Housed in the Société des Auxiliaires des Missions Collection – Whitworth University
Image taken from Chinese Christian Posters . For more information on the “Ars Sacra Pekinensis” school of art, see this article , for other artworks of that school in TIPs, see here.
Following is an artwork by Sister Marie Claire , SMMI (1937–2018) from Bengaluru, India:
For more information about images by Sister Marie Claire and ways to purchase them as lithographs, see here . For other images of Sister Marie Claire paintings in TIPs, see here.
The Greek Luke 2:3 that is translated as “(his) own city” in English is translated in Batak Toba as “his clan-origin” or literally “the trunk of his nangka-tree” (the strong, but slow-growing nangka or jackfruit tree is being used metaphorically of the compound of a well-to-do family which remained in the same village for generations).
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 2:3:
Noongar: “All the people went to their own town, their ancestors’ town. There, they wrote their names on the paper.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “All people went requesting their names to be written, each to the town of their parents.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “For that reason all people went back to the place of their ancestors to register.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And in the census it was necessary that each person be registered in the village of his ancestors.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “So each one (lit. one and one) went to the town of his ancestors to go register there.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Therefore all the people went to whichever town was the town of their parents/ancestors, to be censused there.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Central Tunebo: (verses 3-5) “Everyone went to his own city to be counted. Joseph also went to be counted. Joseph was from the land of Galilee. He was from the city of Nazareth. Joseph’s grandfather is David. He is David’s relative. As a result he went to David’s city to be counted. He went to Bethlehem to be counted. In the city of Bethlehem. He went with Mary. Joseph would soon marry Mary. Mary was pregnant. They went together, with Mary.” (“The typical narrative text in Tunebo introduces 3 or 4 information bits in the first sentence. This includes the predicate and subject and, where appropriate, the object. A locative element is quite often introduced, too. From there, new information bearing on the stage or opening event is introduced, usually at the rate of one new bit per sentence, keeping the main verb constant.” Source: Edna Headland in Notes on Translation, 58/1975, pp. 2ff.)
Illustration by Horst Lemke (1922-1985) for the GermanGute Nachricht für Sie – NT68, one of the first editions of the Good News Bible in German of 1968. Lemke was a well-known illustrator who illustrated books by Erich Kästner , Astrid Lindgren and many others.
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
kai eporeuonto pantes apographesthai ‘and all went to have themselves registered’; kai connects the clause with v. 1 and this connexion makes of v. 2 a parenthesis (cf. Moffatt, Twentieth Century New Testament).
pantes ‘all people concerned,’ viewed in their totality; as compared with pantes the subsequent hekastos (in the singular), being a distributive pronoun, refers to the individual members of that totality.
apographesthai ‘in order to be registered,’ final infinitive, cf. on v. 1.
hekastos eis tēn heautou polin ‘each to his own town’; there is no need to translate ‘the town of his birth,’ because one could have a claim to landed property in a place other than one’s birthplace.
Translation:
Because of the parenthetical character of v. 2 it may be preferable to specify the transition and/or the subject, e.g. ‘therefore,’ ‘because of that decree/command,’ and/or, ‘all people (there),’ ‘all the inhabitants.’
Went, or, ‘set out’ (Zürcher Bibel), “made their way” (New English Bible), ‘rose to journey’ (Sranan Tongo), indicating the general upheaval, the next clause indicating the individual directions. Since the journey is to the people’s places of origin idiom may require ‘to go home’ (Balinese), ‘to go back’ (Bahasa Indonesia).
His own city, or, ‘his settlement of origin’ (Malay), ‘the settlement of his ancestors’ (Tae’; properly the term refers to the settlement of female ancestors, the traditional Toradja marriage being matrilocal), ‘his ancestral-house,’ lit. ‘his seat’ (Toraja-Sa’dan), ‘his clan-origin,’ lit. ‘the trunk of his nangka-tree’ (Batak Toba, the strong, but slow growing nangka, or Jack-fruit, tree being used metaphorically of the compound of a well-to-do family which remained in the same village for generations).
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.
alla kai lit. ‘but (in spite of this,) also,’ here expressing strong contrast with what precedes, ‘yet despite this.’
gunaikes tines ex hēmōn exestēsan hēmas ‘some women of our group have astounded us.’ ex hēmōn ‘of our group’ implies a wider reference for hēmōn than the speaker and his friend, i.e. the followers of Jesus in general. As for the punctuation cf. GOOD NEWS BIBLE. A major punctuation after hēmas is preferable.
existēmi lit. ‘to drive out of one’s senses,’ hence ‘to confuse,’ ‘to astound.’
genomenai orthrinai epi to mnēmeion ‘when they went early/at dawn to the tomb.’ ginomai epi with accusative implies the idea of motion. orthrinai is an adjective going with the subject of the clause but serves to indicate the time of the event denoted by genomenai … epi to mnēmeion and hence to be rendered as an adverb, ‘early,’ ‘at dawn’ (cf. orthros in v. 1).
(V. 23) kai mē heurousai to sōma auton ‘and when they did not find his body,’ continuing the preceding participial clause and carrying the main semantic weight: the fact that they did not find the body made them go back. For to sōma cf. on 17.37.
ēlthon legousai kai optasian aggelōn heōrakenai ‘they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels.’ ēlthon means ‘they came to us, or, to our group.’ kai may mean ‘actually,’ or ‘also,’ i.e. besides the fact that they did not find the body. The latter is preferable. For optasia cf. on 1.22. aggelōn is genitive of content.
hoi legousin auton zēn ‘who said that he lives, or, is alive.’
Translation:
Moreover, preferably, “yet there is this” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation), ‘nevertheless,’ ‘true enough’ (Bible de Jérusalem).
Some women of our company is rendered variously, e.g. ‘some women among (or, out of) us’ (e.g. in Trukese, Marathi), ‘some women our companions/associates’ (Sundanese, Toraja-Sa’dan), ‘two or three of our women’ (Tzeltal), but one may have to be more explicit, e.g. ‘some women who are (Jesus’) followers like us.’
Amazed us, or, ‘confused/alarmed/startled us,’ or, a causative form or phrase built on one of the more forceful expressions for ‘amazement’ or ‘wonder’ (mentioned in the note on 1.21).
They were at … (v. 23) and did not find…; and they came …, or, ‘they went to … but did not (emphatic) find…, therefore/thereupon they came….’
That they had … seen a vision of angels, or, ‘that they had seen a vision, or, a (supernatural) appearance, namely angels,’ ‘that they saw (supernatural) things, that is to say, angels’ (Sranan Tongo), ‘that they saw something which appeared to them: some angels (lit. people of heaven)’ (Trukese); or with further shifts, ‘that they had seen angels showing-themselves’ (Sundanese), ‘we clearly saw angels,’ implying that something normally invisible is revealed (Ekari). For see a vision cf. on 1.22.
Who said …, often as a new sentence, cf. ‘and these (angels) said’ (Sranan Tongo, Marathi, Ekari).
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.
And This verse begins with a Greek conjunction that introduces more information about the census that Caesar ordered in 2:1. To show that people going to their own towns to register was the next thing that happened after Caesar ordered a census, the Berean Standard Bible translates this conjunction as And. Caesar had ordered people to go to the town where their ancestors had lived in order for officials to register them. Then the officials could write each person’s name as being from that place. Here are some other ways to connect this verse to the context:
• Use a general way to connect events in your language, as the Berean Standard Bible does. The Greek text uses the common connector that is often translated as “And.” For example:
And all went to their own towns to be registered. (New Century Version)
• Some versions do not use a connector. For example:
Everyone went to his own town to be registered. (NET Bible)
• Make it explicit that this verse is a result of 2:1. For example:
Because of this law/order, everyone went to his own town to register.
Connect this verse to the context in a natural way in your language.
everyone went to his own town: This clause describes what Caesar required people to do. The Greek verb form that the Berean Standard Bible translates as went indicates that this action happened over a period of time. People were going to their own towns to be registered. Some other ways to translate this are:
And everyone was on his way…each to his own city. (New American Standard Bible) -or-
Everyone had to go to their own hometown (Contemporary English Version)
his own town: In this context, the phrase his own town refers to the town where his ancestors had lived. This may not be the town or area where the person was born. It also may not be the town where he was then living. Some other ways to translate this are:
the cities where their ancestors had lived (God’s Word) -or-
their own ancestral towns (New Living Translation (2004))
to register: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as to register is the same word as in 2:1b. There the Berean Standard Bible translates this word as “census.” As in 2:1b, it means “to register” or “to enroll.” The emperor ordered people to tell officials their names so that the officials could write them in the government’s record book.
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