Peter and John Went to Pray ... Where Exactly?

Many of us, when we hear the words "Peter and John Went to Pray," are reminded of the beloved Sunday School hymn:

Peter and John went to pray.
They met a lame man on the way,
He asked for alms and held out his palms,
And this is what Peter did say:

Silver and gold have I none,
But such as I have give I thee,
In the name of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth, rise up and walk.

Although the hymn never tells us where exactly Peter and John went to pray, in Acts 3:1 the King James Version says, "Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer." The Greek word that is translated as temple is hieron, which refers to the whole temple precinct with its buildings, courts, etc. If we were to think of it the way we think about a church today, it would include the church building itself, parking lot, outdoor playground, lawn, and any other buildings and outdoor spaces on the property owned by the church. In biblical times the hieron basically included anything within the outer gates of the temple property. So when Peter and John went "into the temple" it means they entered the gates of the temple property. They did not go into the sanctuary itself; only the priests could enter the actual sanctuary or temple proper. In the picture below, you can see that the hieron includes everything on the raised platform, while the sanctuary itself or temple proper (translated by a different Greek word naos) is the tall building in the center.

Model of the Second Temple at the Holy Land Hotel in Jerusalem

The distinction between the Greek word (hieron) that indicates the temple grounds as whole and the Greek word (naos) that indicates the sanctuary itself or temple proper is not clear in many English translations, which use the word "temple" to translate them both. When translating into Enga, however, we found it to be very confusing to use the same word for both the temple grounds and the sanctuary itself. Initially we were translating both Greek words as "God's big worship house." But one afternoon I began to realize that this translation was potentially misleading. So I asked the translators what sort of activities might happen in "God's big worship house," and the translators suggested that activities such as singing worship songs, praying, and listening to sermons were the types of activities that would happen there and that regular people would gather there along with the priests. Of course, the sanctuary itself is restricted to the priests alone, and the activities that happen in the sanctuary itself are limited to priestly duties such as offering the blood of sacrifices and setting out the Bread of the Presence.

After some discussion we changed our translation for the sanctuary itself from "God's big worship house" to "the restricted access worship house." The concept of a spiritual house with restricted access is very well known throughout Papua New Guinea. People are very familiar with the idea that certain spiritual houses or buildings are off limits to regular folks, who put themselves at great risk if they enter without permission. The use of the term "restricted access" very clearly communicates the concept of "holiness" to Enga speakers, and by referring to the sanctuary itself (or naos) as "the restricted access worship house," we could immediately convey the appropriate sense for Enga speakers. Based on that translation for the sanctuary itself, we could then refer to the temple grounds as "the outside area of the restricted access worship house." So when Peter and John went to pray, in Enga at least they went to "the outside area of the restricted access worship house" to do so. Doesn't quite roll off the tongue in English, but in Enga it sounds pretty good! Incidentally, when Jesus is described as teaching "in the temple," it means that he is teaching the temple courts and not in the sanctuary itself.

Translation Update
I have finished my final read through of Matthew through Acts. Lord willing, in the next two months I will finish my final read through of Romans through Revelation. We are scheduled to begin recording the Enga New Testament on August 2. Please pray for endurance for me and for the Enga translation team as we finish these final edits in preparation for recording. Please also continue to pray for Martin Harty's vision to be restored so that he can participate as a reader when we record the Enga New Testament. Thank you so much for your prayers!

Who's Telling the Story?

When translating the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles into Enga, we must answer the question of who is telling the story. For example, who is really telling the story in the Gospel of Matthew? Is the story being told by us, the translators? Is the story being told by Matthew himself? Or is the story being told by an omniscient narrator? While these are interesting questions for speakers of any language to ponder, the answers to these questions actually change the translation in Enga. This is because the Enga language requires the use of evidential suffixes by which the speakers indicates the source of his or her information. In other words, when a person tells a story in Enga, the listeners know, based on the suffixes that person uses, whether that person directly witnessed the events or not.

Consequently, if we the translators are the ones telling the story in the Gospel of Matthew, then we need to use suffixes to indicate that we did not directly witness the events. Stylistically, however, this does not sound good in Enga, particularly over the course of a long narrative. Furthermore, it is a stretch to think that we the translators are the ones telling the story. We are not telling the story; we are simply translating it into the Enga language. On the other hand, if Matthew is the one telling the story in the Gospel of Matthew, then we the translators have to try to determine what events Matthew directly witnessed himself and what he only learned about from others. Sometimes this would be an easy determination to make, but at other times the best we could hope to achieve is an educated guess as to whether or not Matthew was present at a particular event. However, if the story is being told by an omniscient narrator, then the story can be told from the perspective of a direct eyewitness, and there is no need to try to figure out whether or not Matthew was present at each event.

Is Matthew the one telling the story?

After giving consideration to these three different possibilities, the Enga translation team ultimately decided to tell the story from the perspective of an omniscient narrator. This allows us to communicate the four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles as compilations of eyewitness accounts, which is ultimately what they are, while also employing a beautiful translation style that comes across as authoritative.

Once we reached this decision, however, it required us to go back through the New Testament to make sure that the suffixes we are using align with the idea that the story is being told by an omniscient narrator. That is just one of a long checklist of items that the team and I are reviewing as we make our final adjustments to the New Testament. Thankfully, we should finish all of our major adjustments this week. We will then spend the next three months reading through each of the books one last time, making any final adjustments before we begin recording the Enga New Testament on August 2. Please pray for us as we finish up the translation in the next three months to prepare for recording. And, as always, thank you for partnering with us in this ministry. We could not do it without you!

Pray for Martin

It is not uncommon for unexpected challenges to arise as a translation draws near to completion. We are currently scheduled to begin recording the Enga New Testament in July of this year. In the past, our primary reader has been Martin Harty. While Martin is a fluent reader, he also has a rich voice that is enjoyable to listen to. In fact, why don’t you take a moment to listen to him reading the Lord’s Prayer.

Last November, Martin contacted me to let me know that he was dealing with sudden loss of vision. After visiting an eye doctor, he discovered that his loss of vision was due to high blood pressure, and he began taking medication to correct the problem. After making some initial improvements, his vision took a turn for the worse and he is currently unable to see, requiring someone to lead him by the hand whenever he wants to go anywhere. Although Martin is going through a tremendous trial with his loss of vision, his spirits are remarkably good, and he has a sense of peace which could only come from God. He is currently on a leave of absence from translation work so that he can stay home and hopefully recover in time to take part in the recording of the Enga New Testament in July.

Martin Harty recording the Gospel of Luke in 2017

Would you please join with us in praying for Martin’s full recovery? His condition is not one of permanent and complete blindness, but the road to recovery has been long and difficult. Please pray that he would be able to get the rest that he needs and that the medication he is taking would be effective in relieving the pressure in his eye that is causing vision loss. Pray that Martin would continue to experience peace and be in good spirits despite the difficult trial that he is going through. Please also pray for protection for the other translators William, Frank, and Rueben, and their families. Ask the Lord to protect them (and us) from anything the enemy may throw at us to prevent us from finishing and recording the Enga New Testament.

Translation Progress
With each new book that a team translates, they learn new things about the translation process that they must go back and apply to the books they previously translated. Although we finished all of the consult-checking for the Enga New Testament back in October, the last few months have been focused on going back and applying what we have learned to the books we had already translated. In particular, we have been focused on John, Acts, Romans, and Revelation. I am thankful to report that I have finished making my notes for all of those books, and the translation team has finished responding to my notes in John and Acts. They are currently halfway through Romans. While most of the changes that we are making are quite minor, there were a couple of places in Romans 4 where I wanted to pull my hair out. I realized that, in our prior translation attempts, we had decided to just move on from a couple of verses that were extremely difficult. But given that this was the last chance to get it right, I painstakingly sought to find the best translation. I am pleased with the result, but I certainly have fewer hairs on my head now after (figuratively) pulling many of them out as I labored over the translation. The next three months will be focused on very minor changes as we do our final read-throughs to prepare for recording in July.

Back to Normal?
Last month I reported that “Omicron is Here.” As expected, Omicron spread rapidly through the community where we live. At this point, however, it seems that everyone who is going to get Omicron has gotten it, and we are experiencing a great sense of relief. Thankfully, we did not have any severe cases in our community, and there is a great sense of hope that things are starting to return to “normal.” 

Jacob working at the Teen Center for hamburger night

Because things are beginning to return to “normal,” we are now able to enjoy activities in the community that we have not been able to enjoy for some time, including hamburger night at the Teen Center. Jacob and Bella are both on staff for hamburger night. Each week they are assigned to different tasks including food prep, assembling orders, delivering orders to customers, etc. It is great work experience for them as there are not many opportunities for teens to get practical working experience where we live. While there will always be chaos in this world of sin, we are thankful for this season of life when things feel a bit normal again.

Omicron Is Here

Omicron has arrived in Papua New Guinea and has been spreading rapidly throughout our community here in the last couple of weeks. The entire Boyd family here in PNG contracted Omicron over the past two weeks. However, there were no severe cases in our family, and thankfully no severe cases in the community thus far. For all five of us, it was like having a nasty cold. Although we are still coughing a bit, it seems that we are through the worst of it at this point, and we are all able to be back at work and school.

Speaking of school, it has been interesting for Martha and the kids over the past couple of weeks with nearly 30% of the student population out of school on some days as Omicron was surging. It put an extra heavy load on teachers like Martha, who have had to spend hours each day preparing assignments for the kids staying at home. Of course, Martha and the kids also missed some days of school as well, but everyone is looking forward to the coming week in which things will start returning to normal.

As for me (Adam), I was able to keep working on the translation at home even through my Omicron infection, but I had a to miss a couple of days of basketball practice. (This term I am coaching the Middle School boys basketball team.) We started out the term with nineteen players, but on Monday of last week we only had nine because so many were out sick! Then I myself was out for the next two practices. Thankfully, I didn't get sick until after the community men's basketball game with the High School team. Jacob and his team did really well and beat us community men!

Jacob shooting a three-pointer against the community men's team

Please keep us in your prayers as we are truly entering the home stretch of the Enga New Testament translation. Lord willing, any significant revisions will be finished this month, and we will then spend April, May, and June making very minor tweaks as we do our final read-throughs. Pray that nothing would hinder our work.

We are so thankful for your continued prayers and support!

Single Eye vs. Evil Eye

In Matthew 6:22, Jesus makes the following statement: “If your eye is haplous, your whole body shall be full of light. But if your eye is poneros, your whole body shall be full of darkness.” English versions differ on how these two Greek words in red should be translated. The word haplous is generally translated as healthy, clear, or good. The word poneros is generally translated as unhealthy, diseased, or bad. These translations give the impression that if a person's eye is physically in good condition, then that person's whole body will be full of light, but if that person's eye is physically in bad condition, then that person's whole body will be full of darkness. I don't know about you, but I have trouble processing the meaning of those translations and applying it to my life. Does it mean that I need to be especially careful not to miss an appointment with the ophthalmologist? Since I need glasses, does that mean that my body is in danger of being full of darkness? What about people with cataracts? Are they condemned to eternal darkness!? But the translation in the King James Version set my heart at ease: “If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.” In this verse the King James Version provides a much more literal translation. And although the meaning was still not entirely clear at first glance, I realized that having to wear glasses or even having a cataract will not put me in danger of my body being full of darkness (at least not in a spiritual sense).

The Greek word haplous is the opposite of the Greek word diplous, which means twofold or double. So what Jesus is literally saying is “If your eye is single.” Personally, I like to translate it like this: “If your eye is singular in focus.” In other words, if your eye is singularly focused on God, your whole body will be full of light. So Jesus is teaching his disciples to keep their focus on God and not to allow their attention or their loyalties to be divided. In this particular context, Jesus is speaking about money, and so the more specific application is that we should not worry about how we will get money to provide for the necessities of life. Jesus is telling us to keep our eye singularly focused on God, and God will take care of the rest and provide for all of our needs. As a result, we can freely give our money and possessions to advance the work of God's kingdom, trusting that God will provide for us.

Is your eye evil because I am good?

Jesus goes on to say, “If your eye is evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness.” The concept of the “evil eye” was well known in biblical times. It represents an eye that enviously covets what belongs to another. In Matthew 20:1-16, Jesus tells the parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard. In this parable there is a master of a house who goes to the marketplace at various times throughout the day to hire workers to work in his vineyard. And at the end of the day he pays the same wage to them all, even to the workers that had only worked for an hour. When the workers who came at the beginning of the day start complaining, the master of the house says to one of them, “Is your eye evil because I am good?” (Matthew 20:15). These workers enviously coveted more than what they had agreed to work for, and they were upset by the master's generosity. Consequently, the master of the house suggests that they have an “evil eye.” Thus, when a person has an “evil eye,” he or she is in the grips of greed and covetousness, thinking only of himself or herself. As a result, that person's whole body will be full of darkness. Again, most English translations do not translate Matthew 20:15 literally. Instead of rendering the Greek as “Is your eye evil,” it is translated as “Are you envious,” or “Are you jealous,” or something similar.

Matthew 6:22-23 provides an excellent example of why the work of Bible translation must always be done in consultation with the original Greek and Hebrew text. When we first translated this text into the Enga language, we did so from the English translations. As a result, we ended up with a translation that focused on the physical condition of the eye. However, when I reviewed the Enga translation against the original Greek, I informed the Enga translation team that the Greek actually says single and evil. After learning what the original Greek actually says, the Enga translators easily related the words of Jesus to the following equivalent expression in Enga: “If you live having only one eye burning/shining, you will live having your whole body full of light. But if you live having two eyes burning/shining, you will live having your whole body full of darkness.” They then went on to boldly declare: “People will understand this!” In Enga, the metaphor of “having two eyes burning/shining” is a close equivalent of the “evil eye.” Such a person enviously covets what belongs to others. On the other hand, a person who has “only one eye burning/shining” is sincere and generous, with no ulterior motives. It turns out that the Enga language is better equipped to handle what Jesus taught in Matthew 6:22-23 than the English language is! But we could only see that by directly consulting the original Greek text.

He Spoke With Authority

Matthew 7:29 says, “for [Jesus] was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.” One of the ways that this comes across in the Sermon on the Mount is by Jesus’ refrain, “You have heard that it was said … but I say to you.” When Jesus taught, he did not rely upon the authority of others, but on his own authority as the Son of God.

While statements like that portray the authority of Jesus in English, the Enga language has additional subtle features that demonstrate the authority with which Jesus spoke. Enga uses various suffixes to indicate whether the speaker saw something with his own eyes or whether he is reporting something that he did not see with his own eyes but only heard about from the reports of others. These sorts of suffixes are used especially when speaking about events in the far past. For example, in Mark 10:1-11 Jesus is talking about divorce with some Pharisees. In verse 3 he asks them, “What did Moses command you?” The Pharisees reply, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.” In Enga, the reply of the Pharisees contains a suffix that indicates that the Pharisees themselves did not witness Moses saying this, but that they are reporting what they have heard. But when Jesus responds, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment,” and continues on with his reply, the Enga contains a suffix indicating that Jesus himself was an eyewitness of what Moses said. As the Son of God, Jesus is eternal and omnipresent, and so he does not make statements on the basis of what he has heard from others. Rather, he speaks on his own authority. That is why in John 8:58 he says, “Before Abraham was, I am.”

We are thankful for the subtle ways we can emphasize the authority of Jesus in the Enga language. With the use of one small suffix, Jesus can assert his authority whenever he speaks about events in the past, which is something the scribes could never do.

Jesus taught as one who had authority

Translation Progress
The features of the Enga language that I describe on the previous section have taken me nine years to wrap my brain around. There is one suffix in particular that I have asked about repeatedly without receiving satisfactory answers. However, it can be difficult for a person to explain how their own language works, especially when they have never received any formal education in their own language. For example, imagine if a non-native English speaker were to ask you, “Why do you say ‘went’ instead of ‘goed’?” Would you be able to explain why? Most English speakers would know that ‘went’ is correct and ‘goed’ is incorrect, but very few could explain that ‘went’ is actually the past tense of ‘wend’, which was co-opted as the past tense for ‘go’ since ‘go’ never had its own proper past tense (even in Old English). In the same way, when it comes to evidential suffixes, Enga speakers know what is correct and what is incorrect, but they find it quite difficult to explain why one way is correct and the other way is incorrect. Thankfully, after my persistent questioning, one of the team members was able to explain the suffix to me. This visual evidential suffix is just one of many minor points of grammar that we as a team have finally wrapped our brains around after many years at the translation table. So although we have consultant-checked all of the books of the New Testament, we are now methodically reviewing some of these finer points of grammar as we aim to complete the Enga New Testament over the next few months.

Bella, with a friend, in her folklorico dress

Quinceañera
Two days ago on December 30, we were able to host a quinceañera for Bella’s fifteenth birthday. In many countries in Latin America, it is customary to have a special party for a girl’s fifteenth birthday. A quinceañera is somewhat similar to the concept of a Sweet Sixteen party in the United States. And perhaps we could even call a quinceañera a “Festive Fifteen.” Thanks to our dear friend Roberta, we were able to get Bella a traditional folklorico dress shipped in from America (right before the postal service was suspended due to COVID). We were also able to get a piñata shipped in from Australia. So Bella had her entire ninth grade class over, and they had a great time enjoying traditional Mexican music, hitting the piñata, and singing fun and silly karaoke songs. It was a great night, and we can’t believe our Bella is now fifteen years old!

Boyd Family Update

While I (Adam) often update you on our work of Bible translation among the Enga people, I know that many of you also like to hear about how the family is doing. So this month, I thought I would give you a brief update on each member of the family.

Don't worry! He wears a helmet when is not posing for a picture.

Jacob
Jacob is now sixteen years old and in grade 11. Jacob loves spending time with his friends, playing basketball, and going to the gym. It is safe to say that his basketball skills now far exceed those of his father. (Though his dad can still give him a competitive game of one-on-one.) This year Jacob began working at the Teen Center, which runs a hamburger and fries restaurant experience for the community (when COVID restrictions permit). Jacob has also been learning how to ride a motorcycle (which was gifted to us by a church). He enjoys cruising around center with his friends and is waiting for the day when the motorcycle is finally registered so that he can ride off center a bit. Pray for his mom!

Fiver first place ribbons on Sports Day!

Bella
Bella is now fourteen years old and in grade 9. Bella is full of energy and enthusiasm, keeping herself very busy with a variety of activities including choir, piano, drama, and trombone. Like Jacob, she also began working at the Teen Center this year. One of the highlights of Bella's year was her school's Sports Day. Although she was still in eighth grade at the time, she won five first place ribbons and one second place ribbon, competing against all the high school girls up to grade 12. Bella also decided to get baptized in the local river earlier this year, sharing her testimony in front of the community.

Becoming a speed cuber

Asher
Asher is now twelve years old and in grade 6, which means that he has moved from the primary campus to the secondary campus. He has been growing like a weed this year and is now five feet, two inches tall. Won't be long before he passes up his mom and his sister! This year Asher took it upon himself to learn the Rubik's cube. He has become quite the speed cuber, consistently being able to solve the cube in under one minute. Asher is also following in his brother's footsteps by playing a lot of basketball. He has made huge strides this year and is able to complete with boys who are several years older than he is. Besides that, Asher continues playing the trumpet and participating in choir.

Teaching the book Hatchet

Martha
I won't tell you how old Martha is, but I will tell you that she is doing a great job teaching English to grades 6, 7, and 8. Parents in the community keep telling us how much their children enjoy being in Martha's class. While it would be a big adjustment for anyone to return to teaching after many years away, Martha has handled it very well and is starting to find her rhythm. And although it is a lot of work, she finds great joy in teaching Middle School students not only about English, but also about life and inspiring them to be who God has created them to be.

Doing what it takes

Adam
As I searched for a picture to summarize my own year, this one jumped out to me. Although the life of a Bible translator may seem exciting and exotic, most of my time is spent either staring at a computer screen doing tedious translation tasks or washing dishes. But honestly that is what it takes in this season of our life for us to do what God has called us to do and also to serve the Bible translation community. So I do it with joy (most of the time). But when I am not staring at a screen or washing dishes, I really enjoy playing basketball with Jacob and Asher or listening to Bella play the piano while belting out the lyrics to the song she is playing. And I love helping Martha do what she does so that we Bible translators can do what we do. Because if it weren't for teachers like Martha, there would be no translators like me. Speaking of which, we have a great need for elementary school, middle school, and high school teachers here in Papua New Guinea. If you or someone you know would like information about teaching here, please visit http://teachbeyond.org/PNG.