Translation commentary on Luke 21:4

Exegesis:

ek tou perisseuontos autois ‘out of what is present for them in abundance,’ i.e. ‘out of their abundance.’ The phrase may be interpreted as a periphrasis for the partitive genitive, ‘part of their abundance,’ or as indicating the source from which their gifts come, preferably the latter. This applies also to ek tou husterēmatos autēs, see below.

ebalon eis ta dōra lit. ‘(they) put into the gifts,’ i.e. the gifts that were already in the treasury.

ek tou husterēmatos autēs ‘out of her want.’

husterēma lit. ‘that which is lacking,’ hence, ‘want,’ ‘need,’ ‘poverty.’

panta ton bion hon eichen ebalen ‘(she) has put in (i.e. into the gifts, with eis ta dōra understood) all the means of subsistence/livelihood she has.’ For bios in this meaning cf. on 8.43.

Translation:

Contributed, more lit. ‘put/threw into the gifts,’ using the verb with a more generic meaning than in vv. 1ff. This results in renderings like, ‘added to the offerings’ (Toraja-Sa’dan), ‘gave as their share of the gifts, or, the gifts to God.’ An object may be required: ‘something,’ ‘(some) money.’

Out of their abundance, or, ‘(taking it) from their surplus (lit. more-ness)’ (cf. Javanese), ‘(out) of their left-over money’ (cf. Tzeltal), ‘(which came) from what they had to spare’ (cf. An American Translation), or with a further shift, ‘money they did not need.’ It may be preferable to give the phrase a different position and construction, cf. e.g. “all of these have more than they need, and they contributed from that” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation), “those others who have given had more than enough” (New English Bible).

The syntactic structure of the second part of the verse should parallel that of the first part as closely as possible, cf. the examples in the following two entries.

Out of her poverty, or, ‘(taking it) from her shortage/need (lit. less-ness)’ (cf. Javanese), ‘from what she had not to spare,’ ‘money she needed,’ ‘(though) she has less than she needs,’ etc.

Put in, preferably a rendering which (partly) echoes that of “contributed”, e.g. ‘added (to the offerings),’ ‘gave as her share (of the gifts),’ etc.

All the living that she had, or, ‘all she had to live on,’ ‘her all, even that too on which she depended’ (Kele), ‘what she intended to buy food with’ (Tzeltal).

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 21:4

21:4a

For: This verse explains what Jesus said in 21:3b. In Greek it begins with a conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as For. In some languages this connection may be implied without a conjunction. For example:

All these people… (New International Version)

Use a natural way in your language to indicate that 21:4 is an explanation for 21:3.

they all: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as they all refers back to “all the others” in 21:3b. These others were the rich people who were giving gifts of money to God. The phrase they all contrasts with the widow in 21:4b. It does not include her. Some other ways to translate the phrase are:

Everyone else (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
All these people (New International Version)

Be sure that the contrast with the widow is clear in your translation.

contributed out of their surplus: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as surplus means “more than enough.” It indicates here that the rich people had more than enough money. The clause indicates that after they gave some money to God, they still had plenty of money to use for whatever they wanted. Other ways to say this are:

have given a tiny part of their surplus (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
have given had more than enough (Revised English Bible)

contributed: The word contributed refers here to the act of giving the money that the rich people put into the temple treasury as offerings. Refer to them in a natural way in your language.

In some languages it may not be necessary to include this phrase, because it is implied in the context. For example:

for those others who have given had more than enough (Revised English Bible)

21:4b

but she out of her poverty: The word she refers to the widow in contrast to the rich people. The phrase her poverty contrasts with the “surplus” of the rich people.

The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as out of her poverty is literally “out of her lack.” It indicates that the widow did not have enough money to buy what she really needed. It is good to use a phrase that contrasts with the wealth of the other people who gave.

Some other ways to translate but she out of her poverty are:

but although she is so needy, she gave
-or-
but she has less than she needs, yet she gave
-or-
This woman is very poor, but she gave (New Century Version)

has put in: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as has put in is the same verb that it translated as “contributed” in 21:4a. In this context it refers to giving the offering, specifically to dropping it into the offering box. In some languages it may be helpful to use the same verb in both clauses to make the contrast clear.

all she had to live on: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as all she had to live on refers to the money that the widow could have used to buy food. She needed that money to survive, but she gave it all as an offering. She had nothing left to buy the things that she needed. Some other ways to translate this are:

all the money that she had, though she needed it to survive/live
-or-
all the living that she had (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
everything she had to live on (God’s Word)

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