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 15:30

Exegesis:

ho huios sou houtos ‘this son of yours,’ contrasting with emoi in v. 29. houtos here with obvious contempt, as shown by what follows.

ho kataphagōn sou ton bion meta pornōn ‘who has devoured your possessions with prostitutes.’ katesthiō means here ‘to destroy,’ ‘to consume,’ ‘to eat up.’ For bios cf. on 8.43; here it is used hyperbolically since the younger son spent only his part of his father’s possessions.

pornē ‘prostitute,’ ‘harlot.’

Translation:

One may have to change the sentence structure, e.g. ‘this son of yours has devoured … with harlots; but when (or, as soon as) he (emphatic) came, you killed….’

Devoured. A verb meaning ‘to eat up’ can sometimes be used in the metaphorical sense required here, e.g. in Sranan Tongo; where that is not the case one may say, ‘to spend all,’ ‘to waste,’ ‘to squander’ (see v. 13).

Harlots. Some idiomatic expressions used are, “women of the street” (An American Translation), ‘single (woman) of the-state/government’ (Kituba), ‘women who live like dogs’ (Kaqchikel), ‘ten pence women’ (Uab Meto), ‘bad women’ (Thai 1976, Trukese, Pohnpeian), ‘lustful/debauched women’ (Toraja-Sa’dan, Yao), ‘ones-who-walk’ (Medumba). Often a generic term is used, e.g. “his women” (New English Bible), les femmes (Bible de Jérusalem, similarly Tae’ 1933), in this context the mere plural being enough to give the word a clearly pejorative meaning. Cf. also on “sinner” in 7.37.

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 15:30

15:30a

But: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as But here introduces a contrast with the previous verse. The older son implied that his father had not treated him in the generous way that he had treated the younger son.

this son of yours: The older son was referring to his brother, but because he was very angry with him he did not want to call him “my brother.” Consider in what way in your culture a man might refer to a brother with whom he was angry. Notice that the older brother was also a son to the same father, and so it may be necessary to say:

this ⌊other⌋ son of yours

returns from squandering your wealth with prostitutes: The older son accused the younger son of wasting his father’s money by paying prostitutes to have sex with him. See the note on “squandered his wealth” in 15:13c. Although all the Greek words are different, the two phrases have the same meaning.

prostitutes: The word prostitutes refers to women who earned money by having sex with men who were not their husbands. Many languages have expressions to refer to these women. For example:

bad women
-or-
women with bad reputations
-or-
women who sell their womanhood

This is a long sentence. In some languages it may need to be reordered and broken into two sentences. For example:

This other son of yours wasted your money on prostitutes. And now that he has come home… (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
But now this other son of yours has come home. He threw away your wealth on bad women, but now…

15:30b

you kill the fattened calf for him!: This is an exclamation that is also a protest or an accusation. Some other ways to express this are:

you have a special feast for him and kill our fattest calf!
-or-
Why should you celebrate by killing our best animal for him?

Express this accusation in a natural way in your language.

General Comment on 15:30a–b

It is fairly common in English to use present tense when talking about completed actions. This helps to create vividness. Notice that in 15:30 the actions “comes home” and “you kill” are expressed in present tense. In some languages it may be more natural to use past tense for all the actions. For example:

But this son of yours spent your money on prostitutes, and when he came home, you killed the fattened calf for him. (God’s Word)

Consider what is natural in your language.

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