Translation commentary on Luke 16:15

Exegesis:

humeis este hoi dikaiountes heautous ‘you are the people who justify yourselves,’ i.e. ‘you are characterized by the fact that you justify yourselves.’ dikaioō means here ‘to claim to be just,’ ‘to present as just.’

enōpion tōn anthrōpōn ‘in the sight of men,’ going with hoi dikaiountes heautous.

ho de theos ginōskei tas kardias humōn ‘but God knows your hearts,’ contrasting with enōpion tōn anthrōpōn.

hoti to en anthrōpois hupsēlon lit. ‘for that which is high among men,’ in the present context, ‘that which is highly regarded among men without foundation.’

hupsēlos ‘high,’ here figuratively, ‘highly regarded,’ ‘esteemed.’

bdelugma enōpion tou theou ‘(is) an abomination in the sight of God,’ with estin understood.

bdelugma ‘abomination,’ ‘detestable thing.’

Translation:

Justify yourselves before men, or, ‘pose as just/righteous (cf. on 1.6) before men,’ ‘give yourselves the appearance of straight hearts’ (Kekchi), ‘want people to regard you as (take you to be) righteous,’ cf. “like the world to look at you and say, ‘What upright men!’ ” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation).

Knows your hearts, or, ‘your mind/inward-being/thoughts’; or, ‘knows who you (really) are,’ cf. “sees through you” (New English Bible).

What is exalted among men, or, ‘what people regard as exalted’ (cf. on 1.52).

Is an abomination in the sight of God, or, ‘is detested by God’ (Tae’), ‘brings-disgust-in God’s heart’ (Balinese), ‘God regards as filthy things’ (Sranan Tongo).

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 16:15

16:15a

So He said to them: In Greek this verse begins with a conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as So. It introduces what Jesus said in response to the sneering of the Pharisees. His response contained an implied rebuke and an implied warning of judgment. The Revised Standard Version translates this conjunction as “But,” the New Living Translation (2004) as “Then,” and the New Revised Standard Version, like the Berean Standard Bible, as “So.” The New International Version makes the connection implicit. Introduce Jesus’ response in a way that is natural in your language.

You are the ones who justify yourselves before men: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as justify yourselves before men means “make yourselves appear righteous to others” or “try to make other people think that you are righteous.” The Pharisees wanted other people to think that they were upright, godly men. Here are other possible ways to translate this clause:

You are the people who impress others with your righteousness (Revised English Bible)
-or-
You make yourselves look good in front of people (New Century Version)

before men: Other ways to translate the Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as before men are:

in other people’s sight/presence
-or-
in the opinion/viewpoint of other people

This phrase contrasts strongly with “God” in 16:15b.

16:15b

but: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as but here introduces a contrast. The contrast is between what the Pharisees tried to make other people think about them and what God knew about them.

God knows your hearts: The expression God knows your hearts means “God knows what you are thinking and desiring.” God knew that their thoughts and motives were evil. He knew that they loved money rather than God. It may be necessary to make some of this explicit and say:

God knows that your hearts/thoughts ⌊are evil⌋
-or-
God knows what is really in your hearts (New Century Version)

This clause also contains an implied warning that God will judge them. This implied information may need to be made explicit in order to make clear the connection between 16:15b and 16:15c. See the next note.

16:15c

For: In the Greek text 16:15c is connected to 16:15b with a conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible (like the Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation) translates as For. This conjunction introduces a clause that may be an explanation for the implied information in 16:15b that God will punish the Pharisees. It does not introduce the reason why God knows their hearts. In some languages it may be better to omit this conjunction, as versions such as the New International Version do. In other languages it may be better to supply the implied logic. For example:

But God knows that your hearts are evil ⌊and he will judge you⌋. 15cFor what is highly valued…

what is prized among men is detestable before God: The clause what is prized among men is detestable before God means “the things that people value the most are the things that God detests.” In some languages it may be more natural to change the order of the phrases. For example:

God detests the things that people value the most

Jesus meant this to be understood as a general principle: in general, people of this world value things that God hates. In some languages it may be necessary to make it clear that this is a general truth, not an absolute statement without exceptions. For example:

The things that most people think are important (Contemporary English Version)

what is prized among men: The expression what is prized among men refers to “the things that people think are the most important/valuable.” Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

the things that are considered of great value by people (Good News Translation)
-or-
What is important to people (New Century Version)

detestable before God: The phrase detestable before God is literally “an abomination before God.” It is a very strong expression. It means that God hates it. He considers it to be nauseating and disgusting. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

hateful in God’s sight (New Century Version)
-or-
disgusting to God (God’s Word)

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