The Greek in Luke 1:2 that is translated into English as “delivered (to us)” or “handed down (to us)” is rendered as “we had heard them from the mouth of men who…” (Sranan Tongo), “to make known” (Kannada), “to show causing (us) to know” (Thai) or “to cause-to-receive” (Balinese, using a verb that also has the meaning “to bequeath an inheritance”).
inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Luke 1:2)
Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)
The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).
For this verse, translators either select the inclusive form (including Theophilus) (according to Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.) or the exclusive form (according to SIL International Translation Department (1999)).
M. John (in The Bible Translator 1976, p. 237ff. ) explains the difficulty of the choice this way: “Here the translator working in a language with the two forms of we has to make his choice, at least in part on the basis of the answer to the question whether Theophilus was, at the time of Luke’s writing, a Christian. The choice of the form of we and the translation of the last part of the paragraph (Luke 1:4) are interconnected.”
complete verse (Luke 1:2)
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 1:2:
- Noongar: “They wrote true things on paper, everything people told us. These people have seen everything from the beginning and they told the Good News.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
- Uma: “What they wrote, it is the same as the story that was announced to us by people who had seen [with their] eyes all that happened from the beginning and who became carriers of the Lord’s Word.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “It was written by them what was told to us (excl.) by those who saw what he did from the beginning, and they are the people who proclaim God’s Word.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “They wrote down what was related to us people who were the ones who saw these works and were the ones who spread the Word of God.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “What they wrote is indeed also what was related by those who saw it beginning-from the first and preached concerning the Lord Jesus.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “The things they wrote were what was related to us (excl.) by those who observed them from the past and who now go teaching concerning this which is being testified to.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
word / command (of God) (Japanese honorifics)
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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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-kotoba (みことば) or “word (of God)” in the referenced verses.
(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Sung version of Luke 1
Translation commentary on Luke 1:2
Exegesis:
kathōs paredosan hēmin ‘as handed down to us….’ Grammatically the object of paredosan is pragmata ‘things,’ to be understood from pragmatōn in v. 1. But because, properly understood, not the pragmata themselves were handed down but information or tradition concerning them, several translations resort to a more free rendering as e.g. “following the traditions handed down to us” (New English Bible), or “basing their work on the evidence” (Phillips).
kathōs ‘just as,’ stronger than hōs ‘as.’
paradidōmi ‘to hand over,’ ‘to turn over’; with regard to oral or written tradition ‘to hand down,’ ‘to pass on.’ Here probably of the oral transmission of the Gospel tradition.
hoi ap’ archēs autoptai kai hupēretai genomenoi tou logou ‘those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word,’ or ‘those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and became ministers of the word’ (cf. La Sainte Bible: Nouvelle version Segond révisée, Willibrord), dependent upon the interpretation of ap’ archēs and of the participle genomenoi.
ap’ archēs ‘from the beginning,’ i.e. of the pragmata i.e. of the life and ministry of Jesus, cf. Acts 1.21f. Since the preaching of the Gospel did not begin until after the ministry of Jesus as defined in Acts 1.21f, it is best to take ap’ archēs to refer to autoptai only and not to hupēretai tou logou as well. Furthermore the position of genomenoi between hupēratai and logou does not point to its going with both autoptai and hupēretai. Hence it is preferable to take ap’ archēs to modify autoptai ‘those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning’ and genomenoi to go with hupēretai tou logou ‘who became ministers of the word.’
autoptēs ‘eyewitness.’
hupēretēs (also 4.20) ‘servant,’ here with logos ‘word,’ i.e. the Gospel or the word of God (for logos in this sense cf. Acts 6.4; 11.19; for hupēretēs in this connection cf. Acts 26.16; 1 Cor 4.1), ‘preacher of the Gospel message.’
Translation:
They were delivered to us, or, ‘we had heard them from the mouth of men who…’ (Sranan Tongo). — To deliver, or, ‘to make known’ (Kannada), ‘to show causing (us) to know’ (Thai), ‘to cause-to-receive’ (Balinese, using a verb that also has the meaning ‘to bequeath an inheritance’).
From the beginning, or, specifying the reference, ‘from its beginning,’ ‘since those things began to happen,’ ‘from the very first of those things/events.’
Eyewitnesses may have to be expressed analytically, e.g. ‘people/those who saw with their own eyes,’ ‘people who witnessed with the seeing of their eyes’ (Tae,’ using a current idiomatic expression for ‘to see clearly,’ cf. ‘with the hearing of the ear’ for ‘to hear clearly’), ‘people in whose presence they happened’ (Apache). The object of ‘to see’ is “the things accomplished”, which may have to be said explicitly, e.g. adding ‘those things,’ or a pronominal preference.
Ministers refers to those who give the word the service it needs; hence e.g., ‘those who teach’ (Tboli), ‘those who convey/spread,’ ‘proclaimers of’ (Pampanga), ‘those who preach’ (Tagalog, South Bolivian Quechua, similarly Chinese, lit. ‘those who hand down the way,’ see below), or simply, ‘those who tell’ (Navajo, Apache).
The word is used here as a technical term. In several languages a literal rendering would be misleading, and still more so by its being combined here with the word ‘minister/servant,’ used also in an uncommon sense; hence such renderings as, ‘God’s word’ (Navajo, Apache), cf. on 5.1; or, ‘Gospel/Good News’ (New English Bible, Bahasa Indonesia, Balinese), ‘the word of the gospel’ (Kannada), ‘the holy word’ (Tamil). Chinese uses a cultural equivalent, ‘the way’ (tao), and ‘to hand down the way,’ in use for the teaching of the ancient sages, has become the normal term for proclaiming Christian doctrine.
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 1:2
1:2
just as they were handed down to us by the initial eyewitnesses and servants of the word: The verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates with the passive form were handed down is an active form in Greek. A more literal translation of the clause is:
just as the ones who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word delivered (them) to us
Some ways to translate the clause are:
• Use a passive verb. For example:
just as they were told/delivered to us by those who were originally eyewitness and servants of the word
• Use an active verb. For example:
just as those who were originally eyewitnesses and servants of the word told us
This clause is long and complex. In some languages it may be more natural to translate it with more than one sentence. For example:
Some people were eyewitnesses of these things from the first. They were servants of the word. These people handed down the reports of these things to us.
See the General Comment on 1:2a–c at the end of the notes on 1:2b–c for another way to reorder 1:2a–c and translate it in an active way.
1:2a
just as: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as just as indicates that the others who had undertaken to “compose an account” about Jesus faithfully reported what they heard from the people who were eyewitnesses. They did not invent or change the story. Another way to translate this is:
exactly as
they were handed down to us: The pronoun they here refers to the “things” of 1:1b. These “things” were the events of Jesus’ life and death. Luke and the other believers had heard about these events from other people.
In some languages, it may be necessary to make it clear that it was the information about these events that was handed down. For example:
these accounts/reports were handed down to us
were handed down: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as were handed down means “delivered.” This word often describes the way people tell their children and grandchildren about important things that happened before their children were born. In this context people who saw the events in Jesus’ life told people who were born later about them. That generation also told the believers of the next generation. People told these things orally or wrote them down.
to us: The pronoun us refers here to Luke and the other Christians of his generation. It includes the others who had written accounts of the life and death of Jesus. Concerning whether it includes Theophilus, see the note on “among us” at 1:1b.
1:2b–c
the initial: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the initial is literally “from the beginning.” It refers to the time when the events of Jesus’ life and ministry began. It may refer mainly to the time when he was baptized and began his ministry, but there were also eyewitnesses to his birth.
eyewitnesses and servants of the word: The words eyewitnesses and servants refer to one group of people. Luke described them here in two different ways. The same people who actually saw the events were the ones who served by telling the message about them.
eyewitnesses: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as eyewitnesses refers to people who had personally seen or heard something. Luke and the other writers based their writings on what they learned from people who had seen and heard Jesus themselves.
servants of the word: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as servants of the word refers to people who served God by announcing his word (message) to others. In this context, the word refers to the message about Jesus. Another way to translate this is:
the people who…served God by telling people his message (New Century Version)
General Comment on 1:2a–c
In some languages, it may be clearer to combine or reorder parts of 1:2a–c. For example:
2a
⌊They wrote down the events⌋ just as 2bthe people who were eyewitnesses from the beginning ⌊had reported them⌋. 2cThese eyewitnesses were servants of the message ⌊about these events⌋ 2aand handed it down to us.
General Comment on 1:1–2
In some languages, it may be clearer to put some of the parts of 1:1–2 into the order in which the events happened. For example:
2bFrom the beginning ⌊of Jesus’ time on earth,⌋ certain people were eyewitnesses 1bof the things/events ⌊of Jesus’ life and death⌋ that have been fulfilled among us. 2cThey served God by telling people what Jesus did and what he taught 2aand so the knowledge of these things was passed/delivered to us. 1a⌊Later,⌋ many ⌊others⌋ undertook to put these events in order as a story/history and to write it down.
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