Translation commentary on Luke 24:12

Exegesis:

parakupsas blepei ta othonia mona ‘stooping down he saw only the linen clothes.’ mona may be taken as predicate (cf. Revised Standard Version, Phillips) or as attributive to othonia, ‘the clothes alone,’ i.e. ‘only the clothes’ (cf. Translator’s New Testament, Good News Translation). The latter is preferable.

parakuptō ‘to stoop down,’ ‘to peer in.’

othonion ‘linen cloth,’ ‘bandage,’ used in preparing a corpse for burial.

pros heauton thaumazōn to gegonos ‘wondering in himself (at) that which had happened.’ pros heauton may go with apēlthen, or with thaumazōn, preferably the latter.

Translation:

Stooping and looking in, he saw, or, ‘when he stooped to look (or, when he peered in), he saw/noticed.’

The linen cloths by themselves, preferably, ‘only the linen cloths,’ “nothing but the linen wrappings/clothes” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation, Translator’s New Testament), ‘the linen bandages and nothing else.’ — The linen cloths refers to what in 23.53 is called “a linen shroud”.

He went home wondering, preferably, ‘he went away wondering in himself’ (Nieuwe Vertaling). The qualification ‘in himself’ is redundant; it should not be rendered where idiom is against it. For wondering see on 1.21.

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 24:12

24:12

There is a textual issue concerning this verse:

(1) Some Greek manuscripts include this verse.

(Berean Standard Bible, King James Version, New American Standard Bible, New Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, NET Bible, God’s Word, New Living Translation (2004), Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version, English Standard Version, New International Version, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

(2) Other Greek manuscripts do not include this verse.

(Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible)

It is strongly recommended that you follow option (1) and include this verse. It is present in the great majority of Greek manuscripts and English versions.

24:12a

Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb: This clause tells what Peter did in contrast to the other apostles. Because of what the women said, Peter decided to go to the tomb himself. Translate the contrast in a natural way in your language.

Peter…got up and ran to the tomb: This clause indicates that Peter was so eager to see what had happened that he ran to the tomb. The phrase got up is implied in the action ran, and some English versions do not translate it. In Greek it adds emphasis to Peter’s eagerness. Express his eagerness in a natural way in your language.

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

However, Peter jumped up and ran to the tomb to look. (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
But Peter ran to the tomb. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
But as for Peter, he left quickly and hurried to the tomb to look.

24:12b–c

This part of the verse tells what Peter did when he arrived at the tomb. In some languages it may be necessary to say that he arrived there. For example:

When he arrived
-or-
There

after bending down: The phrase bending down implies that Peter bent or stooped down in order to see into the tomb. The opening was probably not as tall as an ordinary door. In some languages it may be necessary to make the purpose for bending explicit. For example:

Peter bent down ⌊to look inside the tomb⌋.
-or-
Stooping ⌊to look into the tomb⌋

and seeing only the linen cloths: The phrase the linen cloths refers to the linen cloths that people had wrapped around Jesus’ body. These cloths were still there in the tomb, but they were alone. Jesus’ body was not there.

These cloths were mentioned in 23:53b. In that verse a different, singular word is used, but it refers to the same linen cloth. Refer to the cloths here in a way that indicates that they were mentioned earlier. For example:

he saw only the cloth that Jesus’ body had been wrapped in (New Century Version)
-or-
saw only the strips of linen (God’s Word)
-or-
saw the empty linen wrappings (New Living Translation (2004))

24:12d

he went away, wondering to himself what had happened: There are two ways to interpret the Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as to himself in this context:

(1) It goes with the verb went away and implies that he went home (or to where he was staying in Jerusalem). For example:

Then he went back home amazed at what had happened. (Good News Translation)

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

(2) It goes with the word wondering and is redundant. It may emphasize his amazement. For example:

and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened (New International Version)

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, King James Version, possibly Contemporary English Version and God’s Word, which do not translate the phrase)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with most English versions. This interpretation also fits with the parallel verse in John 20:10, which says that the Peter (and John) went back home.

wondering…what had happened: The phrase wondering…what had happened indicates that Peter was amazed that the tomb was empty. He was also amazed that the linen cloths that wrapped Jesus’ body were lying empty. He did not know what had happened to cause that. This seems to imply that Peter did not yet believe that Jesus was alive again. The phrase probably implies that Peter kept thinking about what could have happened. Some ways to translate the phrase are:

amazed at what had happened (Good News Translation)
-or-
he really wondered about the happenings

In some languages there may be an idiom to describe this type of wondering. For example:

searching and searching in his mind as to what had happened

In some languages it may be necessary to make explicit what Peter was wondering about. For example:

very surprised, wondering why the body of Jesus was not there

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