complete verse (Luke 21:10)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 21:10:

  • Noongar: “Jesus spoke more. ‘Many countries will fight other countries. Kings and their people will attack other kings and their people.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “From there, Yesus continued his words, he said: ‘On that day, many towns will fight-each-other, one king opposing the other king.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then he said to them, ‘One tribe will fight with another tribe, and one kingdom will fight with another kingdom.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And Jesus said again, ‘For one country will fight against another country, and one kingdom will war against another kingdom;” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “He continued to say, ‘Because what will happen is that the many-countries will wage-war and likewise also the governments.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Jesus further said to them, ‘It will come that nations are at war, kingdoms against other kingdoms.” (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 21:10 – 21:11

Exegesis:

tote elegen autois ‘then he said to them,’ introductory formula which serves not to introduce a new discourse, but to emphasize the significance of what follows.

(V. 11) seismoi te megaloi ‘and there will be great earthquakes,’ going with esontai. seismos. te corresponds with kai before kata topous, and the second kai serves to connect limoi and loimoi, ‘there will be both great earthquakes and plagues and famines,’ thus bringing out that two groups of events are envisaged, i.e. catastrophes in nature, and human afflictions.

kata topous ‘in various places.’ Syntactically the phrase goes with what follows, but not to the extent that the earthquakes do not occur in various places.

limoi kai loimoi esontai ‘there will be famines and plagues.’

loimos ‘pestilence,’ ‘plague,’ ‘contagious disease.’

phobētra te kai … sēmeia megala estai ‘there will be terrors and … great signs.’ te kai connects phobētra and sēmeia as belonging closely together. Hence megala goes with both substantives.

phobētron ‘terror,’ ‘terrible event,’ here probably referring to cosmic catastrophes.

ap’ ouranou ‘from heaven,’ ‘from the sky,’ going with both phobētra and sēmeia.

Translation:

Then he said, preferably, “he went on to say” (Good News Translation).

Nation will rise against nation, or, ‘nations will defy each other’ (Bahasa Indonesia RC). Instead of nation, or, ‘people/tribe,’ one may have to use ‘men of a nation, or, tribe, or, country’ (cf. Tae,’ Western Highland Purepecha).

(V. 11) In various places, or, ‘now here, then there’ (Nieuwe Vertaling), should be given such a position in the sentence that it can qualify the three nouns, e.g. at the very end (some English versions), or at the very beginning (Javanese).

Famines, see on 4.25.

Pestilences, or, ‘spreading illness (i.e. epidemic)’ (Tae’), ‘the bowing-down of stalks-of-reed’ (Toraja-Sa’dan using a figurative phrase, comparing the people falling down in an epidemic with broken rushes).

Terrors and great signs, or, ‘great terrifying things and signs’; or, because of the close relationship between the two nouns, ‘terrifying and great signs,’ ‘great signs that cause people to fear’ (Tae’ 1933). Signs. Some languages have a distinctive term for things that foreshadow coming events, e.g. “portents” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation, similarly Balinese).

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 21:10

21:10a–b

Then He told them: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Then He told them is literally “Then he was saying to them.” Luke used this phrase to focus attention on what Jesus would say next. Some other ways to translate this are:

Then Jesus continued (God’s Word)
-or-
Then He continued by saying to them (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
Then he added (Revised English Bible)

In some languages, it is not necessary to include a phrase like this, because the same person is still speaking to the same people. Continue what Jesus said in a way that is natural in your language.

Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: There is an ellipsis here. The full form is:

Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom ⌊will rise against⌋ kingdom.

The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as will rise against is used in a figurative way. Here it means “will attack” or “will fight against.” It indicates that nations and kingdoms will attack and fight each other. Jesus implied that these attacks/wars would happen many times to many nations and kingdoms. Consider whether it is more natural in your language to use singular or plural forms.

Some ways to translate the ellipsis in this verse are:

• Repeat the same verb in both 21:10a and 21:10b. For example:

One tribe will fight with another tribe, and one kingdom will fight with another kingdom.

• Use different verbs with similar meanings in 21:10a and 21:10b. For example:

Countries will fight each other; kingdoms will attack one another. (Good News Translation)
-or-
…many towns will fight-each-other, one king opposing the other king.

• Translate “nations” and “kingdoms” as a compound subject and use one verb. For example:

Nations and kingdoms will proclaim war against each other. (New Living Translation (1996))

Translate the ellipsis in a natural way in your language.

Nation…kingdom: The Greek words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Nation and kingdom have similar meanings. See the notes on these words in 21:10a and 21:10b. In some languages it is not natural to use two different words to translate this meaning. If that is true in your language, you may use one word or phrase. For example:

⌊People of⌋ different nations/kingdoms will fight against people of other nations/kingdoms.

21:10a

Nation: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Nation refers to a country, tribe, or ethnic group. It does not refer specifically to the government of a nation. It refers to the people of one nation or tribe. In some languages it may be more natural to mention “people” in the term. For example:

People of different countries/tribes will fight/war against people of other countries/tribes.

21:10b

and kingdom against kingdom: A kingdom is the territory that a king rules. Here it refers to the people who live in the kingdom. Another way to translate 21:10b is:

and ⌊people⌋ who are ruled by one ruler/chief ⌊will fight against⌋ ⌊people⌋ who are ruled by another ruler/chief

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