Scriptures Plain & Simple (Luke 2:8-20)

Barclay Newman, a translator on the teams for both the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version, translated passages of the New Testament into English and published them in 2014, “in a publication brief enough to be non-threatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and un-believers alike.” The following is the translation of Luke 2:8-20:

At night in the fields near Bethlehem,
       some shepherds were guarding their sheep,
when suddenly an angel came down from the Lord,
       and the glory of the Lord flashed all around.

The shepherds were shaken, but the angel encouraged them,
“Don’t be afraid! I have good news for you —
       news that will bring happiness to all who hear.
Today a Savior was born for you in King David’s hometown.
This Savior is Christ the Lord, and you’ll recognize him —
       he’s a newborn baby on a bed of hay.”

At that very moment a multitude of angels
       descended from heaven, singing:
“Praise! Shout praises to God in heaven!
       Peace to everyone who pleases God!”

After the angels had returned to heaven,
the shepherds said to each other,
       “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see what this is all about.”
They wasted no time, and when they arrived,
Mary and Joseph were there —
       and a newborn baby on a bed of hay.

The shepherds told the baby’s parents
       what the angel had said about Jesus.
They and everyone else were surprised,
but Mary kept all this in mind
       and never stopped wondering what it meant.

With praises to God flowing from their lips,
       the shepherds returned to their sheep.
Everything had happened exactly as the angel had said.

Translation commentary on Luke 2:10

Exegesis:

idou gar ‘for behold,’ cf. on 1.44.

euaggelizomai humin charan megalēn ‘I bring(-as)-good-news to you a great joy,’ cf. on 1.19.

hētis estai panti tō laō “which will be for all the people” (Translator’s New Testament): hētis is here equivalent to the simple relative pronoun hē.

panti tō laō is best understood as a dative of advantage: ‘a joy which will be to the benefit of all the people.’ For laos cf. 1.68, 77; the reference is not to ‘people’ in general, i.e. mankind, but to ‘the people,’ i.e. Israel.

Translation:

I bring you good news of a great joy, i.e. news that gives great joy, or, causes people to rejoice greatly. Some other restructured renderings of the phrase are, “I bring you good tidings, news of a great joy” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation), “I have good news for you: there is great joy coming to…” (New English Bible, making ‘great joy’ the grammatical subject of the next clause); or, toning down the force of the verb, .’.. tell the news which will give great joy’ (South Bolivian Quechua), ‘great joy word(s) wish-to-tell-you I-have-come’ (Ekari). For to bring good news cf. also on 1.19.

Which will come to all the people, or, ‘which will be the share of this whole-people’ (Tae’), ‘in which the whole country will take part’ (Sranan Tongo), ‘a blessing for all the people’ (Batak Toba, using an appositional construction), ‘over which all the people will be-glad’ (Tae’ 1933). The people, or, to make it clear that here Israel is meant, ‘this people,’ ‘your people’ (Balinese), ‘the people in your country’ (Tboli), ‘(the people of) Israel’; see also on 1.17.

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 2:10

2:10a

But: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible here translates as But introduces what the angel told the shepherds. In 2:10a the angel told them not to be afraid. This contrasts with their being terrified in 2:9c. Some English versions, such as the English Standard Version and New American Standard Bible, translate this conjunction as “And.” Other English versions do not translate this word. Connect 2:9c with 2:10a in a way that is natural in your language for this type of contrast.

the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid!: In some languages it may be more natural to use indirect speech for this part of what the angel said. For example:

the angel told them not to be afraid

angel: This word also occurred in 2:9a. Translate it the same way in both these verses.

2:10b

For behold In Greek this part of the verse begins with a phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as For behold. The conjunction For introduces the reason the angel gave the shepherds for why they should not be afraid. The word behold indicates that the explanation was something important. Another way to translate this is:

Listen carefully, for… (NET Bible)

Use a natural way in your language to introduce the important words in this part of the verse. In some languages, special words of introduction may not be necessary.

I bring you good news: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible here translates as I bring you good news also occurs in 1:19b. There the Berean Standard Bible translates this verb as “bring…good news.”

Some other ways to say I bring you good news are:

I announce good news to you
-or-
I have a good message for you

The good news that the angel referred to, as stated in 2:11, was the message that the Christ had come.

good news of great joy that will be for all the people: The message that the Messiah had come would bring great joy for all the people who believed it. God had promised the people of Israel that he would send a Savior, the Messiah. This Messiah would bring joy to all the people from Israel and every nation who would believe this message. It would not bring joy to those who did not believe it.

The phrase of great joy indicates that the good news would cause the people to rejoice. It would make them very happy.

Some ways to translate the phrase good news of great joy that will be for all the people are:

good news that will cause all the people to rejoice
-or-
sweet message that offers great joy to everyone

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