SIL Translator’s Notes on Luke 19:16

19:16a

The first servant: The Greek term that the Berean Standard Bible translates as The first servant refers to the first servant to speak. It does not imply that he was the servant whom the master had hired first.

came forward and said: The verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as came forward is literally “came.” It probably refers here to coming nearer to the king to speak to him. Another way to translate this is:

came and said (New International Version)

In some languages there may be a special way to describe coming to a king or chief. For example:

came before him and said (NET Bible)
-or-
presented himself and said

19:16b

Master: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Master here is the same word that is often translated as “Lord” or “Master.” In this context the servant used it to address his master, who was now the king. You should use a term that would be appropriate for a king’s servant to use to address him. For example:

Lord (English Standard Version)
-or-
Master (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Sir King

In some languages it may not be natural to use a form of direct address for the king. If that is true in your language, you may refer to the king in the phrase that introduces the quote. For example:

said to the king, “Your mina…”

your mina has produced ten more minas: The phrase your mina refers to the money that the master had entrusted to this servant. The clause indicates that the servant had used the money to gain ten times as much money. Some other ways to translate this are:

the money that you entrusted to me has increased ten times
-or-
your one coin has gained/become ten coins

In some languages it may not be possible to speak of the money itself as earning more money. It may be necessary to make it clear that the servant had earned the money. For example:

Your one mina has made it possible ⌊for me⌋ to make ten more minas
-or-
I earned ten coins with the one you gave me (New Century Version)

In other languages there may be an idiom to express this. For example:

the one gold coin that you gave me, it has ten children

© 2009, 2010, 2013 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments