teacher

The Greek that is translated as “teacher” (also: “master”) in English is translated in the 1941 Yiddish by Einspruch as rebe (רֶבּי) or “Rabbi” in an effort to identify Jesus as a teacher of the Jews. (Source: Naomi Seidmann in Elliott / Boer 2012, p. 151ff.)

Likewise, a number of Hebrew translations, including the 2018 and 2020 editions by the The Bible Society in Israel also use “Rabbi” (רַבִּי).

See also rabbi.

brother (Luke 12:13)

The Greek that is translated as “brother” in English is translated as “older brother” in most languages that have to make a distinction between older and younger brother.

In translation in some parts of Bali it might also be “youngest brother,” “since there the youngest brother usually stays to live with the father after his brothers have gone off to live on their own.”

The Parable of the Rich Fool

The following is a stained glass window depicting The Parable of the Rich Fool by Arthur J. Dix, 1898. From St John’s church, Bowness-on-Windermere, England:

Hosted by Wikimedia Commons under a Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication

Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum )

Following is a 1973 painting of the JESUS MAFA project, a response to New Testament readings from the Lectionary by a Christian community in Cameroon, Africa. Each of the readings was selected and adapted to dramatic interpretation by the community members. Photographs of their interpretations were made, and these were then transcribed to paintings:

From Art in the Christian Tradition , a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. Image retrieved March 23, 2026. Original source: librairie-emmanuel.fr.

complete verse (Luke 12:13)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 12:13:

  • Noongar: “Among the crowd, one man said to Jesus, ‘Boss, tell my brother to share everything our father gave us after he died.'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “There was a person from the midst of the people who said to Yesus: ‘Teacher, tell my relative to please give me my share of the inheritance [from] our (excl.) parents.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then there was one from the crowds who spoke. He said to Isa, ‘O Sir, tell my older sibling that he should share the inheritance from our father with me.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then there was a man of those people gathered there, and he said, ‘Chief, you’re the one who knows how to handle my older brother, so that he will share with me the possessions that were left to us by our father who has now died.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Then a man who was gathered-with the many-people said, ‘Sir teacher, please tell my sibling to share with me our (excl.) inheritance.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “There was a person there in that crowd who asked Jesus for help. ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘instruct my brother to give (me) my share of our (excl.) inheritance.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Japanese benefactives (itte)

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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 benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. Here, itte (言って) or “say” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).”

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

Translation commentary on Luke 12:13

Exegesis:

tis ek tou ochlou ‘somebody in the crowd,’ cf. on 11.27.

didaskale ‘master,’ cf. on 3.12.

merisasthai met’ emou tēn klēronomian ‘to share the inheritance with me,’ dependent upon eipe ‘tell.’ The infinitive merisasthai has obligatory force, i.e. ‘that he must share.’

merizomai ‘to share with,’ followed by meta with genitive.

klēronomia (also 20.14) ‘inheritance,’ ‘estate,’ i.e. what is left after the father’s death.

Translation:

Bid, or, ‘please, tell/say-to/order.’

Brother, see 6.14. If one has to choose between terms for different kinds of brothers, the decision must be made on the basis of the situation most likely to occur in the receptor culture; hence ‘son of my father,’ ‘elder-brother’ (many cultures), ‘youngest brother’ (as might be preferable in some parts of Bali, since there the youngest brother usually stays to live with the father after his brothers have gone off to live on their own), ‘brother-of-the-same-mother’ (in some matrilineal societies), and so on.

Divide … with me, or, ‘give me my part of’ (Tae’ 1933).

The inheritance may be described here, if necessary, ‘the property our (exclusive) father left (us) at his death.’

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.