4He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Beroea, by Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, by Gaius from Derbe, and by Timothy, as well as by Tychicus and Trophimus from Asia.
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
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 20:4:
Uma: “On that journey of his, there were also several companions of his who went with him. Their names were, Sopater the son of Pirus from Berea. There was also Aristarkhus and Sekundus from Tesalonika; Gayus from Derbe; Tikhikus and Trofimus from Asia. And Timotius.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “His companions were Sopater, a man from Berea son of Pirus, and Aristarkus and Sekundus, men from Tessalonika, and Gayus from Derbe, and Tikikus and Toropimus, men from Asiya and Timoteo.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And there was a person from Berea whose name was Sopater, the son of Pyrrhus, and he went with him. Also went with him Aristarchus and Secundus, men from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, and Timothy, Tychicus, and Trophimus who were from Asia.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “His traveling-companions were Sopater the child of Pirrus from-Berea, Aristarkus and Secundus from-Tessalonica, Gaius from-Derbe, Timoteo, and Tikicus and Trofimus from-Asia.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “He didn’t travel alone for many accompanied him. One person was the taga Berea who was Sopatro, the son of Pirro. Two were taga Tesalonica, Aristarco and Segundo. Two also were taga Asia who were Tiquico and Trofimo. Others were Gayo, the taga Derbe, and Timoteo.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Sopater may be Sosipater, who is mentioned in Romans 16.21, though this is rather questionable. Aristarchus is mentioned also in 19.29 and 27.2. Secundus is mentioned only here in the New Testament. Regarding Gaius from Derbe, see the comments on 19.29. Timothy (who came from Lystra, 16.1) is so well known to the readers that he receives no further qualification. Tychicus is mentioned also in Ephesians 6.21; Colossians 4.7; 2 Timothy 4.12; Titus 3.12. Trophimus appears again in 21.29 (see also 2 Timothy 4.20).
The grammatical structure of this fourth verse is typically Greek, but it must be rather significantly altered if this it is to be translated readily into some languages. Note that according to the grammatical structure it is only Sopater who went with Paul. Then we have the addition of other persons: Aristarchus, Secundus, Gaius, Timothy, Tychicus, and Trophimus. In many languages one simply cannot use this type of structure. Rather, one must say “Several persons went with him. These included Sopater, the son of Pyrrhus, from Berea; Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica….”
In a number of languages there are very convenient devices for identifying a person’s relationship to his home town. Sometimes this is even done by a kind of adjectival ending to the name of the town. However, in other languages one must simply say “who came from Berea” or “who came from Thessalonica.”
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 .
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.