Checking Acts 21:3

So, let's say you were a Tanzanian Bible translator working on Acts 21:3, and you wanted to describe Paul and co.'s journey from Turkey to Syria in terms of how they passed Cyprus. You check some English translations to see what they say. The first you see is NIV, which says they passed it on the south. Then you check NLT, which says they passed it on their left. Since these two differed, you look at another, NET, which says they left it behind on their port side.

Since now you're pretty confused as to what is correct (not to mention you're not entirely sure what "port side" means, being as you're from a land-locked people group), you figure you'd better check the Greek to see how things were in the original. "Left," it is written there. Well, that might work. The people in your tribe certainly refer to left and right hands and use those words. However, you think it sounds kind of funny to talk about a big island as being on someone's left hand side. North and south are a lot more common when it comes to talking about journeys.

In conclusion, you write "left" in your translation draft, because that's what the original has and you want to start with that option. But you also write a note to test this with some villagers to see what they think. If they all think it sounds pretty odd for people sailing through the sea to say they passed an island on their left, you can then test whether saying the island was to their north or saying they went south of it sounds better. Since there is not a word for "port side" in your language, you can leave that one off your list of options, at least!

And there you have it - an average day's problem in Bible translation. I'm checking Acts 21:3 in Ikizu right now and thought you might be interested in what kind of issues pop up in verses. Sometimes there are deep theological issues to check, and sometimes it's a matter of checking to see what natural phrasing is. In this instance, the Ikizu have written that they passed on the east side, so I know what is in their draft is wrong, but there are a lot of options for what might be right. Now my job is to explain all of that in a brief, clear note in Swahili!