7“Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’?
“Sheep are known throughout most of the world, even though, as in Central Africa, they are a far cry from the fleecy wool-producing animals of colder climates. Where such animals are known, even by seemingly strange names, e.g. ‘cotton deer’ (Yucateco) or ‘woolly goat’ (Inupiaq), such names should be used. In some instances, one may wish to borrow a name and use a classifier, e.g. ‘an animal called sheep.’ In still other instances translators have used ‘animal which produces wool’, for though people are not acquainted with the animals they are familiar with wool.” (Source: Bratcher / Nida)
In Dëne Súline, it is usually translated as “an evil little caribou.” To avoid the negative connotation, a loan word from the neighboring South Slavey was used. (Source: NCEM, p. 70)
Note that the often-alleged Inuktitut translation of “sheep” with “seal” is an urban myth (source Nida 1947, p. 136).
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 17:7:
Noongar: “‘If one of you has a servant and he is digging outside or perhaps looking after the sheep. When he comes in, you tell him to hurry into the house and eat his meal, do you?” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “‘For example there is a slave who farms or who watches livestock. When he returns from his work, what to we say to him? Do we say thus: ‘Hurry, come eat’?” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Isa said yet, ‘If for example one of you has a servant and his work is to plow the field or to care for the animals. When he arrives from his work do you say to him, ‘Na, eat now.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And Jesus said again, ‘For example, if any one of you have a servant, and his work is to plough or to take care of your domestic animals, and he has just returned home in the afternoon, it’s not possible that you will say to him, ‘You eat first and then I’ll eat.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Jesus continued to say, ‘If for-example one of you has a servant who is ploughing or pasturing sheep, if that servant of yours (sing.) arrives from where he was working, do you (sing.) do-you-suppose say to him, ‘Come right-away to eat’?” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Think about this. Supposing there is one of you who has a slave who ploughs or tends sheep, what will you (sing.) order him to do when he returns from the field? Will you say at once to him, ‘Come here, eat’?” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.
As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator2002, p. 210ff. ), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.
Here, Jesus is addressing his disciples, individuals and/or crowds with the formal pronoun, showing respect.
In most Dutch translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and common people with the informal pronoun, whereas they address him with the formal form.
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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
tis de ex humōn … hos … erei lit. ‘who of you (is there) … who will say?,’ with estin understood, more emphatic than ‘who of you will say?’ The expected answer is: no. humōn points back to pros tous mathētas autou in v. 1.
doulon echōn arotriōnta ē poimainonta ‘having a slave ploughing or tending sheep,’ describing the background circumstances of the subsequent narrative. The emphasis is on doulon as shown by its position before echōn.
arotriaō ‘to plough.’
poimainō ‘to tend (sheep).’
hos eiselthonti ek tou agrou erei autō ‘who when he comes in from the field will say to him.’ eiselthonti goes with autō which refers to doulon.
eutheōs parelthōn anapese ‘come along at once and lie down (at the table).’ parerchomai means to go to the place where one is going to do something, cf. on 12.37. For anapiptō cf. on 11.37.
Translation:
For the rendering of such rhetorical questions with suppositional force cf. on 11.5.
A servant ploughing or keeping sheep (i.e. as his habitual duty) may have to be recast, e.g. ‘a slave working for him at the plough or with the sheep, or, who ploughs for him and tends his sheep’ (cf. Nieuwe Vertaling), ‘the servant he employs as ploughman and herdsman’ (Willibrord); and cf. below, the quotation from Tzeltal. Ploughing, or, ‘who hoes’ (West Nyanja), ‘tilling the fields,’ ‘who turns the soil for him’ (Sranan Tongo), ‘who works the garden (with a hoe)’ (Kele), ‘farming’ (Zarma). To keep the sheep, i.e. ‘to be a shepherd’ (cf. 2.8), or more generically, ‘to tend the flock (cf. ibid.), or, the (small) cattle.’ For sheep see references on 15.4.
Field here refers both to the fields tilled (cf. 15.25) and those used for pasturage (cf. 2.8); to cover both by one term one may say, ‘the open’ (Fulah), ‘where he had been working’ (cf. Ekari), ‘his work’ (Tae,’ similarly in Tzeltal, which, moreover, transposes the reference to the jobs, cf. ‘if your servant arrives from work, from ground-breaking or caring-for-cattle for you…’).
At once, or, ‘without delay,’ ‘quickly.’
Sit down at table, cf. on 7.36.
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.
In this paragraph, Jesus told a parable to illustrate the attitude that he wanted his disciples to have. Just as a slave must serve his master, a disciple must serve God, his master. That is his duty. He should obey God without thinking that God should reward him in any special way.
17:7
In the Greek text, as in the Berean Standard Bible, 17:7 is one long, rhetorical question. It could be translated as a statement and a rhetorical question. For example:
Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? (New International Version)
In some languages, it may be helpful to use even shorter sentences. For example:
7aSuppose one of you had a servant. ⌊All day⌋ this servant plows the soil or looks after the sheep. Then he comes back to the house. 7bWill you say to him, 7c“Now come and sit down to eat?”
17:7a–b
Which of you whose servant comes in from plowing or shepherding in the field will say to him…?: This is a rhetorical question. Jesus used this rhetorical question to emphasize that a master would never say what follows in 17:7c. This question expects the answer, “No, no one would say that to a servant.”
Some ways to translate this emphasis are:
• As a rhetorical question. For example:
Suppose someone has a servant who is plowing fields or watching sheep. Does he tell his servant when he comes from the field…? (God’s Word)
• As a statement. For example:
One would certainly not say to the servant when that servant comes in from plowing or shepherding in the field… -or-
When the servant comes in from plowing or shepherding in the field, no master would ever say to him…
Translate this emphasis in a way that is natural in your language.
Which of you whose servant: In Greek this clause is literally “Who among you having a servant…?” For example:
Will any one of you, who has a servant…? (Revised Standard Version)
Jesus used this clause to introduce his illustration. Versions such as the God’s Word, Good News Translation, New Century Version, and New International Version use a clause with the word “Suppose” to introduce it. Some other ways to introduce the illustration in English are:
If your servant (Contemporary English Version) -or-
When a servant (New Living Translation (2004))
Introduce this illustration in a way that is natural in your language.
Which of you: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Which of you refers to “any one of you apostles/disciples.” It is possible that Jesus was continuing his answer to his apostles’ request in 17:5. However, he was probably speaking to all his disciples, as in 17:1.
Jesus was not implying anything about whether one of his disciples had a servant. In some languages it may be helpful to translate the phrase Which of you in a more general way. For example:
Suppose someone has a servant (God’s Word)
servant: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as servant means “slave” (as in the New Revised Standard Version). This word refers to someone who was owned by another person. He worked for his owner/master without receiving pay. He had no rights of his own (or very few rights). He could not choose to go and work for someone else.
In some cultures, slaves may not be known. In other cultures, the word for slave may imply different customs than in biblical culture. If that is true in your language, some ways to translate this are:
worker -or-
person who belonged to someone else -or-
owned person -or-
person who serves someone
comes in from: The clause comes in from indicates that after the servant worked in the field, he returned to the house at the end of the day. In some languages it may be helpful to make this explicit. For example:
when he returns ⌊after working in⌋ the fields ⌊all day⌋
The pronoun “him” refers to the servant, not the master. In some languages it may be necessary to make this explicit:
when his servant comes in from the field
plowing: The word plowing refers to using a tool called a plow to turn over the soil to prepare it for planting crops. A farmer often uses animals such as cows or oxen to pull the plow.
In areas where people do not know about plowing, you may express this in a more general way. For example:
working in the field -or-
cultivating -or-
preparing the field/soil for planting
shepherding in the field: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as shepherding describes taking care of animals known as sheep. Some other ways to translate this word are:
caring for the sheep (New Century Version) -or-
looking after the sheep (New International Version)
In some areas people do not keep sheep, so you may want to use a more general expression. For example:
caring for the animals -or-
tending the animals
Sheep are domestic animals that are raised for meat and for wool. In some languages there may not be a word for “sheep.” If that is true in your language, you may borrow the word for “sheep” and indicate its meaning with a general word such as “herd/flock” or “animals.” For example:
⌊animals called⌋ sheep -or-
⌊herd/flock of⌋ sheep
If people are not familiar with sheep in your area, it is suggested that you insert a picture in your translation.
In some languages it may be necessary to make it explicit that the servant was taking care of the sheep that his master owned. For example:
will say to him: Versions such as the New International Version that divide this verse into a “suppose” statement and a rhetorical question use the pronoun “he” to refer to the master here. But since he was referred to as one “of you” in 17:7a, in some languages it may be more natural to continue to use the pronoun you here. For example:
Would you say to the servant
In other languages, it may be best to use “someone” in 17:7a and “he” here.
17:7c
Come at once: The Greek words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Come at once are literally “immediately come.” For example:
Come immediately (New American Standard Bible) -or-
Come along now (New International Version)
and sit down to eat: The clause sit down to eat is a polite invitation. This clause implies that a master was inviting his servant to eat a meal that someone had already cooked for him. Translate this invitation in a natural way in your language. Other ways to say it in English are:
sit down for a meal (NET Bible) -or-
rest/sit and eat -or-
and let me give you ⌊some food⌋ to eat
General Comment on 17:7b–c
If you translate 17:7b–c as a rhetorical question, you may need to supply an answer. For example:
Of course not! -or-
No, you wouldn’t say that. (Contemporary English Version) -or-
No. (God’s Word)
You can place such an answer either at the end of 17:7c (see 17:7c in the Display) or at the beginning of 17:8 (as in the Contemporary English Version and God’s Word).
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