complete verse (Luke 20:23)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 20:23:

  • Noongar: “But Jesus saw their deception and said,” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “Yesus knew that they were causing-to-fall. That is why he said to them:” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But Isa knew their deceiving. He said to them,” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And Jesus knew the evil that they were trying to do, and he said to them,” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But Jesus knew their craftiness, so then he said to them,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But Jesus knew-well that the motive in their mind was just deceitful. That’s why he said to them,” (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 20:23 – 20:25

Exegesis:

katanoēsas … autōn tēn panourgian ‘seeing through their trickery.’ For katanoeō cf. on 12.24; here it means ‘to see through,’ ‘to perceive what is hidden.’

panourgia ‘trickery,’ ‘cunning.’

(V. 24) deixate moi dēnarion ‘show me a denarius,’ cf. on 7.41.

tinos echei eikona kai epigraphēn ‘whose likeness and inscription does it have?’ tinos goes with both eikona and epigraphēn.

eikōn ‘image,’ ‘likeness,’ ‘head’ on coin.

epigraphē (also 23.38) ‘inscription,’ ‘legend’ on a coin.

(V. 25) hoi de eipan, Kaisaros ‘they said, Caesar’s.’ In Nestle these words belong to v. 24 (cf. Revised Standard Version and other versions).

toinun apodote ta Kaisaros Kaisari ‘then give Caesar what belongs to Caesar.’ toinun introduces a strong inference. apodidōmi ‘to give, or to pay what is due.’ ta Kaisaros lit. ‘the things of Caesar,’ i.e. ‘what is due to Caesar,’ ‘what Caesar is entitled to receive.’

Translation:

He, i.e. Jesus, may have to be specified; similarly in v. 25.

Perceived their craftiness, or “saw through their trick” (New English Bible); in Sranan Tongo the idiom is ‘bored through their head and came to know their trick,’ in Javanese ‘not ignorant of their deceit.’

(V. 24) Coin, or ‘piece of silver, or, money,’ ‘silver coin,’ see references on “denarii” in 10.35; cultural equivalents as mentioned there are not advisable here, because the reference is not to the value but to the object and its historical details. Sometimes a coin of the same value cannot be used because it has no effigy or legend, but one of different value has the details required and hence is the closest natural equivalent, e.g. in Sranan Tongo.

Whose likeness and inscription has it, or with a syntactic shift, ‘who is portrayed on it? Whom does the inscription mention?’ (cf. Leyden). Likeness, or “portrait” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation) “face” (Good News Translation). Inscription, or, ‘writing’ (Batak Toba), ‘stamp/seal’ (Bahasa Indonesia), “name” (Good News Translation), ‘name mark’ (Javanese), ‘written mark.’

Caesar’s, or, ‘those of (or, they belong to, or, the likeness and inscription are of) the Emperor’; or, ‘the Emperor’ (Leyden, cf. above). The answer may have to be introduced by an affirmative expression, without which it would sound impolite, ‘indeed (or, yes, or, you are right), Caesar’s’ (Javanese, Sundanese).

(V. 25) Then, or ‘well, then,’ ‘because that is so,’ ‘for that reason.’

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 20:23

Paragraph 20:23–26

20:23

But: This conjunction indicates a contrast with 20:22. This verse tells how Jesus responded to the spies’ question. He responded in a way that they did not expect, so the Berean Standard Bible introduce the verse with But. Other English versions do not begin the verse with a conjunction. Begin the verse in a natural way in your language.

Jesus saw through their duplicity: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as saw through means “to notice.” The clause Jesus saw through their duplicity indicates that Jesus realized that the spies were trying to trick him. Other ways to translate it are:

Jesus perceived their deceit (NET Bible)
-or-
he was aware of their cunning (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
He detected their trickery (New American Standard Bible)

The Berean Standard Bible uses an idiom to translate this meaning. If you have an idiom in your language that expresses it, you may be able to use it here.

duplicity: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as duplicity means “cunning, craftiness, trickery.” Here it refers to a deceitful and evil trick. The spies wanted to trick Jesus into saying something that would cause him great harm, even death. Their motives were evil. Another way to translate this is:

that they were trying ⌊with evil intent/cunning⌋ to trick him

and said to them: This clause introduces what Jesus said as a result of understanding the motives of the spies. Introduce his reply in a natural way in your language. Here is another way to translate this:

So he told them (Contemporary English Version)

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