and his companions, those eleven apostles, stood up in front of that crowd. And then Pedro spoke-loudly, saying, ‘My fellow Jews and all the others here in Jerusalem, please comply by listening well to this which I will say.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Acts 2:14

It is important at the beginning of verse 14 to have some type of transitional expression, which will help to shift the attention from what the crowd has said to what Peter is now going to reply, for example, “then,” “in response,” or “in answer to them.”

With the other eleven may be taken as the Good News Translation has translated it, or the phrase may be understood as a title (see New English Bible and Jerusalem Bible). In some languages it is necessary to state more precisely the relation of Peter to the other apostles. Did all of the twelve stand together, or was Peter, as one with the eleven, the only one to stand? He was certainly the only one to address the crowd. It would probably appear more natural to say, “Peter, who was with the eleven apostles, stood up.”

To “lift up one’s voice” (literally in the Greek) may merely mean “to begin to speak in a loud voice.” In a loud voice is more often rendered simply as “to speak loudly to” or “to shout to.”

It is interesting that the Greek verb which Luke has chosen for speak is one which places emphasis upon the high quality and articulate nature of the words spoken (see 2.4). The word occurs here, following the charge of drunkenness, and in 26.25 after the charge of madness.

The rendering fellow Jews is quite appropriate for this passage, since it not only identifies the audience but indicates a degree of identification between the speaker and the audience. In some languages the equivalent is “you who are Jews with us.” However, in some languages one cannot employ this type of vocative, except when one is actually calling to a person or group. Hence, such a reference must be related more specifically to the subject of the verb listen, for example, “You who are fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, listen to me.”

The two verbal expressions listen and let me tell you are really only emphatic supplements one of the other; they do not actually introduce any new information. Accordingly, in some languages only one verb is used, but it is often reinforced with some intensifier, for example, “pay very close attention to,” “listen well,” or idiomatically “open your ears well,” “track down closely my words.”

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 .