31Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand?
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 14:31:
Noongar: “‘A king has 10,000 men. If this king goes out fighting, but the other king comes, and that king has 20,000 men, he will sit first and think whether he has enough strength to fight that other king.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “‘So also, if a king with ten thousand soldiers fights with a king who has twenty thousand soldiers, he must think first, whether he is able to oppose him or not.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Or if there is for example a king who is going to fight with another king, he sits down first and thinks if in his estimation he and his ten thousand adherents/disciples can challenge the king with twenty thousand adherents.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And Jesus said, ‘It’s the same way with a certain king. For a king who wants to fight against another king, he must first decide whether his ten thousand soldiers can defeat the twenty thousand soldiers who are coming, sent by another king who is his enemy.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “‘Another illustration/comparison of it, if there is a king who has ten thousand soldiers and he goes to war-with a king with twenty thousand soldiers, he will emphatically think first if he is able to defeat his opponent-in-war.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “For it’s also like a king who wants to go-and-attack another king. Isn’t it so that he will first study well whether, with his ten thousand soldiers, he is able to come against the twenty thousand men of that one he wants to attack?” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:
Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))
Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) was determined:
“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
ē tis basileus … ‘or what king?,’ another rhetoric question.
poreuomenos heterō basilei sumbalein eis polemon ‘going/setting out to wage war on another king.’ poreuomenos does not mean that he is already marching but intends do so. polemos also 21.9.
sumballō (cf. on 2.19) here intransitive ‘to meet,’ ‘to fall in with,’ for the purpose of war (eis polemon), i.e. ‘to wage war on.’
ouchi kathisas prōton bouleusetai ‘will not first sit down and consider,’ cf. on v. 28.
bouleuomai ‘to consider.’
ei dunatos estin ‘whether he is able,’ with infinitive (hupantēsai).
en deka chiliasin ‘with ten thousand (men).’
hupantēsai tō meta eikosi chiliadōn erchomenō ep’ auton ‘to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand (men),’ implying that ‘the other king’ is really the one who starts the war. For hupantaō cf. on 8.27. In ep’ auton the preposition epi is used in a hostile sense.
Translation:
Adjustments in v. 31, where required, will usually parallel those in v. 28.
Or does not introduce an alternative but a parallel example; hence e.g. ‘but listen again’ (Sranan Tongo), ‘so again’ (Javanese).
To go to encounter … in war, i.e. ‘to go/intend to fight against…,’ ‘to go war against…’ (Trukese), ‘to go meet to fight with…’ (Sranan Tongo). Some renderings are built on ‘enemy/adversary,’ e.g. in Toraja-Sa’dan, using a reciprocal verbal form.
Another king, i.e. distinct but of the same category; hence ‘a fellow king/chief’ (Javanese, one West Nyanja version), ‘one-who-is-chief-like-him’ (Tae’).
To take counsel, with oneself, hence, ‘to consider,’ ‘to think’ (Trukese, Pohnpeian), ‘to ask himself’ (Shona).
He is able with ten thousand to meet, or, ‘he is strong enough to meet with ten thousand (men),’ ‘he who has (or, he although he has) only 10,000 (men) is able to meet’; or changing the subject, ‘his 10,000 soldiers will be-able-to war against’ (Pohnpeian). Ten thousand may have to be rendered analytically, e.g. ‘100 companies,’ or generically, ‘very many soldiers,’ ‘large army,’ which will probably entail the use of ‘twice as many,’ ‘twice as large an army,’ or, ‘two such (large) armies’ in the subsequent clause. To meet here is virtually synonymous with ‘to encounter in war.’
To come against, or, ‘to come to fight,’ ‘to attack.’
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.
See the summary of Paragraph 14:28–30. This paragraph gives a second parallel example that illustrates the importance of thinking carefully before deciding to start something. The structure of this example, using a rhetorical question, is very similar to 14:28–30, so you may be able to make similar kinds of translation adjustments.
14:31a–d
Or: In Greek, this verse begins with a conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as Or. This conjunction introduces another example that makes the same point. It does not introduce an alternative example (either this or that). Other ways to introduce a similar example are:
In the same way -or-
Here is another example
what king on his way to war with another king will not first sit down and consider whether he can engage with ten thousand men the one coming against him with twenty thousand?: As the Berean Standard Bible shows, in Greek, 14:31a–d is a single rhetorical question, as in 14:28. Another way to translate this is:
Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? (New Living Translation (2004))
The function of the rhetorical question is to emphasize that the king would certainly sit down and make plans. He would decide whether his men are able to defeat the other kings’ men before he goes out and begins to fight. Other ways to translate this question are:
• As two or more rhetorical questions. For example:
What will a king do if he has only ten thousand soldiers to defend himself against a king who is about to attack him with twenty thousand soldiers? Before he goes out to battle, won’t he first sit down and decide if he can win? (Contemporary English Version)
Notice that the Contemporary English Version has reordered the information. For another suggestion about reordering, see the General Comment on 14:31a–d at the end of 14:31d.
• As one or more statements. For example:
If a king goes out with ten thousand men to fight another king who comes against him with twenty thousand men, he will sit down first and decide if he is strong enough to face that other king. (Good News Translation) -or-
If a king is going to fight another king, first he will sit down and plan. He will decide if he and his ten thousand soldiers can defeat the other king who has twenty thousand soldiers. (New Century Version)
• As a combination of statements and questions. For example:
Or suppose a king is going to war against another king. He would first sit down and think things through. Can he and his 10,000 soldiers fight against a king with 20,000 soldiers? (God’s Word)
14:31a
what king on his way to war with another king: In this example the first king discovers that another king is bringing his soldiers to attack him. This first king who is on his way to war is wondering whether to defend himself or to surrender. Some ways to make this clear are:
suppose a king is facing an attack from another king -or-
if a king is about to be attacked by another king ⌊and his army⌋
The kings represent themselves and their soldiers. Be sure that is clear in your language. See the preceding example.
14:31b–c
sit down and consider: The verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as consider means to think about carefully in order to decide. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
sit down and think things through (God’s Word) -or-
sit down and plan. He will decide (New Century Version)
It is likely that the king planned and discussed the situation with a group of advisers (see the New Living Translation (2004) example in the first note on 14:31), but this information is not implied in the text itself.
sit down: See the note on sit down in 14:28b.
14:31d
engage: In this context the verb engage means to successfully defend oneself against an enemy. Other ways to translate this are:
to defend himself against (Contemporary English Version) -or-
can defeat (New Century Version)
the one coming against him with twenty thousand: The phrase the one coming against him refers to the king who is coming to attack the first king. The phrase with twenty thousand means “with an army of twenty thousand men.” This is twice the size of the first king’s army, so in some languages it may be natural to translate this as:
with an army twice the size of his
General Comment on 14:31a–d
In some languages it may be necessary to reorder the parts in this verse to explain the situation at the beginning of the verse. For example:
31aTake another example. Suppose there is a king 31cwho has ten thousand soldiers. 31aIf he wants to defend himself against 31danother king with twenty thousand soldiers, 31bwhat will he do? First he will sit down and carefully consider 31cwhether he can 31dsuccessfully defeat this king.
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