drink

In Telugu different verbs for humans drinking (tāgu / తాగు) and animals drinking (cēḍu / చేడు) are required.

complete verse (Luke 17:8)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 17:8:

  • Noongar: “No! You say to him, ‘Prepare my meal, then put on your right clothes and stand here to serve my food. Then you can eat your meal.'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “Of course not. Surely we say like this: ‘Prepare my food! Put on clothes that are not dirty. Wait for me while I drink and eat. When I am finished eating, only then do you (sing.) eat.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Surely not. Instead that is what you say to him, ‘Change your clothes and prepare my food so that I can eat. When I have finished, then you can eat.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “That’s not the way, because what you will say is, ‘Wash your hands and cook for me, so that I may eat.. And you may eat when I have finished eating.’ ‘” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “No indeed, but rather you (sing.) say, ‘Go change so you (sing.) will then prepare what I will eat and place-it-before me until I have finished-eating, then you (sing.) also will eat.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Of course not. On the contrary, what you will order is that you will say, ‘Go ahead, serve my evening meal and get changed to wait-on/take-care-of me while I eat and drink. You just eat when I have eaten already.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

2nd person pronoun with low register (Japanese)

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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 second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.

In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also first person pronoun with low register and third person pronoun with low register.

Translation commentary on Luke 17:8

Exegesis:

all’ ouchi erei autō lit. ‘but will he not rather say…?’ with a shift to a different type of interrogative clause.

hetoimason ti deipnēsō lit. ‘prepare what I will eat,’ i.e. ‘prepare something for me to eat.’ The aorist tense of hetoimason refers to the punctiliar act that precedes the more durative act of serving at the table (diakonei present tense).

deipneō (also 22.20) ‘to have a meal’ (deipnon, cf. on 14.12), i.e. ‘to eat,’ ‘to dine.’

perizōsamenos diakonei moi ‘gird yourself and serve me.’ For perizōnnumi (here in the middle voice with reflexive meaning) cf. on 12.35. For diakoneō cf. on 4.39.

heōs phagō kai piō either ‘while I eat and drink,’ or, ‘till I have finished eating and drinking,’ preferably the latter. Here eating and drinking refers to a full meal.

kai meta tauta phagesai kai piesai su ‘and after that, i.e. after you have served me, you will eat and drink yourself.’ su is emphatic by position.

Translation:

The verse indicates the negative answer anticipated by the rhetorical question in v. 7, but by implication only; it may be better to make this explicit, e.g. by inserting, ‘No, you won’t!,’ “Of course not!” (Good News Translation). V. 8 itself is a rhetorical question anticipating a positive answer, sometimes better rendered as a statement, cf. e.g. “Instead, you say to him…” (Good News Translation).

Gird yourself, as a servant does who is to wait on his master at table. Some cultural equivalents are, ‘wrap your waist-cloth about you,’ as is obligatory when approaching a person of superior rank (Balinese), ‘have-the-upper-garment-tied-together-on-the-breast,’ as one does when bringing an offering (Batak Toba), ‘wear clothes’ (Kele), cf. also, “dress yourself” (An American Translation). The rendering may have to differ from the one in 12.35, because the expression is used there metaphorically, and the circumstances envisaged as the basis of the metaphor are different.

For serve see on 12.37c, for eat and drink on 5.30.

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 17:8

17:8

In Greek, as in the Berean Standard Bible, this verse is one long rhetorical question. As in 17:7, it may be more natural in some languages to translate the rhetorical question as a statement and use shorter sentences. For example:

8aInstead, you would say this: 8b“Cook my supper! Then get ready and serve me my meal. 8cAfter you have done that, you can have your own meal.”

17:8a

Instead: In Greek this verse begins with a word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Instead. It indicates a contrast between what the master would not say (17:7) and what he would say (17:8). Other ways to indicate this contrast are:

Won’t he rather say (New International Version)
-or-

But will he not say to him (New American Standard Bible)

won’t he tell him: The clause won’t he tell him introduces a rhetorical question. Jesus used this rhetorical question to emphasize what a master would say to his servant. This question expects the response, “Yes, that is what he would say.”

Some ways to translate this emphasis are:

• As a rhetorical question. For example:

Won’t the master instead say to him…? (NET Bible)
-or-
But what would the master say?

• As a statement. For example:

Instead, he tells his servant (God’s Word)
-or-
This is what he would say instead

Translate this emphasis in a way that is natural in your language.

17:8b

Prepare my meal: The clause Prepare my meal is a command that a master would give to his servant. Some other ways to translate this are:

Cook my food
-or-
Prepare something for me to eat (New Century Version)

Use a command form that a master would naturally use in your language to speak to his servant. It does not need to be as polite as the speech in 17:7c.

meal: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as meal is literally “something for me to eat” (as in the New Century Version). In this verse, this phrase refers to the main meal of the day. People ate this meal in the late afternoon or early evening. Use a natural term for this meal in your language.

and dress yourself to serve me: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as dress yourself to serve me means “clothe yourself properly.” For example:

dress properly (English Standard Version)

The servant would probably need to remove the clothes that he had been wearing in the field. He might need to bathe. Then he would need to put on other clothes that were proper for serving food. In some cultures, there may be a specific outer garment appropriate for serving food. For example:

then put on your apron (Good News Translation)

while I eat and drink: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as while I eat and drink means “serve me.” The master expected his servant to bring the food and drink and serve it to him. Then the servant would wait nearby while his master ate so that if his master asked for anything else, he could bring that also. Use a natural way in your language to describe this. Some ways to translate it in English are:

serve me while I eat (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-

⌊bring the food and⌋ serve me until I finish eating and drinking

eat and drink: The phrase eat and drink was a common way in that culture to refer to having a meal. Use a natural way to refer to it in your language. Other ways to do this in English are:

eat
-or-
have/eat dinner
-or-
have my meal (Contemporary English Version)

17:8c

and afterward: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as and afterward refers to after the master has finished eating. For example:

when I’ve finished (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
-or-
After I finish eating and drinking (New Century Version)

Use a natural expression in your language.

you may eat and drink: As in 17:8b, you should use a natural expression in your language.

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