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complete verse (Luke 15:26)
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 15:26:
- Noongar: “so he called one worker and asked him, ‘What’s happening?'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
- Uma: “He called one of their servants, he asked him what they were doing at the house.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “He called one of the servants and asked him what celebration that was.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And he called one of the servants of his father, and he asked, ‘What’s the reason for the good time that people are having there in the house?'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “so he called one of the servants to inquire as to what they were doing.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “When he observed that, he called one of the slaves and questioned him. He said, ‘What’s going on that there is like that at our (incl.) house?'” (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.”
Sung version of Luke 15
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 15:26
15:26
So: This verse begins with a Greek conjunction that many English versions translate as “and.” The Berean Standard Bible, along with several other English versions, translates as So because introduces what the older son did as a result of hearing the music and dancing. Translate the connection in a natural way in your language.
he called: The verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as he called means here that he summoned or called a servant to come to him. The servant was probably outside the house at the time.
one of the servants: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as one of the servants refers to a household servant/slave. It is a different word from the word translated as “servants” in 15:22a. Here it may refer to one of the younger servants.
asked what was going on: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as asked what was going on means that the older brother asked the servant to tell him why people were playing music and dancing. If in your language it is more natural to translate this as direct speech, you could say something like:
asked him, “Why are people celebrating like this?”
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