neighbor

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The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “neighbor” in English is rendered into Babatana as “different man,” i.e. someone who is not one of your relatives. (Source: David Clark)

In North Alaskan Inupiatun, it is rendered as “a person outside of your building,” in Tzeltal as “your back and side” (implying position of the dwellings), in Indonesian and in Tae’ as “your fellow-man,” in Toraja-Sa’dan it is “your fellow earth-dweller,” in Shona (translation of 1966) as “another person like you,” in Kekchí “younger-brother-older-brother” (a compound which means all one’s neighbors in a community) (sources: Bratcher / Nida and Reiling / Swellengrebel), in Mairasi “your people” (source: Enggavoter 2004), in Mezquital Otomi as “fellow being,” in Tzeltal as “companion,” in Isthmus Zapotec as “another,” in Teutila Cuicatec as “all people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), and in most modern German translations as Mitmensch or “fellow human being” (lit. “with + human being”).

In Matt 19:19, Matt 22:39, Mark 12:31, Mark 12:33, Luke 10:27, Luke 10:29 it is translated into Ixcatlán Mazatec with a term that refers to a person who is socially/physically near. Ixcatlán Mazatec also has a another term for “neighbor” that means “fellow humans-outsiders” which was not chosen for these passages. (Source: Robert Bascom)

In Noongar it is translated as moorta-boordak or “people nearby” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

neighbor - relative

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “neighbor” or “relative” in English is translated in the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) and the Buku Lopatulika translation (1922/2018) with just one word: nansi. This word can also be translated as neighbors whom you share a blood relation with because in Chewa context a community is mostly comprised of people of blood relations. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

complete verse (Luke 10:36)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 10:36:

  • Noongar: “Then Jesus asked, ‘What do you think? Who among these three men was the neighbour of the man whom the thieves attacked?'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “When his story was finished, Yesus asked that religion teacher, he said: ‘According to your (sing.) opinion, of those three, who showed-love to the companion/person who was robbed?'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then Isa said to the teacher, ‘Na, among those three people which one do you think truly acted-as-a-companion to the person attacked by outlaws?'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And Jesus said to the teacher, ‘Which one of those three people became the true companion of that man who was robbed by the bandits?'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Jesus concluded this parable by saying, ‘All right then, in your (sing.) thinking, which of those three was the proper fellow/companion of the one whom the criminals hardshipped?'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well now,’ said Jesus, ‘which of those three showed true valuing to that one who’d been-done-like-that-to by the robbers?'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 10:36

Exegesis:

tis toutōn tōn triōn ‘which of these three?’ Abrupt change from the narrative to a question addressed to the expert in the law.

plēsion dokei soi gegonenai .’.. seems to you to have been a neighbour.’ plēsion without article ho as part of the predicate.

tou empesontos eis tous lēstas ‘of him who fell into the hands of the robbers.’ Here empiptō eis (cf. on 6.39) is equivalent to peripiptō with dative, cf. v. 30.

Translation:

To mark the transition from the parable to the concluding question one may end v. 35 by a commonly used marker at the end of a narrative, as done e.g. in Tzeltal, using ‘(thus) he said to him,’ similarly in Ekari; or one may begin v. 36 by an exclamatory particle indicating a turn in the conversation (cf. Balinese, Marathi, Zarma); and/or one may shift the equivalent of “do you think” to initial position, cf. ‘What do you say…’ (Shona 1963), ‘As you see it, which…’ (Shona 1966), ‘How do you judge? Who…’ (Yao), ‘So, how about your feeling/thought, who…’ (Pohnpeian, Trukese). In some cases a complete transitional sentence had to be inserted, cf. ‘To finish, Jesus asked him’ (Kituba), ‘And now again Jesus spoke to the man who questioned him, he said’ (Tboli).

Which of these three, or, ‘who among these three,’ ‘there were three those men that passed by there, which of them…’ (Tboli).

Proved neighbour to …, or, ‘has shown himself the nearest of…’ (Bible de Jérusalem), ‘behaved as his-fellow-man towards…’ (Bahasa Indonesia RC), ‘was/did like neighbour of…’ (Shona 1966, Pohnpeian), ‘did in-order-to (be) neighbour of…’ (Trukese). In some cases the expression used for “neighbour” in v. 27 requires some adjustment here; thus Tboli and Sranan Tongo, which in v. 27 have, ‘your companion/fellow Tboli’ and ‘man at your side’ respectively, here use, ‘companioned that man…’ and ‘was at the side of the man….’

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 10:36

Paragraph 10:36–37

10:36a–b

Notice that the story ends at 10:35e. In 10:36 Jesus asked the law expert a question based on the story. In some languages, it may be necessary to make this explicit. For example:

⌊Then Jesus asked the law expert⌋
-or-

⌊Jesus concluded the story by asking⌋

Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?: This is a real question. Jesus expected the expert in the law to respond. Other ways to translate this question are:

In your opinion, which one of these three acted like a neighbor…? (Good News Translation)
-or-
Which one of these three people was a real neighbor…? (Contemporary English Version)

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