The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated “boat” or “ship” in English is translated in Chichimeca-Jonaz as “that with which we can walk on water” (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.), in Chitonga as a term in combination with bwato or “dugout canoe” (source: Wendland 1987, p. 72), and in Tangale as inj am or “canoe-of water” (inj — “canoe” — on its own typically refers to a traditional type of carved-out log for sleeping) (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin).
In Kouya it is translated as ‘glʋ ‘kadʋ — “big canoe.”
Philip Saunders (p. 231) explains how the Kouya team arrived at that conclusion:
“Acts chapter 27 was a challenge! It describes Paul’s sea voyage to Italy, and finally Rome. There is a storm at sea and a shipwreck on Malta, and the chapter includes much detailed nautical vocabulary. How do you translate this for a landlocked people group, most of whom have never seen the ocean? All they know are small rivers and dugout canoes.
“We knew that we could later insert some illustrations during the final paging process which would help the Kouya readers to picture what was happening, but meanwhile we struggled to find or invent meaningful terms. The ‘ship’ was a ‘big canoe’ and the ‘passengers’ were ‘the people in the big canoe’; the ‘crew’ were the ‘workers in the big canoe’; the ‘pilot’ was the ‘driver of the big canoe’; the ‘big canoe stopping place’ was the ‘harbour’, and the ‘big canoe stopping metal’ was the ‘anchor’!”
In Lokạạ it is translated as ukalangkwaa, lit. “English canoe.” “The term was not coined for the Bible translation, but rather originated in colonial times when the English arrived in Nigeria on ships. The indigenous term for a canoe was modified to represent the large, ocean-going ship of the English.” (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )
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 (only including the people on the boat).
Source: SIL International Translation Department (1999).
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 28:11:
Uma: “We having been on the island of Malta for three full months, we left again, going on a ship that was from Aleksandria. That ship had stopped a long time at the island waiting for the cold season to pass. The name of the ship was ‘Twin Spirits [Anitu]’.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “It was three months before we (excl.) could sail from that island. We (excl.) rode on a ship from the city of Iskandal that had stopped on that island during the windy season. The name of the ship was ‘The Twin Gods.’ So-then we (excl.) sailed.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “After we had lived there on that island for three months, we continued. We got onto a boat which had stayed there during the rainy season. It was from Alexandria, and the way we could tell it and the thing that was its mark there on its forward end was an image of twin gods.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “We (excl.) stayed in Malta three months, then we rode in a boat from Alexandria that had stayed there during the typhoon-season. Its mark, the Twin Gods.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “But it was a long time till we were able to sail for we waited for cold season to pass. We reached three months there on that island and then we could sail again. What we sailed in was a ship which had sheltered there, waiting out that time too. As for that ship, it also came from Alejandro and was called Castor and Polux.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
If the ancient historian Pliny is correct, sailing began on February 7, the beginning of spring. Assuming that the ship left as early as possible, after three months would indicate that they had been shipwrecked since the early part of November. It may, however, be necessary to relate after three months to some intermediary verbal expression—for example, “after we had stayed there three months, we sailed away,” “after being there three months, we sailed away,” or even “we stayed there three months, and then we sailed away.”
A ship from Alexandria may either be “a ship whose home port was Alexandria” or simply “a ship which was coming from Alexandria.”
The word translated called may have the meaning of “having as a figurehead.” The precise meaning of this word is disputed, though it is known that the ancients often named their ships by the figurehead on the bow of the ship. For this reason it is safe to assume, along with the Good News Translation (so also An American Translation* and New English Bible), that the meaning here is “called” or “named.” It is important, however, that the name The Twin Gods be applied to the ship and not to Alexandria. It may be very useful at this point to have some marginal note to explain that the principal beam at the prow of the ship may have been carved into the shape of The Twin Gods. The Twin Gods (Jerusalem Bible “the Twins”) translates one word in Greek, which refers to the twin gods Castor and Pollux (see New English Bible), who were often worshiped by sailors.
The equivalent of winter in some languages is “the cold months”; in other languages it is “the time of storms.” Either reference would be perfectly appropriate in this context.
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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