Luke 11:42 – TIPs

woe (to you)

The Greek that is translated as “woe to you” or similar in English is translated in Martu Wangka as “you sit as sorry ones” (source: Carl Gross). Toraja-Sa’dan has two expressions that can be used: upu’ allomu or “to-their-end are your days” and sumpu sumandakmu or “finished is what-is-measured-out to you.” In the case of Luke 10:13, where “woe” is doubled, both are used for stylistic, non-repetitive purposes (see Reiling / Swellengrebel).

In Matumbi it is translated as Wakibona or “You will see” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext) and in the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) with a phrase containing tsoka, a word to describe something bad that happens (or may happen) to a person because of doing something against established traditions in a community (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation).

In Hebrew it is translated as oy (אוֹי) and in Yiddish as oy (אוי) or vey (וֵויי). Note that oy vey in combination is also commonly used in Yiddish as an interjection of dismay and vey is derived from the German Wehe (which in turn has the same root than the English woe). (Source: Jost Zetzsche)

justice

The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic and Latin that is translated as “justice” in English is translated in American Sign Language with a sign that describes the quality or principle of fairness, righteousness, and impartiality in treating other people. A literal back-translation of the signs are “FOLLOW(God is implied) ACTIONS, DECISIONS JUST-RIGHT”. A more idiomatic back-translation would be: “actions and decisions are right/fitting/just in accordance to God’s will.” The movement in the signs itself helps to indicate that this is a noun, not a verb. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)

“Justice” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

love (for God)

Nida (1952, p. 125ff.) reports on different translation of the Greek and Hebrew terms that are translated as “love” when referring to loving God:

“The Toro So Dogon people on the edge of the Sahara in French West Africa speak of ‘love for God’ as ‘to put God in our hearts.’ This does not mean that God can be contained wholly within the heart of a man, but the Eternal does live within the hearts of men by His Holy Spirit, and it is only love which prompts the soul to ‘put God in the heart.’

“The Mitla Zapotec Indians, nestled in the mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico, describe ‘love’ in almost opposite words. Instead of putting God into one’s own heart, they say, ‘my heart goes away with God.’ Both the Toro So Dogon and the Zapotecs are right. There is a sense in which God dwells within us, and there is also a sense in which our hearts are no longer our own. They belong to Him, and the object of affection is not here on earth, but as pilgrims with no certain abiding place we long for that fuller fellowship of heaven itself.

“The Uduks seem to take a rather superficial view of love, for they speak of it as ‘good to the eye.’ But we must not judge spiritual insight or capacity purely on the basis of idioms. Furthermore, there is a sense in which this idiom is quite correct. In fact the Greek term agapé, which is used primarily with the meaning of love of God and of the Christian community, means essentially ‘to appreciate the worth and value of something.’ It is not primarily the love which arises from association and comradeship (this is philé), but it defines that aspect of love which prompted God to love us when there was no essential worth or value in us, except as we could be remade in the image of His Son. Furthermore, it is the love which must prompt us to see in men and women, still unclaimed for Jesus Christ, that which God can do by the working of His Spirit. This is the love which rises higher than personal interests and goes deeper than sentimental attachment. This is the basis of the communion of the saints.

“Love may sometimes be described in strong, powerful terms. The Miskitos of the swampy coasts of eastern Nicaragua and Honduras say that ‘love’ is ‘pain of the heart.’ There are joys which become so intense that they seem to hurt, and there is love which so dominates the soul that its closest emotion seems to be pain. The Tzotzils, living in the cloud-swept mountains of Chiapas in southern Mexico, describe love in almost the same way as the Miskitos. They say it is ‘to hurt in the heart.’ (…)

“The Q’anjob’al Indians of northern Guatemala have gone even a step further. They describe love as ‘my soul dies.’ Love is such that, without experiencing the joy of union with the object of our love, there is a real sense in which ‘the soul dies.’ A man who loves God according to the Conob idiom would say ‘my soul dies for God.’ This not only describes the powerful emotion felt by the one who loves, but it should imply a related truth—namely, that in true love there is no room for self. The man who loves God must die to self. True love is of all emotions the most unselfish, for it does not look out for self but for others. False love seeks to possess; true love seeks to be possessed. False love leads to cancerous jealousy; true love leads to a life-giving ministry.” (Source: Nida 1952)

In Mairasi, the term that is used for love for God, by God and for people is the same: “desire one’s face.” (source: Enggavoter 2004)

In Ogea the word for “love” is “die for someone.” (Source: Sandi Colburn in Holzhausen 1991, p. 22)

rue

In the Holy Land at the time of Jesus there was only one wild species of rue common, the Mountain Rue Ruta chalepensis, and it is likely the one referred to by Jesus in his rebuke of the Pharisees in Luke 11:42. Rue is common throughout the Middle East, from Syria to Sinai up to the present. Because of its strong smell it is used in cooking and in medicine up to the present. It was used by the Greeks, Romans, and Jews against snakebite and the stings of bees, wasps and scorpions, not to mention its effectiveness against insanity, epilepsy, and even “the evil eye.”

Rue is a small, shrubby plant that produces many branches at ground level, with many yellow flowers and very sharp-smelling leaves. It can reach up to 1 meter (3 feet) in height.

The ancient Jewish Talmud states that cultivated plants should be tithed. It is possible that the disagreement between Jesus and the Pharisees arose because by New Testament times the people were cultivating rue, dill, and similar plants that had not been cultivated before, and the Pharisees then applied the laws of the Talmud to these little plants, thus complicating the lives of the common people, while at the same time they ignored issues of justice and compassion.

Depending on what translators do with “mint” in Luke 11:42, they may find a cultural substitute for “rue” or a generic phrase for “mint and rue and every herb.” Since the context is not rhetorical and the plant genus is limited to the Middle East, a transliteration of “rue” will be appropriate. Transliterations can be made from the Greek pēganon or from a major language.

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

complete verse (Luke 11:42)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 11:42:

Noongar: “‘How terrible for you Pharisees! You give God his small share of your salt and spices and herbs, but you don’t do good to people and you don’t love God. First, you must do these things, and after, you can also do the other things.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “‘Disaster to you Parisi people! Even small plants like mint and ginger and other plants you give-as-worship-offering one tenth to God. But the big rules, like straight behavior to others and love to the Lord God, you do not pay-attention-to. Really, it is those big rules that you should follow, and also not forget to follow the little rules.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “‘You Pariseo are to be pitied. You give the tenth even including bawing (a spice) and saley (lemon grass) and all kinds of spice plants but you don’t think about doing straight/righteous deeds to your fellowmen and you don’t think about loving God. It is good if you give the tenth but you should not turn your back on doing the things I have said.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Pity you Pharisees because you give to God the tenth part, even spices like mint and garlic and all the vegetables, but as for righteous behavior and loving God in your breaths, you never think about it. It’s necessary for you to give the tenth part, but don’t you leave out these more important commandments.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “‘Pitiful are you Pharisees, because you are thorough/careful to give God a tenth, even of what you harvest that flavors vegetable-dishes, but you have-been-ignoring what is more-important: your doing what is right to your companions and your loving God. It would be good if you had been careful/thorough with these more-important-things while meanwhile you continued to give the tenth.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Really very hard is what is in store for you (pl.) Pariseo. You obey well the law to give God a tenth part of all your plants, even flavorings (lit. what is mixed in food). But you are deliberately-forgetting the most-important that he commanded, which is straight/righteous actions and holding-dear for God. It’s really necessary that you do these most important things, and continue as well to obey those others which were said.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Pharisee

The Greek that is a transliteration of the Hebrew Pərūšīm and is typically transliterated into English as “Pharisee” is transliterated in Mandarin Chinese as Fǎlìsài (法利賽 / 法利赛) (Protestant) or Fǎlìsāi (法利塞) (Catholic). In Chinese, transliterations can typically be done with a great number of different and identical-sounding characters. Often the meaning of the characters are not relevant, unless they are chosen carefully as in these cases. The Protestant Fǎlìsài can mean something like “Competition for the profit of the law” and the Catholic Fǎlìsāi “Stuffed by/with the profit of the law.” (Source: Zetzsche 1996, p. 51)

In Finnish Sign Language it is translated with the sign signifying “prayer shawl”. (Source: Tarja Sandholm)

“Pharisee” in Finnish Sign Language (source )

In British Sign Language it is translated with a sign that depicts “pointing out the law.” (Source: Anna Smith)

“Pharisee” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)

In French Sign Language it is translated with a sign that depicts the box of the phylacteries attached to the forehead:

“Pharisees” in French Sign Language (source: La Bible en langue des signes française )

Scot McKnight (in The Second Testament, publ. 2023) translates it into English as Observant. He explains (p. 302): “Pharisee has become a public, universal pejorative term for a hypocrite. Pharisees were observant of the interpretation of the Covenant Code called the ‘tradition of the elders.’ They conformed their behaviors to the interpretation. Among the various groups of Jews at the time of Jesus, they were perhaps closest to Jesus in their overall concern to make a radical commitment to the will of God (as they understood it).”

formal pronoun: Jesus addressing religious leaders

Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.

As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator 2002, p. 210ff. ), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.

Here, Jesus is addressing religious leaders with the formal pronoun, showing respect. Compare that with the typical address with the informal pronoun of the religious leaders.

The only two exceptions to this are Luke 7:40/43 and 10:26 where Jesus uses the informal pronoun as a response to the sycophantic use of the formal pronoun by the religious leaders (see formal pronoun: religious leaders addressing Jesus).

In most Dutch translations, the same distinctions are made, with the exception of Luke 10:26 where Jesus is using the formal pronoun. In Afrikaans and Western Frisian the informal pronoun is used throughout.

mint

The Horse Mint Mentha longifolia is the most common of the mint plants in the Holy Land, found on the banks of streams throughout the country. The Jews called it dandanah, a Hebrew word that does not occur in the Old Testament. They served its leaves along with milk and cucumbers, made a hot drink by boiling them, or used them, as the Romans and Greeks also did, in medicine and cooking. According to Moldenke (Plants of the Bible. Chronica Botanica. Ronald Press, 1952), people scattered mint leaves on the floors of synagogues, and the fragrance was released as people entered and stepped on them.

The horse mint is larger than the other kinds of mint, reaching up to 2 meters (7 feet). It has small, soft leaves with sawlike margins, and lavender-colored flowers.

In Matthew 23:23 and Luke 11:42 Jesus accuses the Pharisees of legalistically tithing not only from their major food crops—olives, dates and wheat, for example — but even from the leaves they pluck for their soup, including mint, and then ignoring issues of justice and poverty.

At least twenty-five kinds of mint are found in temperate areas of the world. It is well known in West Africa as an additive to tea. Depending on what translators do with the other species mentioned in Matthew and Luke (dill, cumin, and rue), if they do not have these species locally, they may transliterate “mint” from a major language. In simplified versions they may cover all these species with a generic phrase such as “all kinds of little plants in the garden.”