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.
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| 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!
