Translation commentary on Luke 10:22

Exegesis:

panta moi paredothē ‘everything has been handed over to me.’ panta may mean ‘all power,’ or ‘all knowledge,’ preferably the latter. For paradidōmi cf. on 1.2.

oudeis ginōskei tis estin ho huios ei mē ho patēr ‘nobody knows who the son is but the father.’ Both ho huios and ho patēr have the force of a title.

kai hō ean boulētai ho huios apokalupsai ‘and (he) to whom the son may choose to reveal,’ scil. who the father is.

boulomai (also 22.42) ‘to be willing,’ ‘to want,’ ‘to choose.’

Translation:

In this verse Jesus no longer addresses God but speaks to the seventy and other people present. This may have to be marked, e.g. by adding, “Then he went on” (Phillips), or more explicitly, ‘And to the people he said.’ In languages like Javanese and Balinese one has to shift from honorifics in v. 21 to a non-honorific form of address here.

For delivered cf. on 4.6.

The construction no one knows who the Son is except the Father may have to be recast, e.g. ‘no one knows who the Son (really) is (or, knows the true nature of the Son), only the Father (knows him/it)’ (cf. Kituba, Tzeltal), ‘other people do not know who…, but the Father does,’ or reversely, ‘the Father knows who…, no one else (knows him/it).’ Similarly for the next clause, where ‘to know’ may have to be repeated.

Where the Son and the Father have to be possessed, or where third person reference to first person is impossible, one may have to shift to something like, .’.. who I am, except my Father, or who my Father is, except me, his Son.’ For the Son cf. on “Son of God” in 1.35.

And, or ‘and also,’ ‘and further,’ ‘moreover.’

Any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him, or, ‘other persons only (or, in an expanded form, other persons can also know him/it, but only) if the Son chooses to reveal him/it to them.’ — Chooses, or, ‘is willing,’ ‘wishes,’ ‘sees fit.’ To reveal, or here, ‘to make known.’

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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