21They replied, “We have received no letters from Judea about you, and none of the brothers coming here has reported or spoken anything evil about you.
The Greek that is translated in English as “brother” (in the sense of a fellow believer), is translated with a specifically coined word in Kachin: “There are two terms for brother in Kachin. One is used to refer to a Christian brother. This term combines ‘older and younger brother.’ The other term is used specifically for addressing siblings. When one uses this term, one must specify if the older or younger person is involved. A parallel system exists for ‘sister’ as well. In [these verses], the term for ‘a Christian brother’ is used.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae)
In Martu Wangka it is translated as “relative” (this is also the term that is used for “follower.”) (Source: Carl Gross)
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 Jewish leaders in Rome).
Source: SIL International Translation Department (1999).
Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 28:21:
Uma: “The Yahudi elders said to Paulus: ‘We have not received a letter from Yudea talking about you (sing.). And there has also been no-one from there bringing news or speaking of your (sing.) evil.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “They said to Paul, ‘We (excl.) have never received a letter from the land Yahudiya concerning you. There are also no Yahudi who have been there bringing information here or speaking evil about you.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And they said to Paul, ‘There is no letter that we’ve received which has come from the province of Judea telling us about you, and there are none of our companions who have arrived from Judea that have any news about anything that you’ve done that’s bad.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “After that they said, ‘We (excl.) have received no letter from Judea about you (sing.). Even also our companions who have come-from there, there is nothing they have reported-negatively or related that is evil that you (sing.) have done.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Those people said, ‘All this time, there has been no letter which came here to us from Judea telling concerning you. And those of our (incl.) fellow-countrymen who have been coming here from there, there was nothing they related or were discussing about evil which you had done.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
The name that is transliterated as “Judah” or “Judea” in English (referring to the son of Jacob, the tribe, and the territory) is translated in Spanish Sign Language as “lion” (referring to Genesis 49:9 and Revelation 5:5). This sign for lion is reserved for regions and kingdoms. (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. and Steve Parkhurst)
They said to him may be made more specific in some languages as “the local Jewish leaders said to Paul” or “the local Jewish leaders responded.”
In this context our brothers is, of course, “fellow Jews.”
Of the two expressions come … with any news and or to say anything, the first refers to an official and the second to a private communication. The Revised Standard Version translates these as “reported or spoken,” and the Jerusalem Bible “with any report or story.”
Say anything bad about may be equivalent to “say that you have done anything bad,” “say bad words about your reputation,” or “put bad words upon your name.”
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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