Cyprus, island

The Greek that is transliterated as “Cyprus” in English is translated more specifically as “the island of Cyprus” in some languages. Eastern Highland Otomi for instance has “the land of Cyprus, the little land it sits in the water,” Morelos Nahuatl has “the land-rise of Cyprus,” or Lalana Chinantec has “land in the middle of the water which is called Cyprus.” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)

See also complete verse (Acts 13:4) and Samothrace.

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Acts 27:4)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, translators typically select the exclusive form (excluding the addressee).

Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.

complete verse (Acts 27:4)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 27:4:

  • Uma: “From there we continued our journey. But the wind met our ship, that is why we went by the edge of the island of Siprus on the east side, so that we would not be hit too hard by the wind.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “We (excl.) sailed from Sidon and followed-the-coastline of Kiprus island taking-shelter because the wind was contrary.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “We left there and since it was not possible to go against the force of the wind, we passed on the side of the island of Cyprus which was sheltered from the wind.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “When we (excl.) again set-out, we (excl.) passed-by Cyprus on the sheltered (lit. hidden/blocked/covered) side, because the wind was being-met.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “When we sailed again going from there, we couldn’t go-on-a-direct-course for the wind was contrary. Our sailing was toward the shore side of the island of Chipre.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Acts 27:4

As has been noted in previous passages dealing with voyages by sea, languages differ very widely in the type of terminology and the explicitness with which they describe various types of sea journeys. For languages in the South Pacific, there are a great many technical terms which are known by practically all of the local population. But in societies in which there is a great deal of specialization of activity, such technical vocabulary is simply not known by the majority of people and cannot be readily introduced into a translation meant for the populace as a whole. In languages where there is practically no specialized vocabulary for sailing (for example, some of the languages on the edge of the Sahara in Africa), one can only imply very general terms such as “to go in a ship.” In all instances, the translator himself must decide what type of vocabulary is appropriate for an audience for which he is translating.

We sailed on the sheltered side of the island of Cyprus must be taken to mean that the ship sailed around the eastern end of Cyprus. As a rule, in the late summer the wind comes from the west or northwest, and there is also a westward current moving along the southern coast of Asia Minor with practically no tide. In some languages the sheltered side of the island must be represented by “the side from which the wind was not blowing,” “the side from which there was not much wind,” or “the side where we were protected from the wind.”

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 .