Translation commentary on Luke 24:29

Exegesis:

kai parebiasanto auton legontes ‘and they urged him strongly saying.’ parebiasanto qualifies legontes, i.e. the urging is not denoted by the meaning of the words but by the way in which they are spoken.

parabiazomai ‘to urge strongly,’ ‘to press,’ here of moral pressure.

meinon meth’ hēmōn ‘stay with us.’ For menō meaning ‘to stay overnight as a guest,’ presumably in the house of one of them, cf. on 19.5.

pros hesperan estin lit. ‘it is toward evening,’ hence, ‘it is getting toward evening,’ or, ‘it is almost evening.’ hespera.

kekliken ēdē hē hēmera ‘the day is already almost over,’ cf. on 9.12.

kai eisēlthen tou meinai sun autois ‘and he went in (the house) in order to stay with them.’ tou meinai is final articular infinitive.

Translation:

They constrained him, or, ‘they (or, the two men) urged him strongly/invited him earnestly’; or, specifying their intent, “they urged him not to” (An American Translation) “they held him back” (Good News Translation, similarly Kilega, Javanese), ‘they didn’t allow him to go on’ (Tzeltal).

With us, or, ‘in our (exclus.) company’; or, if a locative qualification is required, ‘in the house we (exclus.) are lodging in (or, going to),’ or simply, ‘here’ (Balinese).

It is toward evening and the day is now far spent, or, ‘night is coming, day has already passed’ (Sranan Tongo), ‘it is already evening, the world is dark already’ (Medumba). For the second clause see also on “the day began to wear away” in 9.12. The two clauses are so closely synonymous that the translator may have to combine them in order to avoid a tautology, cf. e.g. ‘nearly dark is the day’ (Batak Toba 1885), ‘the day is already evening, is already dark’ (Kilega).

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 24:29

24:29a–b

But: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as But is often translated as “and.” It introduces what the disciples did when they saw that Jesus seemed to be going further. They urged Jesus to stay with them. In some languages a conjunction is not needed. Connect this verse to the preceding one in a natural way in your language.

they pleaded with Him, “Stay with us…”: This clause implies that the two disciples urged Jesus to come to their home and stay with them overnight. In Greek the quotation Stay with us is introduced with a word that means “saying.” There are two ways to translate the quotation:

• Use direct speech. For example:

they urged Him, saying, “Stay with us…”
-or-
they begged him, “Stay the night with us…” (New Living Translation (2004))

• Use indirect speech. For example:

they pleaded that he would stay with them
-or-
they begged him to stay the night with them (New Living Translation (1996))

Use a natural way in your language for people to invite someone to come and stay overnight as a guest in their home.

us: The word us refers to the two men with whom Jesus was walking.

24:29c–d

for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over: Here the word for introduces the disciples’ reason for inviting Jesus to stay at their house. The disciples emphasized the reason by saying it in two different ways. The clauses it is nearly evening and the day is almost over have the same meaning. They indicate that evening was coming, and it would soon be dark. It was dangerous to travel on the roads in the dark.

Some other ways to translate this reason are:

since it is getting late (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
because it is late; it is almost night (New Century Version)
-or-
the day is almost over and it is getting dark (Good News Translation)

In some languages it may be natural to say this reason only once. For example:

It will soon be dark.

See also the General Comment on 24:29a–e below for another translation suggestion.

24:29e

So He went in to stay with them: This clause tells the result of the disciples’ urging. Jesus went with them to their house and came into it to stay awhile with them. Verse 31 shows that he actually did not stay for the whole night. Some other ways to translate the clause are:

And/Then he went to stay with them.
-or-
When they said that, Jesus ⌊went with them to their house and⌋ came in to stay ⌊awhile⌋.
-or-
So Jesus went into the house to stay with them. (Contemporary English Version)

General Comment on 24:29a–e

In this verse the disciples asked Jesus to stay with them in 24:29b before they gave the reason for their request in 24:29c–d. In some languages it is more natural to change the order so that the reason comes before their request. For example:

29aBut they pleaded with him, saying, 29c“The sun will soon set, 29dand it will be dark, 29bso please stay with us.” 29eSo Jesus went in to stay with them.

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