Translation commentary on Luke 5:9 – 5:10

Exegesis:

thambos gar perieschen auton ‘for astonishment had seized him.’ The reference is to the state in which he speaks, hence ‘he was astonished.’ For thambos cf. on 4.36.

periechō ‘to seize,’ ‘to come upon.’

kai pantas tous sun autō ‘and all the men with him,’ i.e. the men who were with Simon in the same boat.

epi tē agra tōn ichthuōn hōn sunelabon ‘at the catch of fishes which they had taken.’ The relative pronoun goes with ichthuōn and agra has the same meaning as in v. 4 where it is to be understood in an active sense, and the genitive ichthuōn is objective. If the reading hē (cf. Nestle) is accepted agra is indirectly the object of sunelabon and is to be understood in a concrete sense, ‘catch,’ i.e. the thing caught, and the genitive ichthuōn is genitive of content.

hoi ēsan koinōnoi tō Simōni ‘who were partners of Simon’s.’ The phrase refers to the same persons as tois metochois in v. 7, i.e. to the people who came in the other boat. The two terms are nearly synonymous, the difference being that metochos stresses the fact of having something in common and koinōnos (when used with dative) the fact of belonging together, but the difference should not be pressed.

Translation:

For, or, to make a better translation, ‘thus his words, because’ (Balinese).

He was astonished … at, see on “wondered at” in 1.21.

All that were with him, or, ‘all his mates/companions,’ ‘all those in his boat.’

The catch of fish which they had taken. The extraordinary character of the catch may be brought out by the use of a demonstrative pronoun, e.g. ‘such a catch of fish…’ (cf. Ekari), or more explicitly by saying, ‘their taking such-a-number of fish’ (Javanese, similarly Santali), ‘because they had caught so may fish.’

(V. 10a) James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Another phrase order may be more idiomatic in the receptor language, e.g. ‘Simon’s partners J. and J., Z.’s sons’ (Batak Toba), ‘the two children of Z., J. and J., the companions of S.’ (Toraja-Sa’dan, similarly Ekari). Partners, or, ‘those associated with’ (Balinese); the rendering often has to coincide with that of Gr. metochoi in v. 7, as e.g. in Revised Standard Version, New English Bible, Tae,’ Santali.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted