complete verse (Luke 13:2)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 13:2:

  • Noongar: “Jesus asked them, ‘What do you say? Those Galileean people, Herod killed them there. You say this happened because they were sinning much more than other Galileeans, do you? You think that, do you?” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “Answering that word/speech, Yesus said: ‘Do you really think thus, that the deaths of those Galilea people were like that, because their sins were greater than all the other Galilea people?” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Isa answered them, he said, ‘Do you think-mistakenly that those people had more/greater sins than all the people in Jalil because that happened to them?” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And Jesus said to them, ‘Perhaps you are thinking mistakenly that those Galilee people are greater sinners than their other companions from Galilee, and because of this, God permitted that they be killed.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Jesus said, ‘You probably think that the manner-of-death of those from-Galilea-folks shows that their sin was heavier than (that of) all their companions from-Galilea.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “When Jesus heard, he said to them, ‘Probably in your mind is that those taga Galilea were more sinful than their fellow countrymen, that’s why like that happened to them.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 13:2

Exegesis:

kai apokritheis eipen autois ‘and answering he said to them.’ apokritheis implies that the story about the killing had intimated some question or statement about the sinfulness of the people who had been killed.

dokeite hoti hoi Galilaioi houtoi hamartōloi para pantas tous Galilaious egenonto ‘do you think that these Galileans were sinners, more than all (other) Galileans,’ i.e. greater sinners than all other Galileans. For dokeō cf. on 8.18. For hamartōlos cf. on 5.8. For para with accusative meaning ‘beyond,’ ‘more than.’ egenonto is equivalent to the (non-existing) aorist of eimi.

hoti tauta peponthasin ‘because they suffered these things.’ tauta is pronominal accusative of content. The perfect tense refers to an event which was irrevocable.

Translation:

Do you think, see 12.51.

Were worse sinners than …, or, ‘were more sinful than…,’ ‘sinned more (gravely) than….’

Because they suffered thus gives the reason of what Jesus understands the people to be thinking. To bring this out it is sometimes sufficient to place the phrase nearer to ‘do you think’ (cf. An American Translation, The Four Gospels – a New Translation), but often further adjustment is required, e.g. ‘is it because these men suffered thus that you think they are worse…,’ ‘do you think: that these men suffered thus (or, what these men suffered) proves that (or, is because) they are worse….’ The verb to suffer here means, ‘to experience (or, to be subjected to) something bad,’ ‘have something bad happen to one,’ hence, “because this happened to them” (An American Translation); the thing suffered was death, cf. “because these G. were killed” (Good News Translation), ‘their death’ (Tae’ 1933).

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 13:2

13:2a–b

Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered this fate?: This is a rhetorical question. Jesus was challenging the crowd’s belief that these particular Galileans had died because they had committed worse sins than other Galileans. Here are two ways to translate this question:

• As a rhetorical question. For example:

Do you suppose that, because these Galileans suffered this fate, they must have been greater sinners than anyone else in Galilee? (Revised English Bible)
-or-
Do you think this happened to them because they were more sinful than all others from Galilee? (New Century Version)
-or-
Because those Galileans were killed in that way, do you think it proves that they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? (Good News Translation)

• As a statement:

You may be thinking/assuming that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, and that is why they suffered this way.
-or-
You should not assume/think that these Galileans were killed like that because they had more/worse sins than all the other Galileans.

Notice that in English, the clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as because they suffered this fate may be put in different places in the sentence. This is true whether the sentence is translated as a question or as a statement. You should use an order that is natural in your language.

13:2a

Do you think: Jesus was speaking to people who were mistaken about something. They assumed something that was not true. In some languages there may be a special verb or other expression to refer to a wrong assumption like this.

these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans: The Berean Standard Bible has supplied the word other because it is natural in English in this context. Also, the Berean Standard Bible has followed the Greek in repeating Galileans. In some languages this may be not be natural. Some ways to avoid the repetition are:

these people were worse sinners than everyone else in Galilee (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
they were more sinful than all others from Galilee (New Century Version)

worse sinners: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as sinners refers here to people who habitually do what is contrary to God’s law. The phrase worse sinners is ambiguous. It could refer to people who commit more serious sins or who sin more frequently. Some other ways to translate the phrase worse sinners are:

sinned more
-or-
committed more/worse sins
-or-
did more wrong/evil deeds

The word “sinner” * last occurred in 7:39e.

13:2b

because: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as because introduces the reason why Jesus’ hearers assumed that those Galileans were worse sinners than other people. It was a common belief that bad things happened to people as a result of sin. For that reason, the people thought that their terrible death was evidence that they had committed terrible sins.

they suffered this fate: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as they suffered this fate is literally “they suffered these (things).” This clause refers to the terrible or violent way in which these Galileans died. The verb suffered does not indicate a prolonged period of suffering. Refer to their death in a natural way in your language. For example:

those Galileans were killed in that way (Good News Translation)
-or-
this happened to them (New Century Version)

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