music

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The Greek in Luke 15:25 that is translated in English as “music” is translated in Muna as “the sound of the gong and the drum.” René van den Berg explains: “There is no abstract word for ‘music’ (the footnote has the loan musik).”

In other languages it is translated as:

  • Noongar: “singing” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Mazagway: “the sound of singing”
  • Mofu-Gudur: “the sound of drumming” (source for this and above: Ken Hollingsworth)
  • Uma: “people playing flutes” (source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “playing-of-the-kulintang/gongs” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “drum” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Mairasi: “the sound of songs” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Hiligaynon: “sounds” (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Burmese: “the sound of beating-blowing” (“‘Beating blowing’ is a general term for instrumental music and covers the sound of percussion instruments, wind and brass instruments which are blown, and some stringed instruments which are also ‘beaten.'” — source: Anonymous)

parable of the prodigal son (image)

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complete verse (Luke 15:25)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 15:25:

  • Noongar: “‘While all these things were happening, the first son was outside working. He came back. When he came near the house, he heard singing and dancing,” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “‘At that time, the first-born child was away at the fields/garden. When he returned from the garden, and was close to home, he heard people playing flutes and the sounds of a party.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “‘But his older son was at that time in the field. When he came home and when he was close, he heard playing-of-the-kulintang/gongs and dancing there in their house.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And,’ said Jesus, ‘as for that older brother, he was still in the field. And when he was about to arrive home, he heard the drum and the sound of dancing feet.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “‘But his older-sibling, he was still in the rice-fields. When he was going-home, he heard (people)-dancing,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But well, his older son wasn’t there, for he was in the field at that time. When he returned, just as he was near the house, he heard dance music.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Scriptures Plain & Simple (Luke 15:11-32)

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 15:11-32:

Finally, Jesus told them this story:

       A man’s younger son once said,
              “Dad, give me my share of the family fortune!”
       So his father divided everything
              between him and his older brother.

       Soon the younger son packed up everything
       and left for a foreign country,
              where he wasted every cent of his inheritance.

       Then a terrible famine struck the land,
              leaving him famished and without food.

       So hungry was the young man that he took a job
              feeding bean pods to nasty pigs,
       and he would have eaten some of the pods himself,
              if only the owner had turned his back.

       At last, in desperation, he said to himself,
       “My dad’s workers have more than enough to eat,
              while I sit here with these pigs, starving to death.
       Best thing I can do is to go home and make up with my dad.
       I’ll say, “Dad, I’ve been a really lousy son,
              worthless and useless to both you and God.
       Fact is, I don’t deserve to be called your son —
              just treat me like one of your servants.”

       Before he even reached the road to the farmhouse,
       his father saw him and felt so sorry that he ran over
              and greeted the young man with hugs and kisses.

       “Dad, I’ve been a really lousy son,” said the boy.
       “I’m worthless and useless to both you and God.
              Fact is, I don’t deserve to be called your son.”

       But his father instructed the servants,
              “Hurry! Bring him the best clothes.
              Put a gold ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
              And prepare our choice beef, so we can celebrate!
       My son was dead, and now he’s alive!
              My son was lost, and now he’s found.”

       Then the festivities began.
       Meanwhile, the older brother was coming in from the fields,
       when he heard the sound of music and dancing.
              “What’s going on?” he asked one of the servants.

       “Your younger brother has come home,” answered the servant,
       “and your father ordered us
              to prepare the choice beef for a feast.”
       This made the older brother so angry
              that he refused to go anywhere near the house.

       His father went out and begged him to join the celebration,
       but his son answered, “All my life I’ve obeyed you,
              and I’ve worked like a slave.
       Yet you’ve never even given me a small goat,
              so I could throw a party for my friends.
       This other son of yours blew all his money on hookers,
              and now that he’s back home,
       you’ve ordered our choice beef
              to be killed for a feast in his honor.”

       “My dear son,” replied his father, “You’re always here,
              and everything I have is yours as well.
       But don’t you think we should celebrate?
       Your brother was dead, and now he’s alive.
              He was lost, and now he’s found.”

Translation commentary on Luke 15:25 – 15:26

Exegesis:

ho huios autou ho presbuteros ‘his elder son.’ autou refers back to ho patēr in v. 22.

en agrō ‘in the field’ (cf. v. 15), presumably at work there.

kai hōs erchomenos ēggisen tē oikia ‘and when going home he approached the house.’ erchomenos lit. ‘going,’ here implicitly ‘going home,’ hence, ‘on his way home,’ ‘on his way back.’

ēkousen sumphōnias kai chorōn ‘he heard music and dancing.’

sumphōnia either abstract, ‘music,’ or concrete, ‘instrument,’ preferably the former.

choros ‘dance,’ here in the plural ‘dancing.’

(V. 26) proskalesamenos hena tōn paidōn ‘after calling one of the servants.’ For proskaleō cf. on 7.18. For pais cf. on 7.7; pais and doulos (v. 22) are synonymous.

epunthaneto ti an eiē tauta ‘he enquired what this was.’ The imperfect tense is conative. The indirect question with the unusual optative with an may express astonishment on the part of the speaker.

Translation:

Now, see 1.57, and cf. ‘in the meantime’ (Willibrord), ‘while such-things-were-happening’ (Tae’ 1933).

His elder son, or, ‘that (old) man’s elder son,’ ‘the elder son,’ ‘the firstborn son’ (Bahasa Indonesia); or, ‘his (or, that young man’s) elder brother’ (cf. Sranan Tongo).

Was in the field, i.e. ‘was (working) in the field,’ here probably referring to arable land that he tilled or reaped.

Drew near to, cf. 7.12.

Music and dancing, or, ‘noise of merry-making’ (Ekari, not specifying the manner). Music, or, ‘sound of music’ (Trukese, Pohnpeian), ‘singing’ (West Nyanja, similarly Tae,’ Batak Toba), ‘music and clapping’ (Zarma, where dancing unaccompanied by clapping is unthinkable). Idiom may require a reference to the instruments and/or persons making the music, e.g. ‘drums being beaten’ (Shona 1966), ‘persons beating-the-drum’ (Toraja-Sa’dan), ‘sound of flutes’ (Uab Meto), ‘sound of a (percussion) orchestra’ (Javanese, Thai 1967), ‘making-music’ (Tzeltal). Dancing, or, ‘sound of dancing, or, of a dance’ (cf. e.g. Uab Meto), ‘people dancing’ (Shona 1966). Terms used are sometimes more generic, e.g. ‘making-party,’ which includes dancing (Tzeltal), or more specific, e.g. ‘people performing the simbong (round dance with chorus, performed at a feast usually given after a person’s long absence)’ (Toraja-Sa’dan). Connotations of available terms for dancing may range from solemn (ritual or temple dance) to frivolous; one should choose a term referring to a folk dance, culturally regarded as an acceptable form of merry-making.

(V. 26) What this meant, or, ‘what this might be,’ ‘what was happening’; or as a direct question, “What’s going on?” (Good News Translation), ‘What are those people doing?’ (Balinese).

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 15:25

Paragraph 15:25–32

15:25a

Meanwhile: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Meanwhile here introduces something else that happened at the same time that the things in 15:20b–24 were happening. It also introduces the older son as an important person in the story. Before this, he was mentioned only indirectly in 15:11.

the older son was in the field: The phrase the older son refers to the older brother of the son who had come home. This older son was working in one of the fields that the family owned. He was away from the house.

Other ways to translate this part of the verse are:

Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
While this was happening, his older child was working in one of the fields.

15:25b

and as he approached the house: The older son finished his day’s work and began to return home for his evening meal. In some languages it may be necessary to supply a phrase explaining that the older son left the field and began to walk home. For example:

⌊In the evening he left⌋ for home. When he got close…

15:25c

he heard music and dancing: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as he heard music and dancing means that the older son heard the sound of musical instruments being played and the beat of dancing feet. There were probably several people who played instruments and others who danced as a group. The dancers may have been acting out the story of the younger son’s experiences.

The text does not specify what kind of instruments people were playing or what kind of dancing they did. So, if possible, you should use general terms for these ideas, as the Berean Standard Bible has done. Another way to translate it is:

he heard people playing instruments and dancing

In some languages there are no general terms for either music or dancing. Instead, there are many specific terms for different instruments and other terms for different kinds of dances. If that is true in your language, try to use terms that refer to music/instruments that accompany a dance. Use a term for dancing that refers either to a dance in which a story is acted out or a dance in which people are celebrating a happy occasion. Avoid terms for ritual or religious dances or erotic dances.

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