Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 11:14:
Noongar: “Jesus was driving out an evil spirit. The evil spirit could not speak and when the evil spirit went out, the man started speaking. All the people were surprised.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “One day, Yesus expelled a demon from a person who was not able to speak. As soon as he shooed that demon, that person was able to speak. The people were surprised.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Once also Isa drove out a demon that caused dumbness. When the demon had been driven out, the dumb person could already speak. The people wondered very much.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “There was a time when Jesus healed a man who had been made deaf and dumb by a demon, which was afflicting him. And when Jesus removed the demon, immediately that man could speak. And all the people who were gathered there were very much surprised.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “On one-occasion, Jesus caused-to-leave a evil-spirit who had-made-a man -dumb. When that evil-spirit went-away, the one-whom-he-left could-speak again, and the many-people were amazed.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Once there was an evil spirit which Jesus drove out which was causing a man to be dumb. Well, after it was driven out, that man could speak. The crowd of people was amazed who observed it.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Sissala: kaŋtɔŋ, which traditionally referred to “either a spirit of natural phenomena such as trees, rivers, stones, etc., or the spirit of a deceased person that has not been taken into the realm of the dead. Kaŋtɔŋ can be good or evil. Evil kaŋtɔŋ can bring much harm to people and are feared accordingly. A kaŋtɔŋ can also dwell in a person living on this earth. A person possessed by kaŋtɔŋ does not behave normally.” (Source: Regina Blass in Holzhausen 1991, p. 48f.)
Umiray Dumaget Agta: hayup or “creature, animal, general term for any non-human creature, whether natural or supernatural.” Thomas Headland (in: Notes on Translation, September 1971, p. 17ff.) explains some more: “There are several types of supernatural creatures, or spirit beings which are designated by the generic term hayup. Just as we have several terms in English for various spirit beings (elves, fairies, goblins, demons, imps, pixies) so have the Dumagats. And just as you will find vast disagreement and vagueness among English informants as to the differences between pixies and imps, etc., so you will find that no two Dumagats will agree as to the form and function of their different spirit beings.” This term can also be used in a verb form: hayupen: “creatured” or “to be killed, made sick, or crazy by a spirit.”
Yala: yapri̍ija ɔdwɔ̄bi̍ or “bad Yaprija.” Yaprijas are traditional spirits that have a range presumed activities including giving or withholding gifts, giving and protecting children, causing death and disease and rewarding good behavior. (Source: Eugene Bunkowske in Notes on Translation 78/1980, p. 36ff.)
Lamnso’: aànyùyi jívirì: “lesser gods who disturb, bother, pester, or confuse a person.” (Source: Fanwong 2013, p. 93)
Paasaal: gyɩŋbɔmɔ, “beings that are in the wild and can only be seen when they choose to reveal themselves to certain people. They can ‘capture’ humans and keep them in hiding while they train the person in herbalism and divination. After the training period, which can range from a week to many years, the ‘captured’ individual is released to go back into society as a healer and a diviner. The gyɩŋbɔmɔ can also be evil, striking humans with mental diseases and causing individuals to get lost in the wild. The Pasaale worldview about demons is like that of others of the language groups in the area, including the Northern Dagara [who use kɔ̃tɔmɛ with a similar meaning].” (Source: Fabian N. Dapila in The Bible Translator 2024, p. 415ff.)
In the still widely-used 1908 Tswana (also: Setswana) translation (by Robert Moffat, revised by Alfred Wookey), the term badino or “ancestor spirit” is used for “demon,” even though in the traditional understanding there is nothing inherently negative associated with that term. Musa Dube (in: Journal of Society of New Testament 73, 1999, p. 33ff. ) describes this as an example of “engaging in the colonization of the minds of natives and for advancing European imperial spaces. The death and burial of Setswana culture here was primarily championed through the colonization of their language such that it no longer served the interests of the original speakers. Instead the written form of language had equated their cultural beliefs with evil spirits, demons and wizardry. This colonization of Setswana was in itself the planting of a colonial cultural bomb, meant to clear the ground for the implantation of a worldwide Christian commonwealth and European consciousness. It was a minefield that marked Setswana cultural spaces as dangerous death zones, to be avoided by every intelligent Motswana reader or hearer of the translated text.”
In Kachin, the term Nat (or nat) us used for “demon” (as well as “devil” and “unclean/evil spirit“). Like in Tswana, the meaning of Nat is not inherently negative but can be positive in the traditional Nat worship as well. Naw Din Dumdaw (in The Bible Translator 2024, p. 94ff.) argues that “the demonization of Nat created a social conflict between Kachin Christians and Kachin non-Christians. Kachin converts began to perceive their fellow Kachins who were still worshipping Nats as demonic and they wanted to distance themselves from them. Likewise, the Nat-worshiping Kachin community perceived the Kachin converts as betrayers and enemies of their own cultural heritage. (…) The demonization of the word Nat was not only the demonization of the pre-Christian religion but also the demonization of the cultural heritage of the Kachin people. When the word Nat is perceived as demonic, it creates an existential dilemma for Kachin Christians. It distances them from their cultural traditions.”
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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 shows different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is 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, oidashiteo-rare-ru (追い出しておられる) or “chasing away” is used.
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
kai ēn ekballōn daimonion ‘and he was driving out a demon,’ without indication of time and place and no connection with what precedes is stated. The clause and the next one describe the event which triggers off the subsequent story.
[kai auto ēn] kōphon ‘and that was dumb,’ i.e. the demon is dumb, and by virtue of that fact the man who is possessed by the demon is also dumb, as the rest of v. 14 shows.
egeneto de ‘and it happened,’ cf. on 1.8.
elalēsen ho kōphos ‘the dumb man began to speak,’ ingressive aorist.
kai ethaumasan hoi ochloi ‘and the crowds were astonished.’ No previous indication of their presence is given.
Translation:
Now, see on 1.57.
Casting out a demon, see on 9.40, and 4.33, 35.
That was dumb, or better to indicate the demon’s function, ‘who made dumb’ (Batak Toba). For dumb, see on 1.22.
The people, or, ‘the multitudes,’ for which see on 3.7. Marvelled, see on “wondered” in 1.21.
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.
This section is not explicitly connected with the preceding section in time, place, or theme.
In this section, Jesus cast out a demon that made a man mute (11:14). Some people who were there commented to each other that Jesus was casting out demons by the power of Satan (11:15). Jesus gave them two reasons why this could not be true (11:17–19). He concluded that he cast out demons by the power of God (11:20). Then he told a parable (11:21–22) that showed that he is stronger than Satan.
Some other headings for this section are:
Jesus is stronger than Satan -or-
Jesus and Beelzebub -or-
Jesus sends unclean spirits away by defeating Satan
There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 12:22–30 and Mark 3:20–27.
Paragraph 11:14–16
11:14a
One day: This verse introduces a new story, but it does not provide any information about where or when the story occurred. In some languages, an introductory word or phrase is necessary to show that a new story is beginning. The Berean Standard Bible adds One day to show this. Other ways to translate this are:
One time (New Century Version) -or-
Another time (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
Luke 11:14a does not specifically mention the man who had an unclean spirit. In some languages, it will be more natural to introduce this man. For example:
There was a man who had an unclean spirit. This unclean spirit made him mute. One day, Jesus drove out this unclean spirit…
Jesus was driving out: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as was driving out is literally “was casting/throwing out.” To drive out an unclean spirit means to cause the unclean spirit to stop controlling the person. Jesus did this by commanding the demon to leave.
Jewish people often spoke of unclean spirits as being in someone. Different cultures have different ways of speaking about people being controlled by demons and being released from the control of demons. Use a natural expression for this in your language. Some ways to translate this are:
sent away -or-
exorcized/expelled -or-
caused to leave
a demon that was mute: The phrase a demon that was mute refers to an unclean spirit that caused a person to be mute or not able to speak. When that demon was in a person, one of the results was that the person could not speak. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
a demon from a man who couldn’t speak (New Living Translation (2004)) -or-
The demon had made the man unable to talk. (God’s Word)
This phrase does not mean that the demon itself was mute.
demon: The word demon also occurs in 9:1b. See the note there for information about translating this term. See also demon in the Glossary.
11:14b
And when the demon was gone, the man who had been mute spoke: In some languages it may be necessary to make it explicit that the demon left or came out of the man who had been mute. For example:
The demon came out from the mute man, who then began to speak
11:14c
The crowds were amazed:The crowds have not been mentioned in this story up to this point. In some languages you may need to introduce them by saying something like:
there were a lot of people ⌊watching⌋, and they were amazed
amazed: The word amazed means “marveled,” “astonished,” or “surprised.” The people were astonished that Jesus was able to make the mute man able to speak.
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