Translation commentary on Luke 17:13

Exegesis:

kai autoi ēran phōnēn ‘and they raised their voices.’ autoi is unemphatic.

Iēsou epistata ‘Jesus, master.’ For epistatēs cf. on 5.5. Here it suggests submission rather than intimate relationship.

eleēson hēmas ‘have pity on us,’ implicitly a request to be healed, cf. on 16.24.

Translation:

Lifted up their voices and said, or, ‘shouted’ (cf. Good News Translation, Tagalog), “called across to him” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation); and cf. on 11.27.

Master, cf. on 5.5.

Have mercy on us, cf. on 1.50. The supplicatory mood of the imperative is sometimes more explicitly expressed, e.g. by a word meaning ‘please’ (Javanese, Balinese).

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 17:13

17:13a

raised their voices, shouting: The Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates as raised their voices, shouting is literally “lifted voice saying.” This is an idiom. It indicates here that the lepers spoke loudly to Jesus. They shouted so that he could hear them, since they stood at a distance from him. In your translation, use an expression that refers to calling loudly to someone or shouting, but not in an impolite or angry way. For example:

but called to him (New Century Version)
-or-
called out, saying (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
and shouted (Good News Translation)

17:13b

Jesus, Master: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Master is a word that shows respect. People used this word to address a person who had high position or status. It showed that the lepers respected Jesus. The word Master is similar in meaning to “Lord” in 17:5. However, when someone used the word “Lord,” he was showing greater respect.

Use an appropriate term of address for the lepers to use toward a respected healer whom they were begging for help. For example:

leader
-or-
elder

In some languages it may be more natural to change the order of Jesus’ name and title. For example:

Master Jesus

have mercy on us: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as have mercy means “be merciful.” This verb also occurred in 16:24. The pronoun us refers to the lepers. Their request implies that they wanted Jesus to heal them so they would no longer have leprosy. Here are some other ways to translate this:

have pity on us (New International Version)
-or-
be(sing) kind to us(excl) ⌊and heal/cleanse us⌋

© 2009, 2010, 2013 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.