complete verse (Luke 23:7)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 23:7:

  • Noongar: “When he heard that Jesus was Galilean, the place where Herod was ruler, Pilate sent Jesus to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “They answered: ‘Yes, he is a Galilea person.’ Hearing that, Pilatus ordered people to take Yesus to King Herodes, because Herodes was the ruler of the land of Galilea. And at that time, Herodes also was in Yerusalem.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “‘Yes,’ they said. When Pilatus knew that Isa was from a place under the kingship of Herod, he commanded Isa to be brought to King Herod, for during that time he was there in Awrusalam.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And the answered, ‘Yes, he is a Galilean.’ And when he knew that Jesus was a subject of the province ruled over by Herod, he sent Jesus to Herod, because it happened that Herod was also in Jerusalem at that time.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “When he found-out that Jesus was from Galilea where Herod ruled, he had-Jesus -escorted to him, because it coincided that Herod was in Jerusalem in those days.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well, now that Pilato knew that he was from the district ruled by king Herodes, without anything further, he sent Jesus to him, because at that time Herodes was also there in Jerusalem.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Scriptures Plain & Simple (Luke 23:6-12)

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 23:6-12:

Galilee was the magic word,
       and since Herod was governor of Galilee,
Pilate decided to send Jesus to Herod,
       who was in Jerusalem at the time.

For some while, Herod had wanted to meet Jesus,
       and he was really pleased to have this chance.
Maybe Jesus would even work a miracle for him!

Herod questioned Jesus intensely,
       but received no answers.
So the priests and professors of religion arose,
       accusing Jesus of all kinds of crimes.

Herod and his soldiers made insulting remarks against Jesus,
then placed an expensive robe on him
       and sent him back to Pilate.
Although Herod and Pilate
had formerly been fierce enemies,
       they now became very good friends.

Translation commentary on Luke 23:7

Exegesis:

epignous ‘when he learned,’ ‘when he discovered.’

hoti ek tēs exousias Hērōdou estin ‘that he was from the region ruled by Herod.’ exousia lit. ‘authority,’ means here, ‘area, or region of rule,’ cf. on 4.6.

anepempsen auton pros Hērōdēn ‘he sent him up to Herod.’

anapempō ‘to send up,’ to a higher authority, ‘to send on,’ to the proper authority (here), or ‘to send back’ (vv. 11 and 15).

onta kai auton en Hierosolumois ‘who himself was also in Jerusalem,’ going with Hērōdēn, implying that for Pilate too Jerusalem was not his customary place of residence.

en tautais tais hēmerais ‘in those days,’ best understood as referring to the time of the feast.

Translation:

For learned see on 7.37.

He belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, or, ‘he was from the country that was ruled by H.’ (Shona 1963), ‘he had come from where H. was the ruler’ (Tzeltal), ‘Jesus was-subject to (lit. was-governed by) H.’ (Balinese), ‘he was a person of H.’s area of responsibility (lit. watched place)’ (Ekari), ‘he originated from H.’s holding’ (Fulah).

Sent him over to Herod, preferably, ‘sent him on to H.,’ ‘sent him to his presence’ (Tzeltal), ‘had him taken to have his case heard by H.’ (Shona 1966), ‘ordered to bring him to H.’ (cf. Toraja-Sa’dan).

Who was himself in Jerusalem, or, since it gives the reason of what precedes, ‘for Herod was himself also/likewise staying in Jerusalem.’

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 23:7

23:7a

And learning that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction: Two important facts are implied in 23:7a:

(a) The Jewish leaders answered Pilate’s question and affirmed that Jesus was a Galilean.

(b) The ruler of Galilee, Herod, had authority (jurisdiction) over Jesus because Jesus was from Galilee.

In some languages it may be necessary to make one or both of these facts explicit. If this is true in your language, remember that Pilate learned only fact (a) from the council members. He learned that Jesus was a Galilean. Pilate already knew that Herod was the ruler of Galilee.

One way to make the information explicit is:

Pilate learned ⌊from them⌋ that Jesus was ⌊indeed a Galilean. As a Galilean,⌋ he was under the jurisdiction of ⌊Ruler⌋ Herod. So…

For another way of supplying this information, see the General Comment on 23:7a–b below.

And learning: In this context the word learning implies that people told Pilate the answer to his question. He did not learn about it from studying. Probably the Jewish leaders answered his question and told Pilate that Jesus was a Galilean. Some other ways to translate this are:

When they said that he was (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
When Pilate knew/discovered that Jesus was

Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Herod’s jurisdiction refers here to the area and people that Herod had authority to rule. Some other ways to translate the clause Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction are:

Jesus was from the region ruled by Herod (Good News Translation)
-or-
Jesus was under Herod’s authority (New Century Version)

Herod’s: The name Herod refers here to Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee. He was mentioned in 3:1, where the Berean Standard Bible translates his title literally as “tetrarch.” He was not the same Herod as King Herod in Matthew 2:1. If you need to supply a title for Herod, some suggestions are:

Governor Herod
-or-
Ruler Herod

23:7b

he sent Him to Herod: The clause he sent Him to Herod indicates that Pilate sent Jesus to be judged by Ruler Herod. It implies that Pilate told his soldiers to take Jesus to Herod. Some other ways to translate this clause are:

he commanded Isa to be brought to King Herod
-or-
Pilatus ordered people to take Yesus to…Herodes

General Comment on 23:7a–b

In some languages it may be helpful to change the order of information in this verse. For example:

7aWhen they answered that he was, 7bPilate sent him to Herod Antipas, 7abecause Galilee was under Herod’s jurisdiction (New Living Translation (1996))

23:7c

who himself was in Jerusalem at that time: This clause implies that both Herod and Pilate had come to Jerusalem from other places. Neither Herod nor Pilate normally lived in Jerusalem. They had come there for a short time, maybe because of the Passover Feast. However, each of them had a big palace in Jerusalem. Other ways to translate the clause are:

during that time he was also there in Jerusalem
-or-
it happened that Herod was also in Jerusalem then

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