complete verse (Luke 12:23)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 12:23:

  • Noongar: “Life is greater than eating and drinking and the body is greater than clothes.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “Because your lives are more than food and clothes.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “For the life is more valuable than food and the body is more valuable than clothes.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “because God has given you breath and your body, which is very precious and it cannot be that he will not give you also food and clothing.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because your lives are far-away more-valuable than food, and your bodies are also emphatically more-valuable than clothes.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “For isn’t it so that life is greater/more-important than food and the body also is greater/more-important than clothing? Well since life and body are indeed the gift of God to you, of course he will also give these which you need which are food and clothing.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 12:23

Exegesis:

hē gar psuchē pleion estin tēs trophēs ‘for life is something more important, or, valuable, than food.’ Both times the article (hē and tēs) is generic. pleion is substantive. psuchē has the same meaning as in v. 22, and v. 23 emphasizes the difference in value and meaning between physical life and that which is needed to sustain it.

kai to sōma tou endumatos ‘and the body (is something more important, or, valuable) than clothing,’ with pleion estin understood, see above.

Translation:

Life and body may have to be possessed, ‘your life,’ ‘your body.’

For clothing see 7.25.

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 12:23

12:23

For: In Greek, this verse begins with a conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as For. The conjunction introduces a reason why Jesus’ disciples should not worry about food and clothes. Express this reason connection in a natural way in your language. In some languages a connector may not be needed.

life is more than food, and the body more than clothes: This clause indicates that a person’s life is more important than things like food and clothes that he needs. For example:

Life is much more important than food, and the body much more important than clothes. (Good News Translation)

This statement is ambiguous. It can imply that:

(a) Since God gives the disciples their lives (the more important thing), they can also trust him to supply the food and clothing (the less important things) that they need for their lives.

(b) Life has much more meaning than food and clothes, and the disciples should focus on that meaning.

Jesus taught both these ideas in this chapter, and both ideas may be implied here. If possible, translate so that both ideas may be understood. In some languages it may be necessary to make this implied reasoning explicit, either in the text or in a footnote. For example:

Your life is more valuable than what you eat, and your body is more valuable than what you wear. ⌊Since God has given you both your life and your body, you can certainly trust him to also give you these things that you need.⌋

In some languages it may be necessary to translate life as a verb. You could possibly translate food as a verb in order to match this and say something like:

For living involves so much more than eating

General Comment on 12:23

In some languages it may be more natural to combine the clauses of 12:23. As in 12:22c, it may not be necessary to mention “body” explicitly. For example:

For life is far more important than food and clothing.

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