complete verse (Luke 12:48)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 12:48:

  • Noongar: “But if the servant does not know what his master wants him to do, and does the wrong thing, his master must punish him, but the master will lightly punish him. The person given much, he must give much; the person given much more, he must give much more.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “But the slave who does not know the desires of his nobleman, and he does [something] worthy to be beaten for, he is beaten, but just a measured-amount. Because whoever is given much, much also is required from him. Whoever is offered much, much also is requested-of him.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But if a person is ignorant about the wishes of his master but he does something that he should be punished for, he will also be beaten/whipped but not so much. Whoever has been given much from him is also much expected. And if more is entrusted to him, more will also be expected from him.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Now as for that servant who does not yet know what his master wants him to do, but he does something that causes his master to be angry with him, he will not be beaten so severely.’ And Jesus said again, ‘The person who has much trusted to him, much also will be expected from him. And if very much is entrusted to him, very much also will be expected from him.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But the servant who doesn’t know what his master wants him to do and he sins something that is worthy of a whipping, he will be whipped just the same, but (only a) little. Because the person to whom much has been entrusted, much also will be expected from him, and the one to whom more has been entrusted, more also will be expected from him.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But that slave who does not know the will of his master, who just sinned unintentionally, he will indeed be punished but it won’t be heavy. It’s true, that one given/favored much by God, much will indeed be drawn-out/exacted by God. If a person has been entrusted with an important responsibility, he really will have to answer for how he attends to (lit. faces) it.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 12:47 – 12:48

Exegesis:

ekeinos de ho doulos ‘but that servant…,’ referring forward to ho gnous, etc., and to be distinguished from the one to whom vv. 43, 45f refer.

ho gnous to thelēma tou kuriou autou ‘who did know what his master wants.’

thelēma ‘will,’ i.e. what is willed, here of that which one wants to be brought about by somebody else.

kai mē hetoimasas ē poiēsas pros to thelēma autou ‘and who has not made preparations or acted according to what he wants.’ autou refers to tou kuriou. For pros. For hetoimazō cf. on 1.17.

darēsetai pollas (scil. plēgas) ‘will be beaten with many (strokes),’ hence ‘severely’ (cf. New English Bible).

derō ‘to beat,’ here with accusative of content.

(V. 48a) ho de mē gnous ‘but he who did not know,’ i.e. ‘what his master wants,’ with to thelēma tou kuriou autou understood from v. 47.

poiēsas de axia plēgōn ‘but who did what deserves strokes,’ i.e. what deserves punishment. plēgē, cf. on 10.30.

darēsetai oligas (scil. plēgas) ‘will be beaten with few (strokes),’ hence ‘lightly.’

Translation:

Again a change in the sentence structure may be preferable, e.g. ‘if a servant knows…, he will receive….’

Did not make ready or act according to his will. Where the verbs to be used are obligatorily transitive one may say, ‘did not make ready or do what he (i.e. his master) wanted him to do.’

Shall receive a severe beating. Such constructions with ‘receive’ can often be rendered as passives, e.g. ‘will be beaten severely,’ then, with a further shift, ‘his master will beat him severely.’ For indirect agency cf. the remark on v. 46. Beating here probably refers to beating with a stick or whip.

(V. 48a) He, referring to another hypothetical servant.

Did what deserved a beating, or, ‘did what is repaid/punished with blows’ (cf. Yao), ‘did something that properly brings (lit. causes-to-come) blows’ (Bahasa Indonesia RC); or introducing a reference to the person to be beaten, ‘did things for which he deserved a beating, or, ought to be beaten,’ ‘acted so that his master must beat him,’ etc., see above.

Translation commentary on Luke 12:48b

Exegesis:

panti de hō edothē polu, polu zētēthēsetai par’ autou ‘from everyone who has been given much, much will be required.’ panti is in the dative under the influence of the case of the relative pronoun hō that goes with it (inverse attraction). par’ autou takes up panti. The repetition of polu is intentional. The implied agent is God.

hō parethento polu, perissoteron aitēsousin auton ‘from him to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.’ parethento and aitēsousin, though both in 3rd person plural, are best understood as impersonal plurals equivalent to passives. paratithemai means here ‘to entrust,’ ‘to commend,’ ‘to deposit.’ polu and perissoteron lit. ‘much’ and ‘more,’ are best understood in their literal sense. For the meaning of the verse, see commentaries.

Translation:

An ‘if-’ or ‘when-’ clause may be preferable again, cf. 9.24.

Of him will much be required, i.e. he will be asked/expected to give much, ‘God will expect him to give much.’

Demanded of is closely synonymous here with ‘required of.’

More, i.e. than has been committed or deposited.

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 12:48

12:48a

But the one who unknowingly does: This clause contains an ellipsis. It does not say what this servant unknowingly does. From the context, it is clear that this servant does not know his master’s will. In languages where this kind of ellipsis is unclear or unnatural, you should supply the implied information. For example:

But the servant who does not know ⌊what his master wants him to do⌋…

12:48b

does things worthy of punishment: The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as does things worthy of punishment is more literally “having done (things) worthy of blows.” Other ways to translate this phrase are:

does something for which he deserves a whipping (Good News Translation)
-or-
does something wrong (New Living Translation (2004))

12:48c

will be beaten with few blows: You should translate this phrase in a way that clearly shows the contrast with the parallel phrase in 12:47c. Some ways to translate it in English are:

will be flogged less severely (Revised English Bible)
-or-
will not be beaten so hard (Contemporary English Version)

12:48d

From everyone who has been given much, much will be required: This saying is in the form of a proverb or general statement. It applies both to the way people relate to one another and also to the way God relates to people. When a master gives his servants great privileges, he expects those servants to serve him exceptionally well. Similarly, when God gives his people many gifts and blessings, he expects them to work hard for him.

Both clauses in this verse part contain passive verbs. Some ways to translate these verbs are:

• As passive verbs. For example:

When someone has been given much, much will be required in return (New Living Translation (2004))

• As active verbs. If possible, use a subject that can apply both to God and a human master. For example:

A master demands much from the one to whom he has given much

If it is not possible to use an ambiguous subject, it is recommended that you supply the subject “God.” You may also need to supply direct objects and say what God gives and demands. For example:

When ⌊God⌋ gives great ⌊blessings/privileges⌋ to people, he requires from them great ⌊faithfulness⌋
-or-
If God has been generous with you, he will expect you to serve him well (Contemporary English Version)

Translate these verbs in a way that is most natural in your language.

12:48e

and from him who has been entrusted with much, even more will be demanded: The conjunction and here introduces a statement that is parallel to the one in 12:48d. In some languages a conjunction may not be needed. For example:

much more is required from the person to whom much more is given (Good News Translation)

from him who has been entrusted with much, even more will be demanded: This statement has almost the same meaning as 12:48d. This repetition is called parallelism. It was considered good style for Jewish proverbs to use parallelism to emphasize something. See the General Comment on 12:48d–e at the end of 12:48e for a way to combine these two parallel statements into one statement.

has been entrusted…even more will be demanded: The Greek verbs that the Berean Standard Bible translates as has been entrusted and will be demanded are more literally “they entrust” and “they will demand/require.” Here the subject “they” is a way to include anyone who entrusts or asks something of people. It can be applied to both human masters and God. Some ways to translate these verbs are:

• Use passive verbs. For example:

the more he has had entrusted to him the more will be demanded of him (Revised English Bible)

• Use verbs with general subjects such as “anyone” or “someone”:

When ⌊someone/anyone⌋ entrusts you with a very precious thing, he will require you to be very faithful

Translate these verbs in a way that is most natural in your language.

General Comment on 12:48d–e

In some languages it may not be natural to use parallel statements that have almost the same meaning. If that is true in your language, it may be possible to combine the parallel statements into one statement. For example:

If a person is given many blessings and responsibilities, much will be expected from him.
-or-
God will certainly require much from people to whom he has entrusted much.

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