Acts 6:15
I am not fully satisfied with the last section, though I probably won’t ever be. This is probably a quirk of human nature.
One day, I shall return to the Manambu language.
NJB: The members of the Sanhedrin all looked directly at Stephen, and his face appeared to them like the face of an angel.
KJB: And all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw that his face as if it had been the face of an angel.
Manambu: Tətəkərəm rədaku Səsəlkim məl sraytakadad mutam dəkə vəda mæjakayiku mutam kətək.
the members of the Sanhedrin = Tətəkərəm rədaku
Tətəkərəm means in the Sanhedrin.
Tətəkər is my translation of Sanhedrin, which I translate in Acts 6:12.
Three components build rədaku:
1. rə = exist in a horizontal position.
2. -da = they did.
3. -ku = (same people do the next thing).
I want you to compare and contrast the Verb rə with the Verb tə. To find out what tə means, I redirect you to my translation of Jesus in Acts 6:14.
In addition, the tə in Tətəkər has a different etymological origin than that in Jesus.
This is appropriate, because the Sanhedrin is about to sentence Stephen to death. In Greek, the name for Stephen is the same as the crown of thorns placed upon Jesus’ head as he hung upon the cross.
all looked directly at Stephen = Səsəlkim məl sraytakadad
Səsəlkim means at Stephen, and as I have mentioned before, please see my translation of Acts 6:8 to find out more.
məl sraytakadad means they looked with great attention.
It is actually the same verbs which I use to translate debate in Acts 6:9.
and his face appeared to them = mutam dəkə vəda
mutam means face, and dəkə means his.
dəkə means that the Noun mutam is Feminine.
Manambu has Masculine and Feminine Gender.
If something is small in size and round in shape, then it is Feminine. I assume that a face fits both these criteria.
This criterion of size can also be applied metaphorically and symbolically. Thus, one might expect this to turn face Masculine.
This is Stephen at his most humble moment – he shows ultimate humility towards God. Thus he is small.
Therefore, how ironic it is, that his death motivates the greatest social, cultural and political movement in all of human history.
vəda has two components:
1. və = see/look/experience.
2. –da = they did.
like the face of an angel = mæjakayiku mutam kətək
Again, mutam means face, whilst kətək is, in this context, a direct equivalent to the English like.
The word angel comes from the Greek angelos (αγγελος), which simply means messenger.
I could not find a word for messenger or something similar.
To get around this, I created the word mæjakayik. This has three components:
1. mæj = rope.
2. -a = (you can’t say /jk/).
3. kayak = spirit and image.
kayak is my current default word for spirit or holy spirit.
But where does the rope come in?
Among the pre- and illiterate Manambu, messengers used ropes and their knots to help themselves remember long messages across long distances.
I have both localised and translated the original Greek.
While I am writing this, I have around 5 newsletters scheduled for release, and another 15 which I have written and completed. Thus, I will force myself to take a week-long break from writing translations.
I wrote this paragraph around 4 months ago.
My next passage will be John 16:20-23, and the language will be one from South America. You shall find out in good time.