tower

The Greek that is translated as “tower” in English is translated in Elhomwe as enyumba yootthinddaanyerana or “house, one on top of the other.” (Source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

For other translations, see also Translation commentary on Luke 13:4.

complete verse (Luke 13:4)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 13:4:

  • Noongar: “And those 18 people of Siloam. They died when that tall building fell on them. You say this happened because they were sinning much more than other people of Jerusalem, do you? You think that, do you?” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “So also the eighteen who died when a tall house fell on them in Siloam. Because they died like that, perhaps you think that their wrongs were greater than all the Yerusalem people?” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “And the eighteen people who died in Siluwam because the tall house fell on them, do you mistakenly-think that they had more/greater sins than all the other people living in Awrusalam?” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Think also about the eighteen people who were killed when they were fallen on by the tall house there at Siloam. Perhaps you are thinking mistakenly that the reason they were fallen upon is because they are much greater sinners than their other companions from Jerusalem?” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Remember also the eighteen who were covered-up in-the-destruction of the tall house at Siloam which is part of Jerusalem. Does this mean to say that their sins are heavier than all their townmates?” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well, those eighteen people who died who were collapsed on by the high building/house in Siloe, in the jurisdiction of Jerusalem, what is your opinion, were they more sinful than others who have-their-livelihood there in Jerusalem?” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 13:4

Exegesis:

ē ‘or,’ introduces a clause which, again in the form of a question, describes a similar case.

ekeinoi hoi deka oktō ‘those eighteen people,’ the subject of egenonto but for the sake of emphasis placed at the beginning of the sentence and hence taken up by autoi (after hoti). The demonstrative pronoun and the article show that Jesus referred to people whom everybody knew about.

eph’ hous epesen ho purgos en tō Silōam ‘on whom the tower fell at Siloam.’ en tō Silōam is best understood to mean ‘in the neighbourhood of Siloam,’ and to go with the whole clause. For Silōam cf. IDB IV, 352ff. purgos also 14.28.

dokeite hoti autoi opheiletai egenonto para pantas tous anthrōpous tous katoikountas Ierousalēm ‘do you think that they were offenders, more than all people who live in Jerusalem?,’ same structure as the corresponding interrogative clause in v. 2. katoikeō, cf. on 11.26.

opheiletēs lit. ‘debtor,’ here corresponding with, and equivalent to hamartōloi ‘sinners’ in v. 2 (cf. also 11.4).

Translation:

The introductory words (or those … killed them) can often best be rendered as an independent question or statement, introduced by a phrase like, “again, take” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation), “what about…?” (Good News Translation); or, ‘you remember how…?,’ which may require some of the shifts mentioned in the next entry.

Those eighteen upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, or, ‘those eighteen men who were killed when/because the tower fell on them (or, by/at the falling down of the tower) in S.,’ or, ‘the eighteen people who died fallen-upon-by the tower in S.’ (Bahasa Indonesia, Javanese). Tower sometimes has to be rendered by a descriptive term, e.g. ‘built upward house’ (Ekari), ‘high house/building’ (Kekchi, Zarma), ‘far-visible house’ (Tae’ 1933), ‘house/building one looks out from’; Tzeltal suggests not height but strength by using a word designating any kind of edifice or wall made of stones put together with mortar, in contrast with the usual buildings made with poles and vines. Since the tower may have been part of the fortifications, Batak Toba uses the term for an observation-post on the walls around the settlement, cf. also, ‘house-of war’ (Trukese, Pohnpeian). For to be killed, here accidentally.

Were worse offenders than, see the synonymous phrase in v. 2. Offender, or, ‘wrong doer,’ ‘transgressor,’ ‘sinner.’

The others who dwelt in, or, ‘the other inhabitants of,’ implying that the eighteen also lived in Jerusalem.

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 13:4

13:4a

Or: The word Or here introduces another example of people who had recently died in a tragic way. In this second example, however, the deaths were accidental, not deliberate killings. Other ways to introduce this example are:

What about… (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Consider also…

those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam collapsed on them: Jesus was referring here to an event that his listeners already knew about. This event had happened in Jerusalem not long before that. In some languages it may be helpful to make explicit that Jesus’ listeners had already heard about it. For example:

⌊you also heard/know about⌋ the eighteen people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them

the tower of Siloam: Siloam was the name of a pool in Jerusalem and also of the neighborhood around this pool. The tower in Siloam was in this neighborhood. It was probably a high fortified area or building that was part of the city wall. It was probably made of stone and was very heavy. Some other ways to translate it are:

high building in Siloam
-or-
tall ⌊stone⌋ house/wall in Siloam

13:4b

Do you think that they were more sinful than all the others living in Jerusalem?: This is a rhetorical question. It is parallel to the question in 13:2, so you can probably translate it in a similar way.

Jesus used this question to challenge the crowd’s belief about why the tower fell on those people. The crowd thought that the people must be guilty of worse sins than the other residents of Jerusalem and that was the reason the tower fell on them. Some other ways to translate the question are:

• As a rhetorical question:

Do you suppose that they were more guilty than all the other people living in Jerusalem? (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
Do you think they were more sinful than all the others who live in Jerusalem? (New Century Version)
-or-
Do you suppose this proves that they were worse than all the other people living in Jerusalem? (Good News Translation)

• As a statement:

You may think/assume that they were more guilty ⌊of sin⌋ than all the other ⌊people⌋ living in Jerusalem.
-or-
You should not think/assume that ⌊this happened to them because⌋ they were guilty of more ⌊sin⌋ than all the other Jerusalem residents.

Translate this question in a way that is most natural in your language.

more sinful: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as more sinful is literally “debtors.” It is a figure of speech that pictures sin as a debt that must be paid to God. In this context it is a synonym of “sinners” in 13:2a. Other ways to translate the phrase more sinful here are:

worse offenders (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
worse sinners (New King James Version)
-or-
had sinned more
-or-
were more sinful (God’s Word)

all the others living in Jerusalem: The Berean Standard Bible has supplied the word others where the Greek text says “people” in order to clarify that the eighteen people who were killed by the tower also lived in Jerusalem. Another way to translate this is:

the rest of the people who lived in Jerusalem

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