complete verse (Acts 23:35)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 23:35:

  • Uma: “he said: ‘OK. I will examine your (sing.) case as soon as your (sing.) enemies arrive.’ After that, he ordered his soldiers to guard Paulus in the large house that King Herodes had built long ago.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “he said to Paul, ‘Your accusers must first arrive, before I will listen to your excuses.’ Then he commanded that Paul to be guarded there at the palace of Herod.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “the governor said, ‘I will investigate the things you are accused of when your accusers arrive.’ And then he had soldiers guard Paul and he had him placed in the palace of King Herod.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “the governor said, ‘I will then try/investigate you (sing.) when your (sing.) accusers come.’ Then he commanded that he be guarded in his house that King Herod had caused-to-be-built previously.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “he said, ‘When these who are bringing a case against you arrive, then I will properly elicit-all-the-information.’ And then he ordered that Pablo be guarded by soldiers there in that house which had been caused to be built by the past king Herodes.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Acts 23:35

I will hear you translates a legal technical term (appearing only here in the New Testament), and means something like “to hold a hearing.” The equivalent in some languages is “I will listen to your case,” “I will listen to what you are accused of,” or “I will listen and judge what you have done.” The addition of the term “judge” is sometimes necessary to indicate the official character of such a hearing.

In order to avoid the possibility of ambiguity for English readers, the Good News Translation has rendered the Greek pronoun “him” by Paul.

The phrase kept under guard may be translated as “had soldiers watching him” or even “commanded soldiers to watch him.”

Herod’s palace (rendered literally as “Herod’s praetorium” by the Revised Standard Version) is a reference to the palace which Herod the Great built and which was used as the headquarters by the Roman governors in Palestine.

The translation of Herod’s palace should not imply that Herod was still alive and therefore using the palace. This phrase may be rendered in some languages as “the palace that Herod had built.”

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 .