Ἦν δὲ διδάσκων ἐν μιᾷ τῶν συναγωγῶν ἐν τοῖς σάββασιν.
Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman
10Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “Sabbath” in English is rendered as “day we rest” in Tzotzil, in Mairasi as “Jew’s Rest Day,” in Quiotepec Chinantec as “day when people of Israel rested,” in Shilluk as “day of God,” in Obolo as Usen Mbuban or “Holy Day,” and in Mandarin Chinese as ānxírì (安息日) or “rest day” (literally: “peace – rest – day”). (Sources: Tzotzil: Marion Cowan in Notes on Translation with Drill, p. 169ff; Mairasi: Enggavoter 2004; Quiotepec Chinantec: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.; Shilluk: Nida 1964, p. 237; Obolo: Enene Enene; Chinese: Jost Zetzsche)
In Matumbi it is translated as Sabato ya Ayahudi or “Sabbath of the Jews,” to distinguish it from the Islamic Sabbath (which is Friday) or the Christian Sabbath (which is Sunday). (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
In the old Khmer version as well as in the first new translation this term was rendered as “day of rest” (Thngai Chhup Somrak / ថ្ងៃឈប់សំរាក). Considered inadequate to convey its religious meaning (not only about cessation of work, but also in honor of Yahweh as the Creator), the committee for the Today’s Khmer Version (publ. 2005) decided to keep the Hebrew word and use its transliterated form Thgnai Sabath (ថ្ងៃសប្ប័ទ). “The Buddhist word Thngai Seil ‘day of merits’ used by some Catholics was once under consideration but was rejected because it did not receive unanimous support.” (Source: Joseph Hong in The Bible Translator 1996, p. 233ff. )
In Spanish, the translation is either día de reposo (“day of rest”) or sábado (usually: “Saturday,” derived from the Greek and Hebrew original). Nida (1947, p. 239f.) explains that problem for Spanish and other languages in its sphere of influence: “In translation ‘Sabbath’ into various aboriginal languages of Latin America, a considerable number of translators have used the Spanish sábado, ‘Saturday,’ because it is derived from the Hebrew sabbath and seems to correspond to English usage as well. The difficulty is that sábado means only ‘Saturday’ for most people. There is no religious significance about this word as the is with ‘Sabbath’ in English. Accordingly the [readers] cannot understand the significance of the persecution of Jesus because he worked on ‘Saturday.’ It has been found quite advantageous to use the translation ‘day of rest,’ for this accurately translated the Hebrew meaning of the term and resolves the problem in connection with the prohibitions placed upon some types of activities.”
In French Sign Language it is translated with a sign that depicts closing of the blinds of a store:
“Sabbath” in French Sign Language (source: La Bible en langue des signes française )
Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Sabbath .
Other languages make a distinction: (Click or tap here to see more)
Languages that, like English, German, Dutch, Danish, or Afrikaans, don’t make that distinction include:
Another distinction that tends to be overlooked in translations is that between hieron (“temple” in English) and sunagógé (“synagogue” in English). Euan Fry (in The Bible Translator 1987, p. 213ff. ) reports on this:
“Many older translations have simply used transliterations of ‘temple’ and ‘synagogue’ rather than trying to find equivalent terms or meaningful expressions in their own languages. This approach does keep the two terms separate; but it makes the readers depend on explanations given by pastors or teachers for their understanding of the text.
“Translators who have tried to find meaningful equivalents, for the two terms ‘temple’ and ‘synagogue’ have usually made a distinction between them in one of two ways (which focus on the contrasting components of meaning). One way takes the size and importance of the Temple to make a contrast, so that expressions such as ‘sacred meeting/ worship house of the Jews’ and ‘big sacred meeting/worship house of the Jews’ are used. The other way focuses on the different nature of the religious activity at each of the places, so that expressions such as ‘meeting/worship house of the Jews’ and ‘sacrifice/ceremony place of the Jews’ are used.
“It is not my purpose in this article to discuss how to arrive at the most precise equivalent to cover all the components of meaning of ‘temple’. That is something that each translator really has to work through for himself in the light of the present usage and possibilities in his own language. My chief concern here is that the basic term or terms chosen for ‘temple’ should give the reader of a translation a clear and correct picture of the location referred to in each passage. And I am afraid that in many cases where an equivalent like ‘house of God’ or ‘worship house’ has been chosen, the readers have quite the wrong picture of what going to the Temple or being in the Temple means. (This may be the case for the word ‘temple’ in English too, for many readers.)”
Here are some examples:
Bangandu: “the great house of God” vs. “house of prayer” (Source: Ervais Fotso Noumsi in Le Sycomore, 16/1, 2022 )
See also this devotion on YouVersion .
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 13:10:
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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, oshieteo-rare-ru (教えておられる) or “teaching” is used.
(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Exegesis:
ēn de didaskōn ‘he was teaching,’ introductory description of the situation in which the healing of a crippled woman occurs. No connexion with what precedes is stated.
en mia tōn sunagōgōn ‘in one of the synagogues,’ hence, ‘in a synagogue,’ cf. on 5.12, 17.
en tois sabbasin ‘on the sabbath,’ cf. on 4.16. The reference is here not to a specific sabbath day, hence, “on a sabbath day” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation).
Translation:
For now see on 1.57.
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.
Section 13:10–17
Jesus healed a crippled woman on the Sabbath
In this section Jesus healed a woman whom an evil spirit had caused to be unable to stand straight. This story occurred on a Sabbath day sometime during Jesus’ ministry. It did not necessarily occur after the previous section. One of its possible connections with the previous section is that Jesus called people in both sections “hypocrites.”
Another possible heading for this section is:
The Healing of a Woman with a Bent/Crooked Back
This story occurs only in Luke.
Paragraph 13:10–16
13:10
This section connects to the previous section with a Greek conjunction that many English versions translate as “now.” It is not a time word but introduces a new incident in the narrative. The Berean Standard Bible does not translate it explicitly. Introduce this incident in a way that is natural in your language.
One Sabbath: The word Sabbath is the name of the seventh and last day of the week for the Jews. This was the special day in the week when they rested and worshiped God. The Law of Moses said that the Jews must not do any work on that day (Deuteronomy 5:12–15).
Some ways to translate Sabbath are:
the ⌊Jewish⌋ rest day
-or-
the day for resting
-or-
the day to rest and worship God
If the word Sabbath is already known in your area, you may write it according to the sounds of your language. You may also want to include a phrase to explain the meaning. For example:
the Sabat, the ⌊Jews’⌋ rest day
The word Sabbath first occurs in Luke in 4:16b. See how you translated this word there.
synagogues: The term synagogues describes buildings where Jews gathered to pray, read Scripture, teach their beliefs, and worship God. The Jews also gathered there for cultural activities. Some ways to translate synagogues are:
prayer-houses ⌊of the Jews⌋
-or-
meeting-places ⌊of the Jews⌋
-or-
worship buildings
-or-
houses for gathering together
If you make explicit a phrase such as “of the Jews,” be sure that it does not imply that Jesus was not a Jew.
You will need a different term to translate synagogue than you use for temple. There was only one temple (in Jerusalem), but each Jewish community had a synagogue.
If the word “synagogue” is already known in your area, you may write it according to the sounds of your language. You may want to include a word or phrase to explain the meaning. For example:
sinagog house/building
The word “synagogue” also occurs in 4:15a and 11:43b. See also synagogue in the Glossary.
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