Translation commentary on Luke 11:46

Exegesis:

kai humin tois nomikois ouai ‘to you, experts in the law also woe’ humin is emphatic as its position before ouai shows.

phortizete tous anthrōpous phortia dusbastakta ‘you burden people with burdens hard to bear.’

phortizō ‘to cause (someone) to carry,’ hence ‘to burden,’ ‘to load.’

phortion ‘burden,’ ‘load,’ here figuratively of the burden of keeping the law as laid down by the experts.

dusbastaktos ‘hard to carry, or, to bear.’

kai autoi ‘and you yourselves,’ emphatic.

heni tōn daktulōn humōn ou prospsauete tois phortiois ‘with (so much as) one of your fingers you do not (even) touch the burdens.’

prospsauō ‘to touch (lightly).’

Translation:

You load men with burdens hard to bear, or, ‘you cause/order men to carry very heavy loads/burdens,’ i.e you compel men to do things (or, impose on men duties) that are very difficult to perform.

Touch the burdens with one of your fingers, i.e. in order to bear/perform those burdens/duties yourselves.

Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.

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