ἀλλὰ καὶ γυναῖκές τινες ἐξ ἡμῶν ἐξέστησαν ἡμᾶς, γενόμεναι ὀρθριναὶ ἐπὶ τὸ μνημεῖον,
22Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning,
In Gbaya, the notion of early morning is emphasized with the ideophone sút as in the referenced verses.
Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)
The Greek that is translated as “astonished” or “amazed” or “marvel” in English is translated in Pwo Karen as “stand up very tall.” (In John 5:20, source: David Clark)
Elsewhere it is translated as “confusing the inside of the head” (Mende), “shiver in the liver” (Uduk, Laka), “to lose one’s heart” (Mískito, Tzotzil), “to shake” (Southern Bobo Madaré), “to be with mouth open” (Panao Huánuco Quechua) (source: Bratcher / Nida), “to stand with your mouth open” (Citak) (source: Stringer 2007, p. 120), “ceasing to think with the heart” (Bulu), “surprise in the heart” (Yamba) (source for this and one above: W. Reyburn in The Bible Translator 1959, p. 1ff. ), or “have one’s mouth full” (Maan (source: Don Slager).
In Mark 5:20 and elsewhere where the astonishment is a response to listening to Jesus, the translation is “listen quietly” in Central Tarahumara, “forget listening” (because they were so absorbed in what they heard that they forgot everything else) in San Miguel El Grande Mixtec, “it was considered very strange by them” in Tzeltal (source: Bratcher / Nida), “in glad amazement” (to distinguish it from other kinds of amazement) (Quetzaltepec Mixe) (source: Robert Bascom), or “breath evaporated (or “escaped”)” (Mairasi) (source: Enngavoter 2004).
In Western Dani astonishment is emphasized with direct speech. In Mark 1:22, for instance, it says: “Wi!” yinuk, pi wareegwaarak — “They were all amazed, saying ‘Oh'” (source: Lourens De Vries in The Bible Translator 1992, p. 333ff. )
In Low German it is translated as grote Oken maken or “make big eyes” (sometime followed by: un kreegn dat Stillswiegen: “and became silent”) (translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006).
In the Kölsch translation (Boch 2017) it is translated as brummte de Lück de Kopp or “the heads of the people buzzed,” Bauklötz jestaunt, lit. “marvel toy blocks,” and vür Staune de Muhl nit mieh zojekräch or “so full of marvel that they couldn’t close their mouths again.”
In the Pfälzisch translation by Walter Sauer (publ. 2012) it is often translated as baff vor staune or “speechless because of their marvel.” (Source: Jost Zetzsche)
See also amazed and astonished, astonished (Mark 6:51), and I’m astonished.
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 Jesus).
Source: SIL International Translation Department (1999).
Following is a contemporary Ukrainian Orthodox icon of Christ as the grapevine by Khrystyna Kvyk.
Orthodox Icons are not drawings or creations of imagination. They are in fact writings of things not of this world. Icons can represent our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. They can also represent the Holy Trinity, Angels, the Heavenly hosts, and even events. Orthodox icons, unlike Western pictures, change the perspective and form of the image so that it is not naturalistic. This is done so that we can look beyond appearances of the world, and instead look to the spiritual truth of the holy person or event. (Source )
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 24:22:
Exegesis:
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.
24:22a
Furthermore: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Furthermore introduces another event that caused the disciples to become more confused than they were before. The phrase continues the thought from 24:21c. “Not only was it three days since those things happened, but also….” Connect this verse to 24:21 in a natural way in your language. In some languages a conjunction is not needed.
Some other ways to introduce it in English are:
and now (Revised English Bible)
-or-
Furthermore (NET Bible)
-or-
Then (New Living Translation (2004))
some of our women astounded us: The disciples were amazed as a result of the news that the women told them in 24:23. The disciples were not surprised that the women went to the tomb (24:22b). Be sure to make this connection clear in your language.
Some other ways to translate this clause are:
Some women in our group told us amazing things.
-or-
And we were amazed earlier this morning because of what some women among us said.
In some languages it is necessary to translate the order of events in this verse in a different way. See the General Comment on 24:22a–b below. In other languages it may be helpful to combine 24:22–23 to translate the events in the order that they happened. See the General Comment on 24:22–23 at the end of 24:23b–c for examples.
some of our women: The phrase some of our women refers to some women from the group of Jesus’ followers. The word our does not include Jesus. Other ways to translate the phrase are:
Some of the women in our(excl) group
-or-
some women among us (New American Standard Bible)
24:22b
They were at the tomb early this morning: The women went to the tomb around dawn on Sunday morning. The two disciples were talking to Jesus in the late afternoon of that same day.
Some other ways to translate this part of the verse are:
they went at dawn to the tomb (Good News Translation)
-or-
They were at the tomb early this morning (NET Bible)
General Comment on 24:22a–b
In some languages it may be more natural to translate the order of clauses in this verse in a different way. For example:
22bThen some women from our group of his followers were at his tomb early this morning, 22aand they came back with an amazing report. (New Living Translation (2004))
Translate the events in a natural order in your language.
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