Translation commentary on Luke 4:1 – 4:2

Exegesis:

Iēsous de ‘and Jesus’ refers back to 3.21f after the genealogy of 3.23-38, as is shown by what follows, see below.

plērēs pneumatos hagiou ‘full of the Holy Spirit,’ qualifies Iēsous. The omission of the article tou before pneumatos does not change the meaning of the phrase, cf. on 1.15. Here the Holy Spirit referred to is the Spirit who had descended upon Jesus after his baptism, cf. 3.22.

plērēs (also 5.12) ‘full’ (cf. also Acts 6.3; 7.55; 11.24). As contrasted with ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’ in 1.41, 67 the phrase ‘full of the Holy Spirit’ refers to a permanent condition, not a momentary experience.

hupestrepsen apo tou Iordanou ‘returned from the Jordan,’ i.e. from the place where the events of 3.21f had taken place. It is not indicated whither he returned but the best assumption is to connect this clause with v. 14: Jesus left the place of his baptism in order to return to Galilee where he had come from (cf. Mk. 1.9), but on his way home he remained for 40 days in the wilderness.

kai ēgeto en tō pneumati en tē erēmō ‘and he was led about in the Spirit in the wilderness.’ The imperfect tense of ēgeto is durative. For en tō pneumati cf. on 2.27. The phrase does not mean that the Spirit is the agent (as it is viewed in Mk. 1.12) but rather the guiding principle or instrument.

agō ‘to lead,’ here in the passive, meaning ‘to be led about’: Jesus went, guided by the Holy Spirit, from place to place in the wilderness.

(V. 2a) hēmeras tessarakonta ‘for forty days,’ goes either with ēgeto or with the subsequent peirazomenos ‘being tempted,’ preferably with the former.

peirazomenos hupo tou diabolou ‘being tempted by the devil.’ peirazomenos is coextensive with ēgeto and the phrase refers to temptations preceding those described in vv. 4-13.

peirazō (also 11.16) ‘to put to the test,’ ‘to tempt,’ passive ‘to be tested,’ here with hostile intent.

diabolos lit. ‘the slanderer.’

Translation:

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, or, better to bring out the connexion with 3.22, ‘full of the H. Sp. as he was now, Jesus,’ similarly but in co-ordinated sentences in Sranan Tongo; or, ‘after Jesus had (thus) become full of the H. Sp. he.’ For full of the Holy Spirit cf. on “filled with the H. Sp.” in 1.15, where tense and aspect, however, are different.

Returned from the Jordan may require two verbs, ‘left the J. and went back’ (cf. Kituba, Sranan Tongo). Jordan, or, ‘the bank/region of the (river) J..’

And was led … If it is preferable to start a new sentence here, the existing relationship with what precedes (as indicated in Exegesis) may require the use of a transitional phrase such as e.g., ‘As he went home he was led….’

(He) was led by the Spirit for … in …, or, more explicitly, ‘he was led about by the Spirit for … in…’ (cf. Zürcher Bibel, Bible de Jérusalem), ‘he went about (or, he stayed) for … in … with the Spirit as his guide, or, and the Spirit guided him.’

(V. 2a) For forty days, or, ‘during (a period of) forty days.’ The phrase qualifies the verb ‘was led,’ but indirectly also ‘tempted,’ cf. “for forty days was led … and tempted…” (New English Bible). Even a rather small number like 40 may have to be expressed analytically, resulting in such a cumbersome phrase as, ‘the number of a complete hand, the number of a complete foot, and the number of a complete hand, the number of a complete foot, such a number of days’ (Waorani, which, using hand and feet morphemes for ‘five’ and above, can count to 20 and in multiples of 10 or 20).

Tempted by the devil, or expressing the connexion more explicitly, ‘during which days (or, where) he was tempted by the devil’ (or, an active construction); the clause is sometimes better rendered as a co-ordinated one. For to tempt, i.e. ‘to try to make a person sin.’ Some versions use indigenous specific names, ‘the avaricious one’ (Tetelcingo Nahuatl), ‘the malicious deity’ (Toraja-Sa’dan); others have borrowed the name Satan, for which see on 10.18.

Translation commentary on Luke 4:2b

Exegesis:

kai ouk ephagen ouden ‘and he ate nothing.’ The double negation ouk … ouden strengthens the negative aspect of the clause. The aorist ephagen ‘he ate’ is probably used because the continued action is viewed as having reached its end.

suntelestheisōn autōn ‘when they had come to an end,’ absolute genitive; autōn refers to ‘those days’ in the preceding clause.

sunteleō (also v. 13) ‘to bring to an end,’ here in the passive ‘to be brought to an end,’ ‘to be over,’ rather than ‘to be completed.’

epeinasen ‘he was hungry.’ The aorist is ingressive: only after the 40 days of fasting did Jesus really feel that he was hungry.

Translation:

He, or, Jesus, cf. on 1.8.

In those days, or, “all that time” (New English Bible), ‘during that whole-period’ (Balinese).

When they were ended, or, ‘at the end of those days (or, of that time, of it),’ or simply, “afterwards” (Phillips, similarly Sranan Tongo).

He was hungry, cf. on 1.53. Some idiomatic ways of expressing this phrase are, ‘hunger killed him’ (Sranan Tongo), ‘he wanted to-begin-to eat’ (Pohnpeian).

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 4:2

4:2a

where: The word where refers again to the desert.” This word does not occur in Greek. The Berean Standard Bible uses it to connect 4:1 and 4:2. Connect these verses in a natural way in your language.

for forty days: There are several ways to interpret the Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as for forty days:

(1) It refers to the length of time that the devil tempted Jesus. For example:

and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil (New Revised Standard Version)

(Berean Standard Bible New International Version, Good News Translation, New Revised Standard Version, NET Bible, God’s Word, New Living Translation (2004), Contemporary English Version, New Century Version)

(2) It refers to the length of time that the Spirit led Jesus and that the devil tempted him. For example:

for forty days he wandered in the wilderness, led by the Spirit and tempted by the devil (Revised English Bible)

(Revised English Bible, Revised Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, English Standard Version)

(3) It refers to the length of time that the Spirit led Jesus.

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).

forty days: The phrase forty days means “forty days and nights.” It does not refer only to the daylight hours.

He was tempted by the devil: This is a passive clause. Some ways to translate this clause are:

• As a passive clause. For example:

Jesus was tested by the devil (Contemporary English Version)

• As an active clause. For example:

the devil tempted Jesus (New Century Version)

tempted: The word tempted means to try to cause/entice someone to sin. The devil encouraged Jesus to sin by telling him to do what was wrong. The devil told him that he would obtain some benefit by doing certain things that were wrong. The devil lied to Jesus in order to trap him to sin. Another way to translate this is:

tested (Contemporary English Version)

the devil: The phrase the devil refers to the chief of all evil spirits. His name is Satan. In Hebrew this name means “enemy.” He is the enemy of God and God’s people. Here are some ways to translate the devil:

• Use a local name or idiom that refers to the chief of all demons.

• Use a descriptive phrase such as

the leader of the evil spirits
-or-
the spirit enemy of God

• Transliterate the name “Satan.” If this word is not already known in your area, you may also want to add a descriptive phrase. For example:

Satanas, the ruler of demons
-or-
Shaitan

If you transliterate “Satan” or borrow a word from another language, be sure that it communicates the biblical meaning to people in your culture. It is important to check this in each biblical context.

Try to use a term that will be acceptable to churches in the area. It is suggested that you also add a footnote or glossary entry that further explains who the devil is. For example:

The devil is the leader of all evil spirits or demons. Once he was an angel in heaven, but he rebelled against God. God expelled him from heaven, and now he tempts people on earth. Here are other names for Satan that are used in the Bible: “Beelzebul,” “Satan,” “the Evil One,” “the Enemy,” and “the Tempter.”

4:2b

He ate nothing during those days: The clause He ate nothing during those days indicates that Jesus chose not to eat any food during the forty days that he was in the wilderness. Some other ways to translate this are:

Jesus ate nothing during that time (New Century Version)
-or-
during that time he did not eat any food

Luke does not say whether Jesus drank anything during this time. In your translation, you should avoid saying that Jesus did not drink anything during the forty days.

4:2c

when they had ended: The phrase when they had ended means “when/after the forty days were over.”

He was hungry: Jesus did not eat for forty days, so he was hungrier than someone who had not eaten one or two meals. In some languages, it may be more natural to translate this as:

very hungry (New Century Version)
-or-
famished (NET Bible)

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