housetops

The Greek that is translated in English “housetops” or similar in English is translated in Central Mazahua as “where you meet your fellowmen,” in Sranan Tongo as “street corners,” and in Batak Toba as “the place under the tree” (i.e. a place outside the village, where people gather to discuss public matters.) (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)

In Enlhet, “shouting from the housetops” “does not mean ‘a public announcement’ but rather ‘an omen announcing an evil spirit attack upon the village.’ The public announcement is expressed with a different form to announce in front of the house.” (Source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1971, p. 169ff. )

complete verse (Luke 12:3)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 12:3:

  • Noongar: “Because what you say in the dark of night will be heard in the light of day, and words you whisper (lit.: “silent talk”) in a secret place will be shouted from the top of the house.'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “So, what you say in the night will definitely be exposed in the daytime. And what you whisper to friends/companions in a locked house, will definitely be announced all through the town.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Whatever you tell at night, will be heard when it is day. Whatever you whisper in the room, will be spread to the people in the market.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Everything which you whisper at night will be heard in the day time, and anything that you say in secret in your room, it will be known by the many people in the market.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “So even anything that you have said at night will become known in the day, and what you have been whispering in a room with closed-door will be shouted so the many-people will hear.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “For whatever you say in the dark, it’s like it’s being received/reached-out-for(fig.) in the light-place. What you whisper inside will be shouted out to the people.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Amele: “Therefore whatever talk you said in the dark they will hear in the daylight. And then whatever talk you whispered in man’s ear in the dark room they will shout and say on the house ridgepole.” (Source: John Roberts in this article )

formal pronoun: Jesus addressing his disciples and common people

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 his disciples, individuals and/or crowds with the formal pronoun, showing respect.

In most Dutch translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and common people with the informal pronoun, whereas they address him with the formal form.

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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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 choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

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

Translation commentary on Luke 12:3

Exegesis:

anth’ hōn ‘for,’ cf. on 1.20, here used in a somewhat weakened sense.

hosa en tē skotia eipate ‘whatever you have said in the dark.’ hosa is stronger than the simple relative pronoun which is used in the next clause.

skotia ‘darkness,’ here used in the sense of ‘night.’

en tō phōti akousthēsetai ‘will be heard in the light,’ i.e. because it will be repeated. en tō phōti means ‘in the light of the day.’

ho pros to ous elalēsate en tois tameiois ‘what you have said into the ear (of somebody) in the inner rooms.’ pros to ous qualifies elalēsate as meaning ‘you have whispered,’ cf. Revised Standard Version.

tameion (also v. 24) ‘storeroom,’ here ‘secret room,’ or ‘inner room.’

kēruchthēsetai epi tōn domatōn ‘will be proclaimed on the housetops.’ kērussō is here (as in 8.39) to be understood in the sense of telling publicly. For dōma cf. on 5.19. The housetops are mentioned here as the place from which a speaker is heard best.

Translation:

Whatever …, or. ‘when you said something it shall be heard….’

In the dark … in the light, or, ‘at night time … in day time’ (Kekchi, similarly Tae’).

Shall be heard … proclaimed, or, ‘people will hear … people/they will proclaim.’

In private rooms, or, ‘behind closed doors’ (Dios Habla Hoy), ‘in the sleeping-room’ (Sranan Tongo, Toraja-Sa’dan, Javanese), ‘in the sleeping-house’ (Balinese, using the term for the only closed building in a compound), ‘underneath the granary’ (Shona 1966, there being no really private rooms in traditional Shona houses).

Whispered, i.e. spoken softly and to one or only a few persons.

Proclaimed. The reference is to speaking loudly (cf. “shouted”, New English Bible) and publicly to many persons, cf. also note on 4.18.

The housetops, or, ‘the roof(-top)/upper-storey, or, the ridge of the house/hut-roof’ (cf. e.g. Tzeltal, Bahasa Indonesia; Kele, Lomwe). Such renderings, however, will not do where people cannot imagine a person proclaiming on or from such a place; hence functional renderings such as, ‘the meeting places’ (Shona 1966), ‘where you meet your fellowmen’ (Central Mazahua), or cultural equivalents, e.g. ‘the streetcorners’ (Sranan Tongo), ‘the place-under-the-tree’ (Batak Toba, i.e. a place outside the village, where people gather to discuss public matters).

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 12:3

12:3

In this verse Jesus again used parallelism. Both parts of the verse contain similar ideas. They both mean that private information will be made public. See the General Comment on 12:3a–b at the end of 12:3b for ways to translate these parallel ideas.

12:3a

In Greek, this verse begins with a conjunction that several English versions, such as the CSB and English Standard Version, translate as “Therefore.” It introduces the specific result of the general principle that Jesus stated in 12:1–2. It applies this principle to the disciples. The Berean Standard Bible does not translate this conjunction. Other ways to introduce this result are:

So then (Good News Translation)
-or-
Accordingly
-or-
As a result

What you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the daylight: This clause has a figurative meaning. The phrase What you have spoken in the dark means “what you have said privately/secretly to a few people.” The phrase will be heard in the daylight means “will be heard in public by many people.” Some ways to translate this figure of speech are:

• Keep the images of dark/night and light/day. Make explicit some of the figurative meaning if necessary. For example:

What you said ⌊quietly⌋ in the darkness/night will become known ⌊to everyone⌋ in the daytime
-or-

⌊People/everyone⌋ will hear in the day the ⌊secret⌋ things you spoke when it was dark/night

• Translate the meaning without the figures of “dark” and “daylight.” For example:

What you say privately, people will hear about publicly

Translate this figure of speech in a way that is most natural in your language.

will be heard: This is a passive verb. If it is necessary in your language to use an active verb, you may supply “people” or “everyone” as the subject. For example:

everyone will hear what you talked about in private

12:3b

what you have whispered: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as whispered is literally “spoken in the ear.” It refers to talking quietly next to someone’s ear so that only that person can hear what is said. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

Whatever you whisper (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
whatever you have whispered in private (Good News Translation)

Use an expression that expresses this meaning naturally in your language.

in the inner rooms: Many Jewish houses had thin walls. Sometimes people outside could hear what people said inside the house. The phrase in the inner rooms refers to a part of the house where people could talk secretly. They knew that people outside could not hear what they said in that room. Other ways to translate this phrase in English are:

behind closed doors (Revised English Bible)
-or-
in a closed room (Good News Translation)
-or-
in private rooms (God’s Word)

In areas where houses do not have inner rooms, you may use a descriptive phrase that focuses on the function of an inner room. For example:

in a place where you can speak privately
-or-
in a place where others will not hear you

will be proclaimed: The verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as will be proclaimed means “will be announced” or “will be shouted.” It refers to saying something loudly and publicly. If you need to use an active verb and to supply a subject, try to use a general subject. For example:

someone will shout/announce
-or-

other people will proclaim

proclaimed from the housetops: The action of proclaiming something from the housetops had a special function or meaning in the Jewish culture. Jewish houses had flat roofs. People could stand on the flat roofs to announce important messages to others in the community who were gathered in the street below.

In some cultures people will not understand the meaning or function of speaking from a rooftop. Some other ways to translate this action with its special meaning are:

• Describe the action and supply the cultural meaning. For example:

will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear (New Living Translation (2004))

• Describe the action in a more general way and supply the meaning. For example:

⌊Someone⌋ will go up to a high place and announce what you said ⌊so that everyone can hear it⌋

• Translate the meaning without the specific action. For example:

will be announced loudly so that everyone can hear

General Comment on 12:3a–b

In some languages it may be more natural to combine the ideas in these parallel lines. For example:

So what you whispered to just a few people in a closed room will be announced in public so that everyone will hear it.
-or-
Since this is true, someone will say loudly to everyone in the middle of the day what you said secretly/quietly to only your friend in the middle of the night.

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