The Greek and Latin that is translated as “resurrection” in English is translated in Chicahuaxtla Triqui and Pohnpeian as “live-up” (i.e. return to life) (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel) and in Iloko as panagungar: a term that stems “from the word ‘agungar,’ an agricultural term used to describe the coming back to life of a plant which was wilting but which has been watered by the farmer, or of a bulb which was apparently dead but grows again.” (Source: G. Henry Waterman in The Bible Translator 1960, p. 24ff. )
Likewise, in Matumbiyu’ya carries the meaning of “raise from the dead, resuscitate, come back from near death” and is used for dry plants that come back to life when you water them or sick children who revive after being healed. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
In Estado de México Otomi, it is translated as “people will be raised from the dead,” in Teutila Cuicatec as “the dead having to come to life again,” in San Mateo del Mar Huave as “arose from the grave” (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), and in Kriol as gidap laibala brom dedbala or “get up alive from the dead” (source: Sam Freney in this article .)
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 20:33:
Noongar: “So, when people rise from the dead, which brother will be the husband of the woman? All seven brothers had married that woman.'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “So, in the future, if all the dead really do live again, who will be the owner/lord of that woman, because seven of them married her.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Na, Sir,’ they said, ‘in the day when the dead will live again, whose wife will she be? And the seven brothers have had her for a wife.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Now in the future, when people are raised from the dead, who will be the true spouse of this woman? Because those seven brothers, every one of them married her.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “All-right then, at the future day at the living again of the dead, which of them perhaps will be the right spouse for her? Because they all married her.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Well now, which of those seven is her husband if/when those who have died are made alive again, since they all got to marry her?'” (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®).
hē gunē oun en tē anastasei tinos autōn ginetai gunē ‘the woman then, the wife of which of them is (she) at the resurrection?’ oun marks the transition to the question proper. hē gunē ‘the woman,’ emphatically placed at the beginning of the clause because the question concerns her. ginetai, though in the present, refers to a future event. gunē is used in two meanings, i.e. ‘woman’ and ‘wife.’
hoi gar hepta eschon autēn gunaika ‘for the seven, i.e. all seven, had her as wife.’ eschon (aorist) refers to a series of events that have come to an end.
Translation:
The structure of the first sentence may have to be recast, e.g. ‘now, as to that woman, or, now we (exclus.) ask you about that woman (cf. on v. 21): whose wife will she be in the resurrection?’
In the resurrection, or, ‘(at the time) the dead rise, or come to life again’ etc.
Whose wife will the woman be?, or ‘which one’s wife will she be?,’ ‘which one will she have as (her) husband?,’ ‘with which one will she be-in-married-state?’; or, changing the subject, ‘which-one-will-have-her-as-his-wife?’ (Batak Toba).
The seven had her as wife, or, ‘all (those) seven (brothers) had married her’; or changing the subject, “she was married to all seven of them” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation).
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.
So then: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as So then means “therefore/then.” It introduces the question that the Sadducees asked Jesus when they concluded their story. Other ways to introduce 20:33a are:
So tell us (New Living Translation (2004)) -or-
As a result, then -or-
And therefore
Introduce the Sadducees’ question in a natural way in your language.
in the resurrection, whose wife will she be: Here the Sadducees asked Jesus what would happen at the resurrection when the woman and the seven men were alive again. They wanted to know to whom she would be married at that time. Some other ways to translate this question are:
…on the day when the dead rise to life, whose wife will she be? (Good News Translation) -or-
After the resurrection which of these men will be her husband?
The Sadducees thought that there was no good answer to this question. They expected that Jesus could not answer it wisely, and then people would no longer believe him. They would think that it was foolish for him to teach that God will cause dead people to live again.
in the resurrection: The phrase in the resurrection refers to the time in the future when God will make dead people live again. The Sadducees did not believe that this would ever happen. They referred to it in order to imply that it was ridiculous to believe in it. In some languages it may be helpful to translate in a way that implies this attitude. For example:
When God causes them to live again ⌊as you believe he will⌋
resurrection: For more help in translating resurrection see the note at 20:27b.
20:33b
For all seven were married to her: This clause explains why it was difficult to decide who would be married to the woman after the resurrection. Other ways to translate the clause are:
…whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife. (Revised Standard Version) -or-
⌊It is difficult/impossible to decide,⌋ because each of the seven men had her as wife.
Your translation should not imply that the woman was married to all of the brothers at the same time. She married the brothers one after the other. Consider how to say that clearly in your language.
General Comment on 20:33a–b
It may be helpful in some languages to change the order of these two clauses. For example:
33bSince the seven brothers were married to her, 33ain the resurrection, whose wife will she be? -or-
33bBecause all the brothers had her as wife, 33awhich brother will have her ⌊as his wife⌋ when all the dead ⌊people⌋ live again?
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