17:12
As He entered one of the villages, He was met by ten lepers. They stood at a distance: In this verse Jesus was approaching a village to enter it. The context implies that he had not yet entered the village, because ten lepers came toward him. Lepers were not allowed to enter villages where healthy people lived. They also were not allowed to come near healthy people.
The lepers in this verse were probably living some distance from the village. They were not coming out of the village to meet Jesus. In some languages a phrase like He was met may not fit with the phrase stood at a distance. When you translate this verse, be sure that the phrases you use fit the situation and do not contradict each other. One way to do this in English is:
As he approached a village, ten lepers came toward him and stood some distance from him.
-or-
…as he was approaching a village, ten lepers met him. They kept their distance (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
17:12a
As He entered one of the villages: Jesus was going toward a village to enter it. Here is another way to translate this:
as he was approaching a village (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
He: The focus is on Jesus here, but the disciples were still following him. Consider how to imply that in your language while keeping the focus on Jesus.
17:12b
lepers: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as lepers refers to people afflicted with several different skin diseases. Scholars disagree as to whether these diseases included modern-day leprosy (Hansen’s disease). They agree that in New Testament times the Greek word referred to dreaded skin diseases.
People believed that these diseases were spread by contact with someone who had the disease. A person who had one of these diseases was also considered ritually unclean. Some ways to translate this word are:
• Use a general phrase that describes the nature or significance of the disease. For example:
a skin disease (God’s Word)
-or-
a dreaded skin disease (Good News Translation)
-or-
a contagious skin disease
• Use a term that refers specifically to leprosy. For example:
leprosy
-or-
something like leprosy
A term that refers specifically to leprosy may be appropriate in areas where readers are already familiar with the term “leprosy.” If you decide to use a word meaning “leprosy,” it is recommended that you add a footnote to give more information. For example:
The disease that is mentioned here refers to various contagious and dreaded skin diseases. A person who had one of these diseases was considered ritually unclean. According to the Jewish law, he was not allowed to associate with other people or to worship in the Temple.
This word also occurred in 7:22.
17:12c
They stood at a distance: The phrase stood at a distance indicates that they did not come near Jesus. Some other ways to translate this are:
They did not come close to Jesus (New Century Version)
-or-
They stood apart from ⌊Jesus⌋
General Comment on 17:12b–c
In some languages it may be natural to combine the phrases “met him” and “they stood at a distance.” For example:
ten lepers stood at a distance (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
ten lepers stopped a short distance away
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