village

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “village” or “town” in English is translated in Noongar as karlamaya or “fire (used for “home“) + houses” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

In Elhomwe it is typically translated as “place.” “Here in Malawi, villages very small, so changed to ‘places,’ since not sure whether biblical reference just to small villages or also to bigger towns. (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

Martha and Mary (image)

Hand colored stencil print on washi by Sadao Watanabe (1984).

Image taken with permission from the SadaoHanga Catalogue where you can find many more images and information about Sadao Watanabe.

For other images of Sadao Watanabe art works in TIPs, see here.

complete verse (Luke 10:38)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 10:38:

  • Noongar: “As Jesus and his disciples walked on their way, they came to a village. There a woman called Martha asked them to rest in her house.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “During their journey, Yesus and his disciples stopped at a town. In that town, there was a woman named Marta who received-as-guest Yesus.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Isa and his disciples proceeded and arrived at a certain village. There was a woman there called Marta. Isa was treated-according-to-custom in her home.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And when Jesus and company continued, they arrived in a town where there was a woman named Martha. And as for this Martha, she had Jesus come up into her house.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Jesus and his disciples continued walking until they arrived at a certain town. There was a woman there who was named Marta, and she showed-them-hospitality.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well since the traveling of Jesus and his disciples continued on, they arrived at a bario where lived a woman called Marta. Marta received them into her house.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Honorary are / rare constructs denoting God (“enter”)

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese show different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morphemes rare (られ) or are (され) are affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, hai-rare-ru (入られる) or “enter” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Luke 10:38

Exegesis:

en de tō poreuesthai autous ‘during their travelling,’ i.e. ‘when they were on their way.’ The use of poreuesthai (cf. 9.51-57 where it occurs five times) expresses that the journey to Jerusalem is continued. autous means Jesus and his disciples, probably not the small group of the twelve but a larger crowd.

eis kōmēn tina ‘into a certain village,’ without indication of name or place.

gunē de tis … hupedexato auton ‘a certain woman … received him.’ Nestle adds eis tēn oikian ‘into her house.’

hupodechomai (also 19.6) ‘to receive,’ ‘to welcome,’ always of receiving somebody as a guest into the house.

Translation:

As they went on their way, or, “as they continued their journey” (An American Translation).

If the shift from they to he (or, ‘Jesus’) and him is to be avoided (e.g. because it would suggest that, while the disciples did one thing, Jesus did something else), one may say, ‘as Jesus and (or, accompanied by) his disciples continued the(ir) journey he … him…,’ a rendering that is obligatory in some honorific languages.

And a woman … received, or better to link this clause to what precedes, ‘there a woman … received,’ ‘there lived a woman … who received’ (cf. Javanese). For the verb cf. on 9.5. Some languages require a specification by a locative phrase such as ‘in her house,’ which then is added not for textual but for linguistic reasons.

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 10:38

Section 10:38–42

Jesus visited Martha and Mary

Jesus and his disciples continued to travel from place to place. During their travels, Jesus went to the home of two sisters, Martha and Mary. Their brother was Lazarus. This short section shows how the two sisters considered different things to be important. It also tells what Jesus thought about those things.

Some other examples for section headings are:

Jesus’ Visit with Martha and Mary
-or-
At the Home of Martha and Mary (New International Version)

This story occurs only in Luke.

Paragraph 10:38–42

10:38a

As they traveled along: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as As they traveled along is literally “they were traveling/journeying.” In order to make the subject clear at the beginning of a new section, some versions (Good News Translation, New Century Version, New International Version, New Living Translation (2004)) say “Jesus and his disciples” here rather than “they.”

The phrase traveled along indicates that Jesus and his disciples continued to travel through various villages. They were going to Jerusalem (see 9:51 and 13:22), but that is not in focus here. If you need to specify where they were going, you may say “Jerusalem.” For example:

continued on their way to Jerusalem (New Living Translation (2004))

Jesus entered: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Jesus entered is literally “he entered.” Several English versions translate it that way. This phrase refers only to Jesus, since the focus of the story is on him. However, his disciples were probably still with him. Some ways to indicate this are:

• Use a plural form like “they.” For example:

they arrived/entered/came

• Use a singular form like “he,” but also mention the disciples. For example:

Jesus, accompanied by his disciples, continued to travel until he arrived in a certain village.

Try to use a natural way in your language to keep the focus on Jesus. But you should not imply that Jesus left the disciples outside the village while he entered.

a village: This village was probably Bethany (see John 11:1 and 12:1–3). You may give the name of this village in a footnote along with the cross-references from John. However, it is not recommended that you supply the name in the text.

10:38b

where a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home: In some languages it may be necessary to start a new sentence here and supply the information that Martha lived in this village. For example:

A woman named Martha ⌊lived there, and she⌋ welcomed him into her home.

Martha welcomed Him into her home: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as welcomed Him into her home means that she offered food and lodging for the night to Jesus and probably to all his disciples that were traveling with him. Here are some other ways to translate this:

gave/offered him food and lodging at her house
-or-
welcomed him ⌊and his traveling companions⌋ to stay/lodge/sleep at her house for the night
-or-
received him as a guest in her home, ⌊together with his disciples⌋

© 2009, 2010, 2013 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.