Translation commentary on Luke 22:25

Exegesis:

hoi basileis tōn ethnōn kurieuousin autōn ‘the kings of the nations lord it over them.’ tōn ethnōn may refer to the nations or peoples of the world in general, or to the Gentiles as contrasted with Israel, preferably the former. The clause refers to what is considered a normal situation in the world, to which the situation of Jesus and his disciples will be contrasted in vv. 26f.

kurieuō ‘to be lord of,’ ‘to exercise lordship over,’ ‘to lord it over,’ with genitive.

hoi exousiazontes autōn euergetai kalountai ‘those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors.’

exousiazō ‘to have power, or authority over,’ with genitive.

euergetēs ‘benefactor,’ here best understood as a title which kings and princes claim for themselves. Hence kalountai is best understood as middle, ‘have themselves called,’ cf. Plummer.

Translation:

The kings of the Gentiles, preferably, “the kings of the nations”. To bring out better that the contrast is between what is customary among the nations and what should be the rule among the disciples (v. 26) one may give the prepositional phrase a more prominent position, cf. e.g. “in the world, kings…” (New English Bible).

Exercise lordship over them, or to bring out the pejorative meaning, “lord it over them”, i.e. exercise overbearing authority over them, ‘domineer/tyrannize over them.’ The pronoun is in some cases better specified, e.g. ‘their (i.e. the kings’) peoples/subjects.’

Those in authority over them, or, ‘those who have power over them,’ ‘their rulers.’

Are called benefactors, preferably, ‘have themselves called (or, want people to call them) benefactors,’ “claim the title Benefactor” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation). Some renderings of benefactor are, ‘benevolent (lit. whitehearted) Lord’ (Tae’ 1933), ‘generous one’ (Ekari), ‘doer of favours to others’ (Marathi), ‘one who causes good to happen’ (Zarma, built on an exclamation used when in trouble, ‘may God cause good to happen,’ i.e. cause it to come out well); or an equivalent complimentary title, e.g. ‘protector’ (Bahasa Indonesia RC), “Friend of the People” (Good News Translation). If such a title does not exist, or such a descriptive term cannot be easily coined, one may have to shift to, ‘want people to speak well of them’ (cf. Tzeltal), ‘want their subjects to say about them, “He does good” (cf. Kele), or, “He is benevolent/ generous” .’

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 22:25

22:25a–b

In this verse Jesus spoke about kings and other people in authority among the Gentiles. He made two parallel statements that have almost the same meaning. What Jesus said about kings in 22:25a applies also to others in authority. What he said in 22:25b about the authorities also applies to kings. One way to make this clear is to connect kings and those in authority as a compound subject. For example:

Jesus told them, “In this world the kings and great men lord it over their people, yet they are called ‘friends of the people.’” (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Jesus said to them, “The kings and others who rule on the earth, they force what they want from those they are ruling and they also want/like to be nicknamed Merciful.”

Translate the parallel statements in a clear way in your language.

22:25a

So: In Greek, this verse begins with a conjunction that is often translated as “and” or “but.” It introduces what Jesus said to the apostles about their argument. What he said contrasted with their desire to be great. The Berean Standard Bible translates this conjunction as So here, but other English versions use “But,” “Then,” “And,” or do not use a conjunction. Introduce Jesus’ response in a natural way in your language.

The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as lord it over indicates here that the Gentile kings rule their people as lords. They use their authority to control the people and demand obedience. Like the Greek verb, the English phrase lord it over them implies that they rule the people too strictly and want too much honor. Some other ways to translate this part of the verse are:

The kings of the pagans have power over their people (Good News Translation)
-or-
Among the Gentiles, their kings dominate them
-or-
The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them (Revised Standard Version)

In some languages there may be an idiom to describe this type of ruling. Translate it in a natural way in your language. This word also occurred in Mark 10:42. See how you translated it there.

the Gentiles: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the Gentiles literally means “the peoples.” The Jews used this term to refer to the other people (and nations) of the world. Here Jesus used it to refer to the peoples or nations who do not follow God. He was not focusing on the contrast between Jews and Gentiles. Some ways to translate the Gentiles in this context are:

The kings of nations (God’s Word)
-or-
Foreign kings (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
The kings of the pagans (Good News Translation)
-or-
In this world the kings (New Living Translation (2004))

22:25b

and: In Greek this verse begins with the common conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as and. It introduces a statement that is very similar to 22:25a. Use a natural way in your language to introduce a parallel statement like this. You may want to refer again to the note on 22:25a–b.

those in authority over them: The phrase those in authority over them has almost the same meaning as the phrase “lord it over them.” It refers here to leaders who have authority over people and use it to control them. It often implies the idea of ruling them harshly or oppressing them. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

enforce their authority over people
-or-
use their authority to make people obey them

call themselves benefactors: There are two ways to interpret the Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as call themselves in this context:

(1) It indicates that other people call them benefactors. For example:

are called benefactors (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
are given the title Benefactor (Revised English Bible)

(Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New Living Translation (2004), NET Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, King James Version, New American Standard Bible, English Standard Version, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

(2) It indicates that the rulers call themselves benefactors. For example:

those in authority call themselves friends of the people (God’s Word)

(Berean Standard Bible, God’s Word, New International Version, Contemporary English Version)

The Good News Translation is ambiguous. If you have to choose between the two interpretations, it is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). The Gentile rulers encouraged or required their subjects to call them benefactors. The New Century Version makes this explicit:

and those who have authority over others like to be called “friends of the people” (New Century Version)

benefactors: The title benefactors means “Doers of Good.” It implies that the leaders wanted people to praise them. They wanted people to say that they were generous and helped their people. Other ways to translate benefactors are:

Friends of the People (Good News Translation)
-or-
those who help the people
-or-
Merciful

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