Translation commentary on Luke 1:68

Exegesis:

eulogētos ‘praised,’ with eiē ‘be’ (optative), or estin ‘is’ understood, preferably the latter. As distinct from eulogēmenos (see on v. 42), eulogētos in the New Testament always refers to God or to Jesus Christ.

kurios ho theos tou Israēl ‘the Lord, the God of Israel’; because of the Old Testament background of the phrase it is best to understand kurios as representing the name Yahweh and not as a title.

hoti epeskepsato ‘for he has visited (his people)’ with ton laon understood.

episkeptomai in Luke always of God’s visiting of his people in order to bestow some grace upon them, here the redemption referred to in the subsequent clause. Thus the verb here prepares, as it were, the way for that clause.

kai epoiēsen lutrōsin tō laō autou ‘and he has brought about redemption for his people.’ In this Hebraistic phrase the event is indicated by the verbal noun lutrōsis, epoiēsen having only an auxiliary function; hence the rendering ‘redeemed’ (cf. Revised Standard Version).

lutrōsis (also 2.38) ‘redemption.’

Translation:

Blessed, or, ‘worthy of praise’ (Tagalog); or, where active forms must be used, ‘I wish-to praise’ (Kituba), ‘the Lord … should receive big name’ (Sranan Tongo).

The Lord God of Israel. For “the Lord, (the) God” followed by a possessive, see above on v. 16.

Has visited. The verb ‘to visit,’ ‘to come to see’ sometimes has the required connotation of ‘to care for,’ e.g. in Trukese, Zarma. Elsewhere other verbs or phrases must be used to indicate that connotation, e.g. ‘to look-(down-)upon’ (Tae,’ Kituba), ‘to turn-to-look-at’ (Tboli), ‘to descend-upon’ (Balinese in 7.16, a term commonly used when the gods visit their worshippers e.g. at a temple festival), ‘to forget not’ (Cuyono in 7.16), and quite explicitly, ‘come to help/save’ (Dios Habla Hoy, Good News Translation). In the present verse, however, some versions use a more generic verb because of the specification given by the next verb, e.g. ‘he has come to redeem his people’ (cf. Navajo, Apache).

In Greek or English his people can have two meanings, (1) ‘the people he rules’ (as intended here), and (2) ‘the people he is a member of,’ but in other languages the use of the possessive pronoun may suggest either (1) or (2); if (2) then another rendering must be chosen. Therefore Toraja-Sa’dan says ‘the men He has chosen’; some other Indonesian languages use a noun that characterizes a people as the followers of a prophet or subjects of a god, and normally takes the possessive pronoun as a reference to that prophet or god. For people cf. above on v. 17; for making explicit that the reference is to the people to which the speaker belongs, cf. on “his servant Israel” in v. 54.

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 1:68

1:68a

Blessed be the Lord: Zechariah used the Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as Blessed be the Lord to express praise and thanks to God. He implied that God was worthy of praise and that everyone should speak wonderful things about him. Some other ways to translate this are:

Let us praise the Lord (New Century Version)
-or-
Praise belongs to the Lord
-or-
The Lord is worthy of praise

See bless, Meaning 4, in the Glossary. See also Lord, Context 2, in the Glossary.

the God of Israel: The phrase the God of Israel means “the God whom the people of Israel serve/worship.” Since Zechariah was an Israelite, in some languages it may be necessary to translate this as:

the God whom ⌊we⌋ Israelites ⌊serve/worship⌋

1:68b–69

At the time when Zechariah spoke, God had not yet delivered his people. But Zechariah knew that God had started to deliver them. He knew this because the angel had promised that his son John would “make ready a people prepared” (1:17) for the Deliverer whom God would send. In 1:68b–69 Zechariah used verb forms that would normally imply that God had already delivered the people. Hebrew prophets often spoke in that way to emphasize that the events about which they prophesied would certainly happen.

In some languages, speaking in that way may wrongly imply that the events had already happened. If that is true in your language, you may need to translate the verbs in a different way. Use a form in your language that describes either:

(a) a process that has begun (but is not yet finished), or

(b) a series of events that is described as one single event. Some of the events in the series may be past and others may be present or future.

See the introduction to Section 1:67–80 for more information. Some other ways to translate the events in 1:68b–69 are:

…he has come and has begun to redeem his people. He is raising up a horn of salvation…
-or-
…he has come and is redeeming his people. He is raising up a horn of salvation…
-or-
…he will certainly come and will redeem his people. He will raise up a horn of salvation…

You may also want to include a footnote in your translation to explain these things.

1:68b

because: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as because introduces a reason why the Lord is worthy of praise. This part of the verse explains why Zechariah praised God in 1:68a. Connect 1:68a and 1:68b in a natural way in your language. In some languages a conjunction may not be needed. For example:

68aPraise the Lord, the God of Israel! 68bHe has come to save his people. (Contemporary English Version)

He has visited and redeemed His people: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as visited means that God had come near to his people to help them. He would help them by redeeming them. Some other ways to translate this are:

he has come to help his people and has given them freedom (New Century Version)
-or-
he has come ⌊to take care of⌋ his people and redeem them
-or-
he has turned to his people and set them free (Revised English Bible)

redeemed His people: The verb redeemed means “rescued, set free, delivered.” If you must say from whom or what God had redeemed His people, you should supply “from their enemies.” This is made explicit in 1:71.

This phrase is similar to Psalm 111:9, “He provided redemption for his people.”

His people: Zechariah was an Israelite, one of God’s people. In some languages it may be necessary to indicate that explicitly. For example:

us(incl) his people

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