Translation commentary on Luke 19:8

Exegesis:

statheis lit. ‘having taken his stand,’ cf. on 18.11. Here it could mean that Zacchaeus took a position where everyone could hear him.

pros ton kurion ‘to the Lord,’ cf. on 1.6.

idou ‘behold,’ emphatic introduction of what follows.

ta hēmiseia mou tōn huparchontōn ‘half of my possessions.’ ta hēmiseia, or ta hēmisē (Nestle). Possessive mou goes with huparchontōn (cf. on 8.3).

tois ptōchois didōmi ‘I give to the poor,’ best understood as a pledge and hence often rendered in the future (cf. Translator’s New Testament).

ei tinos ti esukophantēsa ‘if I have defrauded anyone of anything,’ implicit admission. For sukophanteō cf. on 3.14.

apodidōmi tetraploun ‘I make fourfold restitution,’ also a pledge.

Translation:

Stood, or, “took his stand” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation), or, ‘came forward,’ ‘stood in front of all.’

I have defrauded any one of anything, or, ‘I have taken anything from (or, things belonging to) any one by deceit,’ ‘from any person I have taken wrongfully’ (Ekari, using a combination of the verbs ‘to clutch-a-prey’ and ‘to take’), ‘there are some I have deceived (by taking) their money’ (Tzeltal).

I restore it fourfold, or, ‘I give-instead-of-it fourfold’ (Balinese, Bahasa Indonesia RC), ‘I pay (or, give) back four times as much’ (cf. An American Translation, Sranan Tongo).

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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