19When the scribes and chief priests realized that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to lay hands on him at that very hour, but they feared the people.
The Greek that is usually translated as “scribe” in English “were more than mere writers of the law. They were the trained interpreters of the law and expounders of tradition.”
Tboli: “one who taught the law God before caused Moses to write” (or “one who taught the law of Moses”) (source for this and 5 above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Noongar: Mammarapa-Warrinyang or “law man” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Mairasi: “one who writes and explains Great Above One’s (=God’s) prohibitions” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
Chichewa: “teacher of Laws” (source: Ernst Wendland)
Lalana Chinantec: “one who is a teacher of the law which God gave to Moses back then”
Tepeuxila Cuicatec: “one who know well the law” (Source for this and four above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Huixtán Tzotzil: “one who mistakenly thought he was teaching God’s commandments”(Huixtán Tzotzil frequently uses the verb -cuy to express “to mistakenly think something” from the point of view of the speaker; source: Marion M. Cowan in Notes on Translation 20/1966, pp. 6ff.)
Germandas Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022): “theologian” and the 1998 translation by Walter Jens: “interpreter of scriptures” (Schriftausleger)
English translation by Scot McKnight (The Second Testament, publ. 2023): Covenant Code scholar
In British Sign Language it is translated with a sign that combines the signs for “expert” and “law.” (Source: Anna Smith)
“Scribe” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL , used with permission)
The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “chief priest” in English is translated in Muyuw as tanuwgwes lun or “ruler-of peace offering.” (Source: David Lithgow in The Bible Translator 1971, p. 118ff. )
The Greek that is translated as “to fear” or “to be afraid” or similar in English is translated in Ashe as agõõi iwei or “hearing fear.” (Source: David Rowbory)
In British Sign Language it is translated with a sign that combines the signs for “tell-a-story” and “compare.” (Source: Anna Smith)
“Parable” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
Scot McKnight (in The Second Testament, publ. 2023) translates it into English as analogy because “the Greek word has the sense of tossing down something alongside something else. Hence an analogy.”
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 20:19:
Noongar: “The Law Men and the Chief Priests, they knew that Jesus told this parable to accuse them, so they wanted to seize Jesus now, but they feared the people.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “The religion teachers and leaders of the priests knew that they were the ones Yesus was aiming-towards with his parable earlier. That is why they wanted to arrest/catch him at that hour also. But they did not dare, because they were afraid of the people/crowd.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “The teachers of the religious law and the chief priests wanted to catch Isa right away because they understood that he meant them in the parable about that vineyard. But they did not catch him because they were afraid of the crowds of people.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then the teachers of the Law, and the chief priests of God, they understood that that parable was directed toward them. And they thought that they should at that time arrest Jesus but they were afraid of the many people.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “When the teachers of the law and the leaders of the priests heard this parable, they wanted to arrest Jesus immediately, because they knew that they were the ones Jesus was talking about. But they were afraid of the many-people,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Without anything further, the explainers of law and the chiefs of the priests wanted to arrest Jesus at that time, for they understood that they were the ones he was alluding to in that illustration. But they were afraid of that crowd of people, therefore they didn’t dare.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
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®).
ezētēsan ‘they tried,’ cf. 19.47, here in the aorist because v. 19 describes the immediate reaction upon Jesus’ words in v. 18 (cf. en autē tē hōra, see below).
hoi archiereis, cf. on 9.22.
epibalein ep’ auton tas cheiras ‘to lay/get their hands on him,’ cf. 9.62. Here it is used in a hostile sense.
en autē tē hōra ‘at that very time,’ hence by extension, ‘then and there.’
kai ephobēthēsan ton laon ‘and they were afraid of the people.’ kai is used here because the clause is more or less a parenthesis between what precedes and its explanation. egnōsan gar ‘for they perceived, or, understood.’
pros autous ‘with reference to them,’ cf. ibid.; emphatic.
Translation:
Tried, cf. on “sought” in 5.18.
To lay hands on, or, “to arrest” (Good News Translation), ‘to take-hold-of/seize’ (Balinese; similarly Sranan Tongo, lit. ‘stretch forth the hand and seize’), or, since they will not be agents but initiators, ‘to cause to be seized.’
They feared the people. For the position of the clause see next entry. People, cf. on 7.29.
For they perceived … This clause (c) goes with clause (a), “they tried to lay hands on”, not with (b), “they feared”. If such a sentence structure is unacceptable, (c) may have to come before (b) (as e.g. in New English Bible, Good News Translation, Thai Trukese, Tzeltal, Toraja-Sa’dan); or one may repeat part of (a) before (c) in order to help the reader to make the right connexion, e.g. ‘they tried that, or, they tried to do so, because they perceived….’
He had told this parable against them, or, ‘he had aimed this parable at them, or, at their behaviour’ (cf. Balinese, Toraja-Sa’dan), ‘he had spoken this parable touching (i.e. causing embarrassment to) them’ (Thai), ‘Jesus had exposed/unmasked them in the parable’ (Kele), ‘he had been speaking about them in telling this parable’ (Shona 1966). In Javanese, where the term for ‘parable’ also means ‘allusion,’ one can use here a related verb, ‘they-themselves were-parabled/alluded-to by these words.’
From this verse onward some versions in honorific languages (such as Bengali) no longer use honorifics with reference to the Jewish leaders, because their malevolence has now become manifest; often, however, linguistic etiquette is such that all leaders, even malevolent ones, are entitled to honorifics.
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.
The Berean Standard Bible here does not follow the order of the Greek but rearranges the words for good English style. The Greek is literally:
19aAnd the scribes and the chief priests 19csought to lay hands on him in that hour and/but 19dthey feared the people, 19bbecause they knew that against them he spoke this parable.
In some languages, it may be necessary to change the order of the sentence, as the Berean Standard Bible does. See General Comment on 20:19a–c for suggestions.
20:19a–b
When the scribes and chief priests realized that Jesus had spoken this parable against them: The Jewish leaders understood that Jesus had told the parable of the vineyard and the metaphor of the stone as a warning to them. They realized that the parable referred to them as the evil farmers who killed the son. They knew that the parable indicated that God would certainly punish them. That was why they wanted to arrest Jesus.
Some other ways to translate this are:
…they realized he was telling the story against them—they were the wicked farmers. (New Living Translation (2004)) -or-
…they knew the story was about them. (New Century Version) -or-
…knew that they were the ones Yesus was aiming-towards with his parable earlier.
20:19a
the scribes and chief priests: These two groups of people were also mentioned in 19:47b–d. See how you referred to them there. See also teacher of the law and priest in the Glossary.
20:19b
The Greek conjunction of 20:19b begins with a conjunction that is often translated as “for” or “because.” For example:
because they knew he had spoken this parable against them (New International Version)
This conjunction introduces the reason why the religious leaders wanted to arrest Jesus at once. If you choose to rearrange the order of 20:19a–d as the Berean Standard Bible does, it may not be necessary to translate this conjunction.
this parable: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as this parable refers to the story that begins in 20:9b. For help in translating the word parable, see the note on 18:1. See also parable in the Glossary.
20:19c
they sought to arrest Him that very hour: The Greek words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as sought to arrest Him that very hour indicate that the leaders wanted to arrest Jesus immediately, and they tried to think of a way to do that. The context implies that they did not want to arrest him in public. They were afraid of the people, as 20:19c says.
See the General Comment on 20:19a–c for a suggestion about changing the order of clauses in 20:19a and 20:19b.
to arrest Him: The Greek idiom that the Berean Standard Bible translates as to arrest Him is literally “to lay their hands on him.” Here it means “to seize ⌊in order to arrest⌋.” It indicates that they wanted to take Jesus away for trial and punishment.
that very hour: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as that very hour is literally “in the same hour.” It means “at that moment/time.” In this context it indicates that the leaders wanted to arrest Jesus immediately without waiting any longer. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
at once (New Century Version) -or-
that very hour (NET Bible) -or-
at that moment (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
In some languages there may be an idiom that expresses this meaning. For example:
on the spot (Good News Translation)
General Comment on 20:19a–c
In some languages it may be necessary to reverse the order of these clauses. For example:
19aThe scribes and the chief priests 19ctried to arrest Jesus at once, 19bsince they knew that Jesus had spoken this parable against them.
20:19d
But they were afraid of the people: This clause explains why the religious leaders did not arrest Jesus immediately. They knew that the people respected Jesus. They were afraid that if they tried to arrest him, the people might attack them and cause a riot.
In some languages it may be necessary to make explicit that the leaders did not actually arrest Jesus then. For example:
But ⌊they did not arrest him because⌋ they were afraid of the people. -or-
But they were afraid of ⌊what⌋ the people ⌊might do to them⌋, ⌊so⌋ ⌊they did not arrest him⌋.
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