Scriptures Plain & Simple (Luke 23:26-43)

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 23:26-43:

As Jesus was being led away,
some soldiers grabbed a man named Simon Cyrene,
       who was on his way home from the fields —
they put the cross on his shoulders,
       and forced him to drag it behind Jesus.

A large crowd was following along,
among them some women,
       weeping and wailing for him.

Jesus turned toward the women and said:

       “Cry for yourselves, not for me, women of Jerusalem!
       Someday everyone will agree,
              ‘It’s better to be barren than blest with children.’
       If sparks ignite so quickly when someone is innocent,
              a volcano will surely erupt when the nation rebels,
       causing people to beg for mountains and hills
              to rush to their rescue.”

Two criminals were led out to be executed with Jesus,
and when they reached the place called “Skull,”
       each of them was nailed to a cross,
              with Jesus in between.

“Father,” prayed Jesus, “forgive these people —
       they don’t know what they’re doing.”

While the crowd was stunned and staring at the spectacle,
the soldiers gambled for his garments,
       as their leaders hurled spiteful insults,
“He saved others! If he’s God’s Favorite,
       then let him save himself.”

“So you’re king of this nation,” mocked the soldiers,
       offering Jesus a goblet of wine. “Ok, save yourself!”

On the cross above Jesus was posted a sign:
       “Here Hangs Your National Hero!”

One of the dying criminals also insulted Jesus,
       “Aren’t you God’s Favorite? Save yourself and us!”

The other criminal replied with a sharp rebuttal,
“Don’t you fear God? This man’s innocent,
       but we’re guilty as sin.”
Then turning to Jesus, he said,
       “Remember me when you come into power!”

“Today you’ll be with me in paradise,”
       Jesus assured the man.

cover us

The Greek in Luke 23:30 that is translated as “they will begin to say … to the hills, ‘Cover us.’” in English is translated into Pwo Eastern Karen as “they will beg … the cliffs, ‘Please cover us with landslide.'” (Just one verb in Pwo Eastern Karen to say “cover with landslide.”)

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Luke 23:30)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, translators typically select the exclusive form (excluding the mountains and the hills).

Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.

complete verse (Luke 23:30)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 23:30:

  • Noongar: “These days, people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “At that time, people will speak to the hills like this: ‘Fall on us, hills! Cover us, stones!'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “And the people will curse themselves/wish bad for themselves they will say, ‘Why doesn’t this mountain cover me. Why doesn’t this hill cover me up.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Because at that time, the people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall down on us.’ And they will say also to the hill, ‘Cover us up.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because at that time, people will plead that the mountains will landslide in order to bury/cover them.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Because on that day, people will be ordering the mountains and hills, saying, ‘Go ahead, cave-in/landslide on us now so that we will be covered over!'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

For the Old Testament quote, see Hosea 10:8.

Translation commentary on Luke 23:30

Exegesis:

tote arxontai legein ‘then they will begin to say,’ cf. on 4.21. arxontai has here no meaning of its own and may go untranslated.

tois oresin … kai tois bounois ‘to the mountains … and to the hills,’ often occurring together as in 3.5, here, however, also personified. This personification is poetic and not mythical.

pesete eph’ hēmas … kalupsate hēmas ‘fall on us … cover us up,’ expressing either a request for protection, or the wish to be killed in order to miss the imminent terror. The latter is preferable, cf. Plummer. kaluptō, cf. on 8.16.

Translation:

If addressing mountains and hills as though they were persons is unacceptable in the receptor language, even in poetical passages, one may have to shift to something like, ‘then they will begin to say, “We should be better as dead as people are when mountains have fallen upon them and hills are covering them” .’

For mountains and hills see on 3.5.

Fall on. A literal rendering may not fit this context; hence e.g. ‘collapse-on’ (Javanese), ‘crash-down hitting’ (Bahasa Indonesia RC), ‘lie-down-on-top-of’ (Tae’), ‘press-down-upon’ (Toraja-Sa’dan); or shifting from the process to its result, ‘put an end to’ (Tzeltal).

Cover, here in the sense of, ‘pile up over,’ ‘form a heap over,’ ‘bury.’

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 23:30

23:30

This verse has parallel parts. Parts a–b and c–d have the same meaning:

aAt that time they will say to the mountains,

b“Fall on us!”

cand to the hills,

d“Cover us!”

In some languages it may be more natural to combine the parallel parts so that the introductions and the two quotations are combined. For example:

a,cThen they will say to the mountains and hills, b,d“Fall on us and cover us!”
-or-
At that time, people will speak to the hills like this: “Fall on us, hills! Cover us, stones!”

23:30a–b

At that time ‘they will say…’: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as At that time ‘they will say is literally “Then they will begin to say.” Scholars are not sure what the word “begin” adds to the meaning of the verb say here. It probably emphasizes the coming time to which the phrase At that time refers. For example:

That will be the time when people will say (Good News Translation)
-or-
At that time everyone will say (Contemporary English Version)

Some English versions do not translate the word “begin.” Do what is natural here in your language.

At that time: The phrase At that time introduces a quotation from Hosea 10:8 in the Old Testament. In some languages it may be helpful to introduce this quotation more explicitly. For example:

At that time, ⌊as the Scripture says/prophecies⌋
-or-
Then ⌊it will happen as a prophet wrote in God’s Word⌋

The Berean Standard Bible marks this quotation with single quote marks (‘…’) beginning in 23:30a and ending in 20:30d. You should mark this quotation in the same way as you mark other quotations from the Old Testament in your translation. You may also include a footnote or cross reference.

they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”: Here Jesus predicted what the people will wish for in the future time of trouble. They will wish that the mountains and hills will fall on them. Some ways to translate the wish are:

• As direct speech:

they will beg the mountains, “Fall on us!”
-or-
they will call out to the mountains, “Fall on us!”

• As indirect speech:

they will beg the mountains to fall on them

• As a wish or hope:

they will wish/hope that the mountains would fall on them

Translate the wish in a natural way in your language.

they: The word they is used in the same way as the word “people” in 23:29b. It refers to people in general, especially the people in Jerusalem. You can translate it here in the same way or a similar way as you translated “people” in 23:29b.

23:30b

Fall on us!: The clause Fall on us! probably indicates that people will wish that the dirt or stones of the mountains would come down on them and kill them. It implies that people will suffer so terribly that they will wish that they could die. If the mountains fell on them, they would die quickly. They would not have to endure the terrible sufferings of that time.

In some languages people do not speak of mountains “falling.” If that is true in your language, describe it in natural way in your language. Some ways to do this are:

will plead that the mountains will landslide in order to bury/cover them
-or-
will say, “Why doesn’t this mountain cover me?”

23:30c–d

and to the hills, “Cover us!”: There is an ellipsis here. The full form is, “and they will say to the hills, ‘Cover us.’” It has almost the same meaning as the wish in 23:30a–b. The difference between hills and “mountains” is only that hills are smaller than mountains. If the hills covered the people, they would be buried alive and die. Another way to translate 23:30c–d is:

And they will say also to the hill, “Cover us up.”

As in 23:30a–b, Jesus predicted what the people will wish in the future. You may translate this part of the verse in a similar way as you did there. See the note on “they will say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’” at 23:30a–b for translation suggestions.

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