San Blas Kuna: “witnesses to God” (meaning “those who speak up and out for God” (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida, except Balanta-Kentohe: Rob Koops)
Mairasi: sasiri atatuemnev nesovnaa or “sent witnesses” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
Khmer: Christtout (“messenger representing Christ”) or when Jesus addresses them: Tout robas Preah Ang (“his messengers-representatives”) (source: Joseph Hong in The Bible Translator 1996, p. 233ff.)
Pwo Karen: “eyeballs” (i.e., “right-hand men”) (source: David Clark)
Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “one who goes about preaching the good word” (source for this and above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
Noongar: Moorta Ngany Waangki-Koorl or “People I (Jesus) Send” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Ayutla Mixtec: “those who bore the word of God’s mouth”
Chichimeca-Jonaz: “elders messengers” (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Scot McKnight (in The Second Testament, publ. 2023) translates it into English as commissioner.
In American Sign Language it is translated with a combination of the signs for “following” plus the sign for “authority” to differentiate it from disciple. (Source: RuthAnna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“apostles” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
The Greek that is often translated as “wonder” into English is different from the term that is translated as “miracle” (see miracle) since it “usually involves some unusual phenomena in nature which are a portent of dire woe or extraordinary blessing.” In Huichol these are “awe-inspiring things,” in Yucateco they are “things which show what is coming,” and in Eastern Highland Otomi the expression must be cast into the form of a verb phrase “they will amaze the people.”
The Hebrew, Greek, and Latin that is translated as “soul” in English is translated in Chol with a term that refers to the invisible aspects of human beings (source: Robert Bascom).
The Mandarin Chineselínghún (靈魂 / 灵魂), literally “spirit-soul,” is often used for “soul” (along with xīn [心] or “heart”). This is a term that was adopted from Buddhist sources into early Catholic writings and later also by Protestant translators. (Source: Zetzsche 1996, p. 32, see also Clara Ho-yan Chan in this article )
The Greek that is typically translated in English as “sign” is translated in Huehuetla Tepehua as “thing to be marveled at” (source: Larson 1889, p. 279) and in Mairasi as “big work” (source: Enggavoter 2004).
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 2:43:
Uma: “Many powerful things and amazing signs were done/made by the apostles of Lord Yesus. That’s why the crowds were very much afraid.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Many works of power and works causing-wonder were done by the persons/men commissioned by Isa, that’s why the people really feared God.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “There were many miracles and signs which were done by means of the apostles. That’s why the people were filled with the fear of God.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “There were many amazing miracles that God was having-the apostles -do, and the many-people were greatly amazed.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Many were the signs which were amazing things which the apostles were being able to do, that’s why everybody respected/honored God with fear.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Miracles and wonders is the same expression which was discussed in 2.19. The force of the Greek verb is such as to indicate that the apostles were continuously causing miracles and wonders and that the people were constantly filled with awe.
One should note that the apostles are not spoken of as the primary agents of the miracles, but only as the secondary ones. God himself is the initiator, and he works through the apostles. In some instances this type of secondary agency can be expressed as “many miracles and wonders happened because of (or, through) the apostles,” but obviously not in the sense of “for their sake.” However, one can also translate as “the apostles did many miracles and wonders,” especially in those receptor languages which have no convenient devices for indicating secondary agency.
And this caused everyone to be filled with awe, the second clause in the English sentence structure, is the first clause in the Greek sentence, which has been inverted by the Good News Translation. This inversion of the order of the Greek text is made so as to follow the temporal sequence (first the miracles and then the awe), and in order to employ a cause-and-effect sequence (the events and the reactions to them). The phrase to be filled with awe is equivalent in some languages to “had great respect for” or “were deeply impressed by”; idiomatically, “their heads were bowed” or “they saw them (that is, the miracle) with open mouths.”
Everyone (literally “every soul”) may refer either to the believers (as the Good News Translation understands it) or to the nonbelievers. If everyone is taken to refer to the believers, then awe perhaps describes best their response; if everyone refers to nonbelievers, then the best description of their reaction may be that of “fear.”
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 .
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