Elsa Tamez (in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 59ff. ) explains: “A literal translation of this verse: ‘Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’ (Luke 8:8) is not appropriate for the Deaf community; it is difficult to understand and it can easily be misunderstood. Deaf people have ‘ears to hear’ but they cannot hear.”
In Tzotzil it is translated as “You all who with one heart want to learn, think about what I said,” in San Mateo Del Mar Huave as “Every one of you have heard this story. Now put it in your hearts,” in Gwichʼin as “He that will hear me, let him pay attention to me” (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.), and in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) as Denkt gut darüber nach or “Think about it carefully.”
In the German translation by Fridolin Stier (1989) it is translated as “Whoever has ears that are able to hear: listen.”
Willy Wiedmann rendered this phrase artistically in the following way:
The Greek that is typically translated with a generic expressions such as “he who,” “whoever,” or “if anyone” in English is translated with the plural form (“they”) in Daga. “A literal translation of these conveys the idea that one specific unnamed individual is being discussed. Thus, for instance, in John 5:24 ‘he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life’ meant in Daga that there was one fortunate individual to whom it applied.”
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 14:35:
Uma: “It no longer has any use at all, fertilizing plants or or being-used-for-whatever. It is better that it is just thrown away. Whoever of you has ears, listen well!'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “It has no use anymore. It cannot even be used as fertilizer (lit. to make the soil fat). Instead the people will just throw it out. Na,’ said Isa, ‘amey-amey (expression of stern instruction) listen when something is said to you.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And there’s no more value to it because it can’t even be used for fertilizer, and it’s thrown away. It’s necessary that you understand these things you have heard.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Therefore it has absolutely no use even in the soil or for fertilizer. It must be thrown-away. You who are listening, think-about what you have heard!'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “It really has no more use, for it isn’t even possible/acceptable as a fertilizer (lit. fattener of soil). Therefore it will just be thrown away. Well, since what ears are for is listening, it’s necessary that you listen well to this which I am saying.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
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®).
oute eis gēn oute eis koprian eutheton estin ‘it is fit neither for the ground nor for the manure-heap.’ For euthetos cf. on 9.62. The clause is best understood as meaning, ‘it is neither directly nor indirectly useful as manure’ (cf. Klostermann, Grundmann).
kopria ‘dungheap,’ ‘manure-heap’ (cf. 13.8).
exō ballousin auto ‘they throw it away,’ without specific indication of place or agent.
ho echōn ōta akouein akouetō ‘he who has ears to hear, let him hear,’ cf. on 8.8.
Translation:
The negative of it is fit has been rendered, ‘it cannot (or, can nowhere) be used,’ “it is no good” (Phillips, similarly Pohnpeian, Sranan Tongo), ‘it is worthless’ (Ekari, similarly Zarma), ‘it is useless’ (one West Nyanja version, lit. ‘is without work’; similarly Shona 1963, lit. ‘it has no work to do’).
For the land, i.e. the farmland, the fields. The meaning of the preposition may have to be stated more explicitly, cf. e.g. ‘to manure (lit. fatten) the soil’ (Sranan Tongo).
For the dunghill, or, again more explicitly, ‘to keep (it) on the dunghill’ (Sranan Tongo), ‘to mix (it) with manure, or, compost, dry grass’ (cf. 13.8).
He who … hear, see the note on 8.8.
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.
It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile: The phrase It is fit means “It is good” or “It is useful.” Salt that has lost its strength is useless. It does not help to improve either the soil or the manure pile.
for the soil nor for the manure pile: The phrase for the soil refers here to putting the salt on/in the soil as a fertilizer. The phrase for the manure pile refers to putting something like salt in the manure pile to make fertilizer.
These two phrases refer to a similar purpose. In some languages it may more natural to combine them into one expression. For example:
It is not even useful for making fertilizer to improve the soil.
14:35b
it is thrown out: The clause it is thrown out means that people throw useless salt away. It is rubbish. In some languages it may be more natural to use an active verb. For example:
People simply throw it out. (Contemporary English Version)
14:35c
This verse part is the same as 8:8d and Mark 4:9. It would be good to translate it the same way.
He who has ears to hear, let him hear: With this saying, Jesus commanded or urged the crowd to give careful attention to the parable that they had just heard. He implied that they should do more than just listen to it. They should understand its meaning and then act on what they had learned from it.
This saying assumes that everyone in the crowd had ears that were able to hear. Jesus said it to all the people there who were listening to him. Some other ways to translate this saying are:
• Use “they” or “you” instead of he. For example:
⌊All⌋ those who have ears to hear, let them hear. -or-
⌊All of⌋ you who have ears to hear, hear.
• Use a different type of clause or clauses. In some languages it may be more natural to use an “if” clause or a reason clause. For example:
If/Since you have ears that can hear, then pay attention.
• Translate the saying without including the word “ears.” For example:
You people who can hear me, listen! (New Century Version)
• Change the order of the clauses. For example:
Listen, then, if you have ears! (Good News Translation)
If you have an expression in your language that urges an audience to listen carefully to what you are saying, you may want to use it here.
hear…hear: The word hear is used twice in this verse part but with slightly different meanings. The first hear refers to the physical ability to hear. The second hear means to think about, understand, and respond to what the parable means.
Other ways to translate these two meanings are:
Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand. (New Living Translation (2004)) -or-
You who are listening, think about what you have just heard.
let him hear: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as let him hear is an indirect command. It does not express permission. Another way to translate this is:
Anyone who has ears for listening should listen! (New Jerusalem Bible)
In some languages it may be necessary to make explicit what the listener should be listening to. In those languages you could supply a phrase such as “to me (Jesus)” or “to my words.”
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