complete verse (Luke 19:12)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 19:12:

  • Noongar: “o Jesus said, ‘One day, an important man was going to a far country. There people would make him become king, and after, he wanted to come back home.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “He said: ‘A nobleman planned to go to a far town, going to be installed as king, and return.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Therefore Isa spoke in a parable, ‘There was a certain prominent person. He went to a far country so that he would be given the title of king there, and then he would come back to be king in his country. (In this parable there is no time involved in Yakan. It can be understood either as past, present or future.)” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And because of that, he gave this parable; he said, ‘There was a prince who was summoned by the high king into another kingdom, because he was to be made a king over his own town. And when that was finished he was able to return home.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “He said, ‘There was a high person who went to a far country in order that they would appoint him to return to his country to be-king.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “His illustration was, ‘There was an important person who went to a foreign/overseas land to be put-in-office of kingship by the Impiradur, and then he would return home to reign.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Honorary "are" construct denoting God ("say")

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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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, iw-are-ru (言われる) or “say” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Luke 19:12

Exegesis:

eipen oun ‘so he said,’ takes up eipen in v. 11.

anthrōpos tis eugenēs ‘a nobleman.’

eugenēs ‘well born,’ ‘high born.’

eporeuthē eis chōran makran labein heauatō basileian ‘travelled to a far country in order to receive for himself a kingship.’ The picture is that of a vassal king to be appointed by the Roman emperor. For allusions to contemporary events see commentaries.

kai hupostrepsai ‘and (then) to return,’ i.e. to his country over which he would have received the kingship, still dependent upon eporeuthē. hupostrepsai is added explicitly because the parable hinges on his return.

Translation:

A nobleman, or, ‘a certain nobleman,’ see on 7.41. If a specific term is not available, one may render the noun by, ‘a man of a chief’s family,’ ‘a descendant of chiefs,’ ‘a man of high position’ (cf. Sranan Tongo; similarly Ekari, lit. ‘a person having a name’).

Went, preferably ‘was about to go,’ ‘planned to travel.’

To receive kingly power, or ‘power to rule the kingdom’ (Thai), ‘authority of a chief’ (Kele). The phrase structure may have to be changed, e.g. “to be appointed king” (New English Bible), ‘to be installed as chief’ (Tae’ 1933), ‘that the emperor might appoint/grant him to be king/chief of his land.’ Some versions add a locative specification, ‘there to receive…’ (cf. Sranan Tongo, Sundanese, Bible de Jérusalem). For kingly power cf. also on “kingdom” in 1.33 and references.

Then return, or with a more explicit transition, ‘after that (or, having received it) to come back home’; or as a new sentence, ‘he intended to come back after that (or, after he had been appointed).’

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 19:12

19:12a

So He said: In Greek the phrase He said is followed by a conjunction that is often translated as “therefore” and that the Berean Standard Bible translates as So. It implies that Jesus knew what the people were thinking, so (as a result) he told them the parable in this section. Here is another way to translate this:

He said therefore (English Standard Version)

Some English versions do not translate this conjunction. Use a natural way in your language to make the connection clear.

A man of noble birth: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as A man of noble birth refers to a man who was born into an important family. He had high social status. In this context the man was going to become king, so some English versions have translated the word as “prince” (Contemporary English Version, God’s Word). Some other ways to translate it are:

A very important man (New Century Version)
-or-
A man of high rank/status
-or-
A man from an important/ruling family

19:12b

went to a distant country: In this context the word went indicates that he prepared to go. The nobleman needed to travel to another country. However, in 19:13 he was still in his own country. He was giving his servants instructions about what to do after he left.

In some languages it may be more natural to change the order of information in these verses. See the General Comment on 19:12–13 at the end of 19:13d for suggestions.

a distant country: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as distant indicates that this country was “far away.” This country was so far away from the nobleman’s homeland that people knew it would be a long time before he would return home.

19:12c

to lay claim to his kingship: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as to lay claim to his kingship is more literally “to receive a kingdom.” The Revised Standard Version and several other English versions translate it that way. The context shows that he wanted to be appointed as king of his own country. He was not going to begin ruling a kingdom far away from his home. Some ways to make this clear are:

A man of noble birth went to a distant country to receive authority to become king ⌊of his own country⌋
-or-
A man of noble birth intended to go to a distant country to be given authority to rule his own people as their king.

The text does not make explicit who would give the nobleman authority to be king. However, the context implies that there was an emperor, a great king, who had many other kings under his authority. In some languages it is necessary to make this explicit. For example:

to receive authority ⌊from the high king/chief⌋ to be king/chief ⌊of his own country⌋

19:12d

and then return: The words and then refer to the time after the nobleman had received authority. Then he would return to rule his own country. In some languages it may be helpful to make this more explicit. For example:

After ⌊he received the authority⌋, he would return.
-or-
When ⌊he was appointed⌋, he would return ⌊home⌋ ⌊to rule⌋.

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