touch

The Greek that is translated as “touch” in English is translated in the German translation by Fridolin Stier (1989) as “(touch and) hold on to” (festhalten).

lamp

The Greek that is translated as “lamp” in English is translated in Noongar as karla-maat or “firestick” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

complete verse (Luke 15:8)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 15:8:

  • Noongar: “‘Now if a woman had ten silver coins and she lost one of them, what will she do? She lights a lamp, she sweeps her house and she looks in all parts of the house and she only stops when she finds her coin.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “‘For example, there is a woman who has ten pieces of silver money. If one piece is lost, what does she do? She lights a lamp and sweeps her house, and she hunts for where it got lost, until she finds it.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “‘Or’, said Isa, ‘for example there is a woman who has ten gold coins (dublun now only used as jewelry) and-then she loses one, what does she do? Certainly she will light a lamp and sweep the house searching very well as long as she hasn’t found it.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And there was another parable that Jesus told them; he said, ‘There was a woman who was saving ten silver coins which were very expensive because they were all silver. What does she do if she loses one piece? What she does, is, she first lights a lamp. And then she sweeps her house and she carefully looks for it until she finds it.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Jesus continued parabling, ‘Now supposing there is a woman who has ten coins and (unexpected development particle) she lost one, what will she do? She will light a torch/light and will thoroughly sweep her house searching-and-searching until she finds it, isn’t that so?” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “‘Like that too,’ said Jesus, ‘supposing there is a woman who had ten pieces of hard money, each one being worth a day’s wages, and then suddenly/enexpectedly one was lost, what will she do? Isn’t it so that she will light a lamp? She will sweep the house well for she will search thoroughly for it until she finds it.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Scriptures Plain & Simple (Luke 15:8-10)

Barclay Newman, a translator on the teams for both the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version, translated passages of the New Testament into English and published them in 2014, “in a publication brief enough to be non-threatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and un-believers alike.” The following is the translation of Luke 15:8-10:

Jesus told the people another story:
       What would a woman do if she lost
              one of the ten gold coins from her wedding bracelet?
       Wouldn’t she light a lamp, sweep the floor,
              and crawl on her hands and knees until she found it?
       Then she’d call in her friends and neighbors and say,
              “Celebrate with me! I’ve found the coin I lost.”
       “God is no less excited,” explained Jesus,
              “when only one person turns to him.”

Translation commentary on Luke 15:8

Exegesis:

ē tis gunē ‘or what woman…?’ ē introduces the second parable in question form, cf. on v. 3.

drachmas echousa deka, ean apolesē drachmēn mian ‘who has ten drachmas, if she has lost one.’ ean apolesē is equivalent to apolesas (cf. on v. 4).

drachmē (also v. 9) ‘drachma,’ Greek silver coin worth about 17 cents of a dollar. Ten drachmas is a very small possession.

ouchi haptei luchnon ‘does not light a lamp…?,’ cf. on 8.16. Interrogative ouchi (cf. on 4.22) introduces a rhetorical question as ou in v. 4. It also modifies the subsequent verbs saroi and zētei.

kai saroi tēn oikian ‘and (does not) sweep the house,’ cf. on 11.25.

kai zētei epimelōs ‘and (does not) search carefully.’ The object understood of zētei is the lost drachma. epimelōs.

heōs hou lit. ‘till the time when,’ equivalent to heōs (v. 4).

Translation:

Or, cf. 14.31.

Silver coins, or, ‘pieces of silver (money),’ or a local equivalent, e.g. ‘half-guilder’ (Batak Toba); in Muslim countries it may be possible to borrow or adapt the Arabic transliteration dirham.

Light a lamp (see 8.16) and sweep the house (see 11.25) serve to show that all is done to make the search referred to in the next clause successful. The rendering of the verb should express that the dust (or, dirt) on the floor is swept together to facilitate the search (not that it is simply swept out of the house, as is the case in one version).

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 15:8

Section 15:8–10

Jesus told a parable about a woman looking for her lost coin

The parable about the lost coin in 15:8–10 is similar to the parable in the last section about the lost sheep. It has a similar theme, and it contains some similar words and phrases. You should translate these words and phrases in similar ways, if possible. In this parable a woman searched diligently for a lost coin until she found it. She then invited her friends and neighbors to rejoice with her that she had found the coin.

Some other headings for this section are:

The Lost Coin (Good News Translation)
-or-
A woman was happy to find a lost coin

Paragraph 15:8–10

15:8a–d

Or what woman who has ten silver coins and loses one of them does not light a lamp, sweep her house, and search carefully until she finds it?: Jesus used this rhetorical question to emphasize what a woman would do if she lost a valuable coin. She would certainly search carefully for the coin until she found it.

Here are some other ways to translate this verse.

• As an introductory statement and a shorter rhetorical question. For example: Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? (New International Version)

• As two rhetorical questions. For example:

What will a woman do if she has ten silver coins and loses one of them? Won’t she light a lamp, sweep the floor, and look carefully until she finds it? (Contemporary English Version)

• As two or more statements. For example:

Suppose there is a woman who has ten silver coins but loses one of them. ⌊We all know what she would do.⌋ She would light a lamp and sweep the entire house, searching carefully until she found the coin.

15:8a–b

Or: In Greek, this verse begins with a conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as “Or.” This conjunction introduces a parable that has the same theme as the preceding parable. Another way to introduce a similar example like this is:

In the same way
-or-
Here is another example

See how you introduced the second example in 14:31, which begins in the same way.

If you put a section heading before this verse, you may want to indicate at the beginning of the verse that Jesus was still speaking. For example:

Jesus told the people another story. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-

⌊Jesus continued⌋

ten silver coins: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as ten silver coins is literally “ten drachmas,” as in the New Jerusalem Bible. A drachma was a Greek coin made of silver. It was worth about one day’s pay for a common worker. Some other ways to translate this expression are:

• Use a general word or expression that does not specify the name of the coin. For example:

ten silver coins (Good News Translation)

• Use an expression that explains the value of the coins. For example:

money worth the pay/wages for ten days of work

• Use a transliterated or borrowed term. In Muslim countries, the Arabic term “dirham” may be an option.

You may also want to include a footnote with more information. For example:

Each of these coins was worth as much as an ordinary worker earned for one day of work.

15:8c–d

light a lamp: The type of lamp that Jesus referred to here was probably a small container with a wick. It burned oil.

Some ways to translate it are:

• Use a specific type of lamp that people use in your culture. A type that burns oil or kerosene is a good option.

• Use a different type of light, such as a pitch-pine torch or a candle.

• Use a general word for lamp or light.

If you use a specific type of lamp from your culture, do not use a word that refers only to a modern type of lamp or only to a pressurized lamp.

See how you translated the word “lamp” in 11:33a.

sweep her house: The phrase sweep her house means to brush the floor with a broom, usually to clean it. For example:

sweep the floor (Contemporary English Version)

However, in this context the woman swept the floor in order to search it for the missing coin. In some cultures people would not search a floor by sweeping it. If that is true in your culture, you may want to use a more general expression. For example:

search the floor/house

A similar expression occurs in 11:25b.

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