council

The Greek that is translated as “council” or “Council” in English is (back-) translated in a variety of ways:

angel

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The Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic that is translated as “angel” in English versions is translated in many ways:

  • Pintupi-Luritja: ngaṉka ngurrara: “one who belongs in the sky” (source: Ken Hansen quoted in Steven 1984a, p. 116.)
  • Tetela, Kpelle, Balinese, and Mandarin Chinese: “heavenly messenger”
  • Shilluk / Igede: “spirit messenger”
  • Mashco Piro: “messenger of God”
  • Batak Toba: “envoy, messenger”
  • Navajo: “holy servant” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida 1961; Igede: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
  • Central Mazahua: “God’s worker” (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.)
  • Saramaccan: basia u Masa Gaangadu köndë or “messenger from God’s country” (source: Jabini 2015, p. 86)
  • Mairasi: atatnyev nyaa or “sent-one” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Shipibo-Conibo: “word bringer” (source: James Lauriault in The Bible Translator 1951, p. 32ff. )
  • Apali: “God’s one with talk from the head” (“basically God’s messenger since head refers to any leader’s talk”) (source: Martha Wade)
  • Michoacán Nahuatl: “clean helper of God” (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
  • Noongar: Hdjin-djin-kwabba or “spirit good” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Wè Northern (Wɛɛ): Kea ‘a “sooa or “the Lord’s soldier” (also: “God’s soldier” or “his soldier”) (source: Drew Maust)
  • Iwaidja: “a man sent with a message” (Sam Freney explains the genesis of this term [in this article): “For example, in Darwin last year, as we were working on a new translation of Luke 2:6–12 in Iwaidja, a Northern Territory language, the translators had written ‘angel’ as ‘a man with eagle wings’. Even before getting to the question of whether this was an accurate term (or one that imported some other information in), the word for ‘eagle’ started getting discussed. One of the translators had her teenage granddaughter with her, and this word didn’t mean anything to her at all. She’d never heard of it, as it was an archaic term that younger people didn’t use anymore. They ended up changing the translation of ‘angel’ to something like ‘a man sent with a message’, which is both more accurate and clear.”)

See also angel (Acts 12:15) and this devotion on YouVersion .

complete verse (Acts 6:15)

Following are a number of back-translations of Acts 6:15:

  • Uma: “Hearing this, all the judges stared at Stefanus. What should they see, but that his face was like the face of an angel.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then when the councilors heard what they said, they all looked straight/intently at Estepan. They saw Estepan’s face shine like the face of an angel.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And all the leaders there stared at Stephen, and his appearance, it was as if it were the appearance of a messenger of God because of his being inspired.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “The leaders who were gathered there, they were-staring-at Esteban, and they saw that his face, it was like the face of an angel.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “When all those members of the Sanedrin sitting there heard, they looked straight at Esteban not moving their eyes, for they saw his face gleaming like the face of an angel.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Acts 6:15

Fixed their eyes on translates the same verb as was used in 1.10. Fixed their eyes on is equivalent to “looked directly at” or “watched Stephen carefully.”

The indication that Stephen’s face looked like the face of an angel doubtless means that his face shone like that of Moses (see Exodus 34.29-30) and of Jesus (Luke 9.29; Matthew 17.2). In some languages resemblance may be expressed negatively as not being able to make a distinction, for example, “they could not see that his face was different from the face of an angel.” In other languages the equivalent is “Stephen’s face and an angel’s face were alike.”

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 .