spit upon

The Greek that is translated in English as “spit” is translated in Chipaya as “eject saliva” (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.).

In Noongar it is narridja-kwarda or “spittle-throw” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

See also spit and touched and spit.

gentiles / nations

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The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin that is often translated as “gentiles” (or “nations”) in English is often translated as a “local equivalent of ‘foreigners,'” such as “the people of other lands” (Guerrero Amuzgo), “people of other towns” (Tzeltal), “people of other languages” (San Miguel El Grande Mixtec), “strange peoples” (Navajo (Dinė)) (this and above, see Bratcher / Nida), “outsiders” (Ekari), “people of foreign lands” (Kannada), “non-Jews” (North Alaskan Inupiatun), “people being-in-darkness” (a figurative expression for people lacking cultural or religious insight) (Toraja-Sa’dan) (source for this and three above Reiling / Swellengrebel), “from different places all people” (Martu Wangka) (source: Carl Gross).

Tzeltal translates it as “people in all different towns,” Chicahuaxtla Triqui as “the people who live all over the world,” Highland Totonac as “all the outsider people,” Sayula Popoluca as “(people) in every land” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Chichimeca-Jonaz as “foreign people who are not Jews,” Sierra de Juárez Zapotec as “people of other nations” (source of this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), Highland Totonac as “outsider people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Uma as “people who are not the descendants of Israel” (source: Uma Back Translation), “other ethnic groups” (source: Newari Back Translation), and Yakan as “the other tribes” (source: Yakan Back Translation).

In Chichewa, it is translated with mitundu or “races.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

See also nations.

complete verse (Luke 18:32)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 18:32:

  • Noongar: “People will put him into the hands of foreigners. They will mock him and they will insult him and spit on him.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “I will be offered/turned over to people who are not Yahudi people. They will make fun of me, disparage [me], spit on [me],” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “I will be handed over to the holding/ruling of people who are not Yahudi, and they will make fun of me and they will shame me and spit at me.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “As for me, the older sibling of mankind, I will be turned over to people who are not Jews, and as for those people, they will speak in rejection against me; they will treat me shamefully; they will spit on me.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “I will be handed over to the Gentiles who will mock-me, shame-me and spit-on-me.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “For I will be handed over to the people who aren’t Judio. They really will mock/scorn me, belittle/insult, spit on, whip and even kill me.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 18:32 – 18:33

Exegesis:

paradothēsetai gar tois ethnesin ‘for he will be handed over to the heathen.’ For paradidōmi cf. on 1.2 and 9.44. ta ethnē refers here specifically to the Roman authorities in Jerusalem. The agent of the verbal action may be God (as in 9.44) or the Jews, presumably the former because the handing over is a fulfilment of prophecy.

empaichthēsetai kai hubristhēsetai kai emptusthēsetai ‘he will be ridiculed and insulted and spat upon.’ The agent of these actions are the Romans. For empaizō cf. on 14.29; for hubrizō cf. on 11.45.

emptuō ‘to spit upon,’ as an act of humiliation.

(V. 33) kai mastigōsantes apoktenousin auton ‘and after flogging him they will kill him,’ shift from the passive to the active, the agent being the same.

mastigoō ‘to whip,’ ‘to flog.’

tē hēmera tē tritē anastēsetai ‘on the third day he will rise.’

Translation:

For he will be delivered and the Gentiles see 9.44 and 2.32 respectively.

And will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. Because the implied agent is different this part of the verse is usually better treated as a separate clause or sentence, where preferable in an active construction, e.g. ‘who (going with ‘the Gentiles’) will mock him…,’ or, ‘they/these people will mock him….’ — To mock, or, ‘to ridicule,’ “to jeer at” (Phillips), “to make fun of” (Good News Translation). To treat shamefully, or, ‘to insult,’ ‘to treat with arrogance/insolence.’

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.