complete verse (Acts 27:28)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 27:28:

  • Uma: “That is why they lowered the sounding stone so that they would know the depth of the sea. Upon sounding, it was still about 20 arm-spans. After that they sounded again, the depth was only about 15 arm-spans.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Therefore they let down a rope with a heavy (thing) tied at the end so that they would know how deep the sea was. Then the depth was twenty fathoms (deppe). After a while they let down the rope again. The depth was sa’ fifteen fathoms (deppe).” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “That’s why they dropped down one of the weights, and they learned that the depth of the water was only twenty fathoms. And in a little while again after that, they did it again, and the depth was only fifteen fathoms.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “When they measured the depth of the water, it was still twenty fathoms (fathom = distance between outstretched arms). When we had moved-on a little, they measured again, and it was fifteen fathoms.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “They sounded the depth, twenty depa (distance from finger-tip to finger-tip with arms outstretched sideways) still. After going a little further, they sounded again. They found it was only fifteen depa.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Acts 27:28

Dropped a line with a weight tied to it is actually one word in Greek, a technical term used of measuring the depth of water under a ship.

One hundred and twenty feet is literally “twenty fathoms”; while ninety feet is literally “fifteen fathoms.” A fathom (equivalent to six feet) was a standard measurement of ocean depth. This measurement was calculated on the basis of the distance between one’s hands when the arms are stretched out full length. In a number of languages there is a local equivalent of this type of measurement; however, increasingly all such measurements are given in terms of meters (a meter is approximately one-half of a fathom). The depth would therefore be given in terms of first “forty meters” and later “thirty meters.”

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 .