In American Sign Language it is translated with the sign for “government/governor” plus the sign for “P” with a circular movement. The reference to government indicates Pilate’s position of authority in the Roman Empire. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Pilate” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
The Greek that is transliterated as “Herod (Antipas)” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign for king and and a sign depicting cutting off the head (of John the Baptist), referring to Matthew 14:10 et al. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 23:12:
Noongar: “This day, Herod and Pilate became friends. Before, the two had been enemies.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “On that day Herodes and Pilatus made-peace, whereas before they disagreed.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “That day Pilatus and Herod became friends. Formerly they had been enemies hep.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And this was the day for Pilate and Herod to become friends, because before this they were not peaceful toward each other.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Starting from that day, Herod and Pilato in-contrast-to-the-previous-situation became-friends, because originally they had a quarrel back before.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “That very day, Herodes and Pilato were reconciled, who had formerly been opponents.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Latin that is translated as “enemy” or “foe” in English is translated in the HausaCommon Language Bible as “friends of front,” i.e., the person standing opposite you in a battle. (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
In North Alaskan Inupiatun it is translated with a term that implies that it’s not just someone who hates you, but one who wants to do you harm (Source: Robert Bascom), in Tarok as ukpa ìkum or “companion in war/fighting,” and in Ikwere as nye irno m or “person who hates me” (source for this and one above: Chuck and Karen Tessaro in this newsletter ).
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.
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®).
egenonto de philoi … met’ allēlōn ‘(they) became friends with one another.’ met’ allēlōn, which is virtually redundant semantically, is best understood as strengthening philoi.
en autē tē hēmera ‘that very day.’
proupērchon gar en echthra ontes pros hautous ‘for previously they were at enmity between themselves.’
prouparchō ‘to exist before,’ here virtually an auxiliary verb denoting that the event or situation to which the following participle refers, happened in the past.
echthra ‘enmity.’
Translation:
Became friends with each other, or, ‘became friends,’ or, ‘they came to like (or, to be on good terms with) each other.’
For introduces explanatory matter, not cause or reason, and must therefore not be rendered literally, cf. “… became friends; they had been enemies before this” (Good News Translation), “Herod and Pilate, who had been at enmity, …” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation), H. et P. devinrent amis, d’ennemis qu’ils étaient auparavant (Bible de Jérusalem), ‘whereas before the two had been each other’s enemy’ (Bahasa Indonesia).
They had been at enmity with each other, or, ‘they had been enemies’ (cf. on 1.71), ‘they had not liked each other,’ etc., the opposite of the preceding clause. Both ‘to be friends’ and ‘to be enemies’ indicate a reciprocal relationship; hence they are often rendered by reciprocal verbal forms, e.g. in Balinese, Toraja-Sa’dan.
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.
That day Herod and Pilate became friends; before this time they had been enemies: This verse tells about a change in the way Herod and Pilate acted toward each other. Before Herod and Pilate had to judge Jesus, they were enemies. They did not cooperate with each other. After Herod returned Jesus to Pilate for judgment, Pilate and Herod became friends. The clause in 23:12a is the result of what happened on That day when Herod sent Jesus back to Pilate (23:11d).
Some other ways to translate this connection are:
So Herod and Pilate became friends that day. They had been enemies before this. (God’s Word) -or-
That same day Herod and Pilate became friends, even though they had been enemies before this. (Contemporary English Version) -or-
On that day Herodes and Pilatus made peace, whereas before they disagreed.
In some languages it may be more natural to change the order of clauses in this verse. See the General Comment on 23:12a–b below for an example.
23:12a
That day: The phrase That day refers to the day when Herod sent Jesus back to Pilate. In this verse the phrase is emphatic. Some ways to translate the emphasis in English are:
On that very day (Good News Translation) -or-
That same day (Contemporary English Version)
Refer to that day in a natural way in your language.
became friends: Here the word friends is used about political rulers. In that context, friends refers to rulers who cooperate with each other as they rule their people. It does not refer to people who like each other and help each other in private ways. Some ways to translate became friends in this context are:
became allies -or-
were reconciled -or-
began to cooperate with each other
23:12b
before this time: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as before this literally means “previously.” It refers to the time before Herod sent Jesus back to Pilate. Refer to that previous time in a natural way in your language.
they had been enemies: In this context the word enemies refers to rulers who do not cooperate with each other. They oppose each other because of political reasons. The word does not imply that Herod and Pilate were at war. It also does not imply that they wanted to kill each other or hurt each other physically or by spiritual means.
Use a natural way in your language to refer to a political rival. Some ways to do this in English are:
they opposed each other -or-
they were ⌊political⌋ rivals -or-
they were not peaceful toward each other
General Comment on 23:12a–b
In some languages it may be necessary to reverse the order of 23:12a and 23:12b. For example:
23bAnd though Herod and Pilate had been enemies before, 12athey were reconciled that same day. (New Jerusalem Bible) -or-
12bIn the past, Pilate and Herod had always been enemies, 12abut on that day they became friends. (New Century Version)
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