Translation commentary on Luke 18:29 – 18:30

Exegesis:

amēn legō humin ‘truly I say to you,’ cf. on 3.8 and 4.24.

oudeis estin hos aphēken … hos ouchi mē apolabē… ‘there is no one who has given up … who will not receive…’ oudeis estin … hos is equivalent to an emphatic oudeis: ‘absolutely no one.’ The clause hos aphēken…, subordinate to the main clause, has the function of a conditional clause.

adelphous ‘brothers,’ implying sisters.

heneken tēs basileias tou theou ‘for the sake of the kingdom of God,’ i.e. in order to serve the cause of the kingdom.

(V. 30) (oudeis) … hos ouchi mē apolabē ‘(no one) who will not receive….’ Together with, and because of the preceding oudeis, ouchi mē serves to express a strongly positive assertion, which is in the nature of a promise. For apolambanō cf. on 6.34.

pollaplasiona ‘many times as much,’ ‘many times more.’

en tō kairō toutō ‘in this time,’ en tō aiōni tō erchomenō ‘in the coming age.’

zōēn aiōnion ‘eternal life,’ cf. on 10.25.

Translation:

There is no man who has left … who will not receive, or, ‘everybody who has left (or, if a man has left…, he) will be sure to receive…’; cf. also on 9.24.

House … children, cf. on 14.26. Each or some of the terms used may obligatorily be possessed. For parents see on 2.27.

For the sake of the kingdom of God, or shifting to a verbal clause ‘in order that God may rule (the world/people).’

(V. 30) Receive, or “get back” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation), ‘receive in return’ (Thai), ‘come to have in return,’ ‘be given in exchange’ (Tzeltal).

Manifold more, or, ‘many times as much’: the idioms used in Fulah and Uab Meto lit. mean ‘pile surpassing in quantity,’ and ‘in layers,’ respectively. The ellipsis may have to be filled out, .’.. more than he has left’ (Shona 1966), .’.. more than all he had, or, than all his family and property.’

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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