The Greek in Luke 11:17 that is translated as “is laid waste” similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) with ist ein Ruinenenfeld or “is a field of ruins.”
See also lay waste.
complete verse (Luke 11:17)
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 11:17:
- Noongar: “But Jesus saw what they were thinking, so Jesus said to them, ‘If one country is divided and people of the country fight other people of the country, then that country will not stand long; if people of a family are divided, the family will be broken.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
- Uma: “But actually Yesus knew what was in their hearts. That is why he said to them: ‘For example, if a king and the people in his kingdom are always fighting/reciprocally-opposing, that kingdom will definitely fall/be destroyed. So also people in a family who are always fighting, they will definitely separate-apart.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “But Isa knew what was in their minds therefore he said to them, ‘For example if there is a kingdom and it’s people fight against each other, eventually that kingdom will be destroyed. And if the (members of) a family oppose each other they also will be destroyed.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “However, Jesus realized what was inside their breath, and he said, ‘For example, if there is a king and his subjects are fighting each other, the power of that king will not last very long. If there is a head of a family and his subjects turn against each other, that family will fall apart.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “But Jesus knew what was in their thoughts, so he said to them, ‘If the many-people in a town/country fight-each-other, that country will be ruined. So also a family, if they quarrel, they will separate.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “But Jesus knew what they were thinking. That’s why he said to them, ‘Whatever kingdom which is not harmonious for its subjects are opposing one another, of course it won’t last. Like that too will happen to whatever household. As long as its people are divided because they are in conflict, of course it won’t last.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Honorary "are" construct denoting God ("say")
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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 are (され) 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, iw-are-ru (言われる) or “say” is used.
(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Sung version of Luke 11
Translation commentary on Luke 11:17
Exegesis:
autos de ‘but he,’ emphatic.
eidōs autōn ta dianoēmata ‘knowing their thoughts,’ i.e. understanding what really was behind their utterances in vv. 15f.
dianoēma ‘(inner) thought.’
eipen autois ‘said to them.’ autois is best understood as referring both to tines (v. 15) and heteroi (v. 16).
pasa basileia eph’ heautēn diameristheisa ‘every kingdom divided against itself,’ i.e. the composing parts are divided against one another, rather than against the kingdom as a whole. Hence renderings like ‘disunited’ (cf. An American Translation), or ‘internally divided’ (cf. Brouwer).
diamerizō ‘to divide,’ both in a literal and in a figurative sense, ‘to separate,’ ‘to distribute.’
erēmoutai ‘is ruined,’ ‘becomes desolate.’
kai oikos epi oikon piptei ‘and (as a result) house falls on house,’ or, with diameristheis understood, ‘and house, i.e. family, divided against house falls,’ preferably the former.
Translation:
To know, i.e. ‘to be aware of,’ ‘not to be ignorant about’ (Javanese).
Their thoughts, cf. on 6.8.
Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, or, ‘every kingdom that is-divided, fighting the one the other, will be broken’ (Sranan Tongo), “kingdoms are brought to ruin by internal strive” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation).
And, resultative, ‘so that.’
House falls upon house, or e.g., ‘the houses collapse, fall on each other’ (Balinese, similarly Bahasa Indonesia RC).
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 11:17
Paragraph 11:17–20
In this paragraph Jesus gave two arguments to prove that he was not using Beelzebul’s power to drive out demons. He was using God’s power. The two arguments are:
(a) If he were using Beelzebul’s power, then Beelzebul would be fighting against his own demons and would destroy his own kingdom (11:17–18).
(b) If he were using Beelzebul’s power, then his accusers would need to explain why they did not also accuse other Jewish exorcists of using Beelzebul’s power (11:19).
No one would accept the conclusion to these arguments, so there was only one alternative: Jesus was using God’s power (11:20).
11:17a
In Greek, this verse begins with a phrase that is literally “but he.” This emphatic phrase shows a turning point in the story. It contrasts the unspoken motives of the various groups in the crowd with the fact that Jesus knew what they thought even though they did not say it. The Berean Standard Bible does not indicate this emphatic contrast explicitly. In some languages, there may be a natural way to do this. For example:
But he (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
But as for Jesus, he
Knowing their thoughts, Jesus: Jesus knew what the different groups of people in 11:15–16 were thinking. He knew what the people who spoke about him in 11:15 were thinking. He also knew the real motives of the people who wanted a sign (11:16).
said to them: The phrase said to them expresses the result of Jesus knowing their thoughts. Some English versions indicate that this is a result by using the word “so.” For example:
so he said to them (Good News Translation)
Express this relationship in a way that is natural in your language.
11:17b
Every kingdom divided against itself: The phrase Every kingdom divided against itself describes a civil war. It refers to any nation or country where different groups within that country fight one another. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
Any country that divides itself into groups which fight each other (Good News Translation)
-or-
Any kingdom divided by civil war (New Living Translation (2004))
kingdom: A kingdom is a country that is ruled by a king. But Jesus was not talking only about countries that had kings. He was giving a general principle that can be applied to any country or tribe. Other ways to translate kingdom in this context are:
nation
-or-
tribe
will be laid waste: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as will be laid waste means “will be destroyed.” It is implied that it will also be deserted, that is, few people will remain alive in that country. It does not mean that the country will become a “desert” in the sense of a sandy or rocky area with little water or vegetation.
The verb will be laid waste is a passive verb. Some ways to translate this verb are:
will be destroyed (New Century Version)
-or-
will end up in ruin (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
will not last very long (Good News Translation)
11:17c
and a house divided against a house will fall: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as a house divided against a house will fall is literally “a house upon a house falls.” There are two ways to interpret this clause:
(1) It is a second example. It describes a household or family whose members are fighting each other. For example:
a family divided against itself falls apart (Good News Translation)
(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, New Living Translation (2004), New American Standard Bible, King James Version, Revised English Bible, New Century Version, God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, Good News Translation, NET Bible)
(2) It is the result of a kingdom that is divided against itself. Civil war like this leads to one family fighting another. It may also lead to one house literally collapsing against another house. For example:
and house falls upon house (New Revised Standard Version)
(New Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) along with most English versions. This interpretation is parallel with the statement in 11:17b. It also agrees with the parallel accounts in Matthew and Mark.
a house: The term house refers to a family or a group of people living together as one household.
divided against a house: As in 11:17b, the phrase divided against a house here means “fight one another.” When the members of a household fight one another, that household will fall. This means that the family will split apart and will soon cease to exist as a family unit. Some other ways to translate this are:
a family that is divided against itself will not continue (New Century Version)
-or-
a family that fights will break up (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
A family splintered by feuding will fall apart. (New Living Translation (2004))
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