humble (verb)

The Greek that is translated as “humbled” in English is rendered in Gumuz as “become small” (source: Loren Bliese) and in Uma as “make hearts low” (“proud,” the opposite is translated as proud “make hearts high”) (source: Uma Back Translation).

complete verse (Luke 14:11)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 14:11:

  • Noongar: “Because all people who want other people to see them great, they will be put lower, and all people who put themselves low, they will be put higher.'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “All who make their hearts high/proud, the Lord God makes-them-low, and all who make their hearts low/humble, the Lord God makes-them-high.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “For whoever honors himself/makes himself great, will be humbled/caused to be low. And whoever humbles himself will be honored.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “That person who thinks that his rank is high, God will make him low. But that person who thinks that his rank is low, God will make his rank high.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because the one who makes-himself -high will be made-low, but the one who makes-himself -low will be made-high.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “For it’s true, the one who is arrogant/self-important will be made low/unimportant. And the one who is humble will be made high/important.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 14:11

Exegesis:

hoti pas ho hupsōn heauton tapeinōthēsetai ‘for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled.’ For hupsoō cf. 1.52. For tapeinoō cf. on 3.5; here it is used in a figurative sense. The agent of tapeinōthēsetai is God, since the saying and the preceding parable are to be understood as referring to a religious attitude.

ho tapeinōn heauton hupsōthēsetai ‘he who humbles himself will be exalted.’ For the agent of hupsōthēsetai see above.

Translation:

One may have to shift to an ‘if’ clause (cf. 9.24), and/or to an active form, ‘God will humble him, … exalt him’ (cf. 6.37).

Exalts himself … humbles himself, or, ‘tries to reach a high position (or, makes his own power great, Kekchi)…, accepts (or, is ready to be in) a low position.’

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 14:11

14:11a

For: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as For introduces the general principle that Jesus wanted people to understand from the preceding parable. In some languages it may be necessary to clarify this connection. For example:

⌊This parable illustrates⌋ that…
-or-

⌊I told this parable to teach you⌋ that

In other languages an explicit conjunction may not be necessary. For example:

Those who honor themselves (God’s Word)

everyone who exalts himself will be humbled: The verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as will be humbled is passive. Other ways to translate it are:

• Use an active verb that does not require a subject. For example:

Everyone who ⌊tries to⌋ honor himself will receive shame
-or-
Seeking your own honor results in shame/humiliation

• If it is necessary in your language to supply a subject, the implied subject is God. For example:

⌊God⌋ will humble everyone who exalts himself

In some languages it may be more natural to reword this clause as an “if” clause followed by a conclusion. For example:

If you put yourself above others, you will be put down (Contemporary English Version)

exalts himself: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as exalts himself literally means to raise or lift up oneself. This is a figurative way to describe someone who tries to gain honor from other people. Some other ways to translate this are:

make themselves great (Good News Translation)
-or-
tries to make himself look important

14:11b

and: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as and introduces another principle that Jesus illustrated by the parable in 14:8–10. This principle corresponds to the principle in 14:11a. However, the results of a person humbling himself (11b) contrast with the results of exalting himself (11a), so some English versions have “but” here. For example:

but people who humble themselves will be honored (God’s Word)

Connect 14:11a and 14:11b in a natural way in your language.

the one who humbles himself will be exalted: This clause indicates that if a person decides to be humble and willingly takes a place of low status, God will honor him. As in the previous clause, in some languages it will be necessary to make the implied subject “God” explicit. For example:

⌊God⌋ will honor the one who humbles himself.

If you used an “if” clause in the previous part of the verse, you will also need to do the same thing here. For example:

But if you humble yourself, you will be honored. (Contemporary English Version)

© 2009, 2010, 2013 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.