Translation commentary on Luke 10:10 – 10:11

Exegesis:

eis hēn d’ an polin eiselthēte kai mē dechōntai humas ‘into whatever town you go and they do not receive you,’ cf. on v. 8.

exelthontes eis tas plateias autēs eipate ‘going out into its streets say.’ exelthontes is equivalent to an imperative (cf. Revised Standard Version).

plateia ‘wide road,’ ‘street.’

(V. 11) kai ton koniorton ton kollēthenta hēmin ek tēs poleōs humōn eis tous podas ‘the very dust that sticks to us from your city to the feet,’ i.e. ‘to our feet from your town.’ ek tēs poleōs humōn goes with kollēthenta, and the picture is that of the dust which still sticks to the feet of the messengers when they leave the town which does not receive them. For koniortos cf. on 9.5. hēmin is dative of advantage. eis tous podas still has the suggestion of the dust finding its way to the feet of the messengers.

kollaō (also 15.15) here in the passive ‘to cling to,’ ‘to stick to.’

apomassometha humin ‘we wipe off against you.’ The dative humin is equivalent to eph’ humas ‘against you,’ i.e. ‘in protest against you,’ cf. Acts 13.51, and eis marturion ep’ autous ‘as a witness against them’ in 9.5.

apomassomai ‘to wipe off,’ a more thorough act than shaking off (9.5).

plēn touto ginōskete ‘but know this.’ plēn is stronger than the common alla.

Translation:

Go into its streets and say, i.e. go out from the house that has lodged you and say in the streets you pass on your way out of the town (as implied in the wording of v. 11a). Hence, go into may better be rendered ‘go out into,’ ‘leave the house and go into/along.’ Streets, or, better to bring out the public character, “open streets” (An American Translation), places publiques (Bible de Jérusalem).

(V. 11) The clause even the dust of (or, from, Good News Translation) your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off has virtually the same meaning as the main clause of 9.5. Taking ‘from the town’ with the verb one may render the object phrase by, ‘the very dust that clings/sticks to our feet in/from your town’ (cf. The Four Gospels – a New Translation, Brouwer), ‘even the dust from your town on our feet’ (Willibrord), ‘the very dust on our feet, which comes from your town.’ The rendering of wipe off may have to coincide with that of “shake off” in 9.5.

Against states briefly what “as a testimony against” has expressed more explicitly in 9.5.

Know here implies an act of will; hence, “take note of” (New English Bible), “understand” (An American Translation).

The kingdom of God has come near, differing from v. 9b in not having ‘to you’ it is preferable that this probably intentional difference should be preserved in translation.

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.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Luke 10:11

10:11a

Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off as a testimony: Jesus instructed his disciples to say these words to the people. It is implied that they performed the action as they said the words. The disciples said that they were wiping off any dust from the town that was stuck to their feet and sandals. They probably did this by carefully brushing off the dust with their hands.

Wiping the dust from their feet was a cultural gesture that had a symbolic meaning. An almost identical gesture was described in 9:5b. See the note there for more information. It occurred in the same context and had the same meaning. The difference is that in 9:5b the disciples were to “shake” the dust from their feet. Here in 10:11a they were to wipe it from their feet. Some ways to translate this are:

Even the dust from your town that has stuck to our feet, we wipe it off
-or-

⌊We will have nothing more to do with you.⌋ We will brush off even this dust from your town that is clinging to our feet.

Even: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Even implies that dust is a very small and insignificant thing. The disciples were to say that they would not associate with those people in any way.

our feet: Some languages have specific words for the “lower leg and foot” or for the “sole of the foot.” If that is true in your language, consider whether one of these expressions would be more natural in this context.

our…we: The disciples would go out in pairs (see 10:1), so here you should use a form that would be appropriate for two people. See the Display for 10:11a and 10:11b.

10:11b

as a testimony against you: Here the Greek literally says just “against you,” although in the corresponding phrase in 9:5c it says “as a testimony against them.” The Berean Standard Bible adds the phrase “as a testimony” here to indicate the meaning of the action that the disciples would do when a town rejected them. They would remove the dust of that town from their feet. This action would be a testimony, sign, and warning that God would judge the people of that town if they did not repent. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

as a warning to you ⌊that God will judge/punish you⌋
-or-
as a sign to show you ⌊that you are guilty⌋

10:11c

Yet: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Yet can also be translated as “nevertheless,” “however,” or “but.” Although the disciples were leaving the town and did not plan to come back, there was still one thing they wanted the people to know: that God’s kingdom had come near.

be sure of this: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as be sure of this is literally “know this.” The phrase implies that what the disciples would say was true and very important. Other ways to translate this clause include:

be sure you realize this:
-or-
we want you to know this:

The kingdom of God is near: The clause The kingdom of God is near is the same as in 10:9b, except that it does not contain the word “you.” However, “you” is implied. This clause follows a gesture of warning (10:11a–b) for those who would reject the disciples. It occurs before Jesus’ warning in 10:12 that any town that rejected the message would be severely judged. In this context, you should translate The kingdom of God is near in a way that fits with these warnings. You may need to add implied information. For example:

God has already come to rule over you, ⌊but you have rejected his rule⌋.

General Comment on 10:10b–11c

10:11a–c is a quote within a quote. It contains the words that Jesus told his disciples to say to the people in a town. In some languages it may be more natural to translate these lines as indirect speech. For example:

10b…and tell the people that 11ayou are wiping even the dust from their town from your feet 11bto warn them ⌊that you are no longer responsible if God punishes them⌋. 11cThen tell them that although they have rejected God’s rule, you want them to understand that the time for him to rule his people has arrived.

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