as the sun was setting

The Greek in Luke 4:40 that is typically translated in English as “as the sun was setting” is translated by the Italian La Sua Parola è Vita translation as Più tardi, quando con il calar del sole il giorno del riposo era giunto al termine or “Later, when with the setting of the sun, the day of rest had come to an end.” Cotrozzi (2019) explains: “The explanatory addition provides the key to understanding the text correctly. Without the explicit hint at the day of rest the verse remains somewhat puzzling and evokes an eerie feeling in the reader due to the gloomy context that speaks of diseases, darkness and demons.”

See also sunrise / sunset.

sunrise, sunset

The Hebrew and Greek terms that is translated as “sunrise” and “sunset” or similar in English are translated in Chichewa as “sun coming out” and “sun entering.” The understanding is that the sun moves and that when it is evening it goes back where it belongs. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

See also periods of the night.

lay hands on

The Greek that is translated as “lay hands on (someone)” in English is translated in Tae’ with “‘He-pressed-down,’ a verb that in former times was used with the specific meaning of ‘to press down one’s hand on a person’s head,’ in order to fortify his soul after a dangerous experience, but in Christian usage came to refer to the gesture made when blessing a person.”

complete verse (Luke 4:40)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 4:40:

  • Noongar: “After sunset, all the people brought their friends to Jesus, very sick people. He laid his hands on them and healed all of them.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “At sunset, many people came to Yesus, bring all their relatives who were sick with many kinds of sicknesses. He touched each one of them and he healed them.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “When the sun had set all the people who had sick friends even whatever their sickness was, brought them to Isa. Isa placed his hands on each one of them and made them well.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “When evening came, all the people who had companions who were sick, they brought them to Jesus, and Jesus just placed his hand on each sick person there, and they were healed.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “When the sun then was going-out-of-sight, the inhabitants took to him all who were sick with even any kind of sickness. Jesus one-at-a-time laid-his-hands-on them and they all became-well.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “At sunset, all who had sick-ones in their family whatever the illness, they brought them there to Jesus. Jesus touched/put-his-hand-on each one and healed their illnesses.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Honorary "are" construct denoting God ("heal")

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, iyas-are-ru (癒やされる) or “heal” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

location (of God) (Japanese honorifics)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-moto (みもと) referring to the location (of God) in the referenced verses.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Luke 4:40

Exegesis:

dunontos de tou hēliou ‘when the sun was setting,’ i.e. at the end of the same day. dunō.

hapantes hosoi ‘all those who,’ stronger than pantes hoi.

eichon asthenountas nosois poikilais ‘had people suffering from various diseases.’ The phrase is neutral concerning the relationship between the sick and those who brought them to Jesus; it simply states that the latter ‘had’ the sick. This is best understood as that they had them in their homes and that they were relatives or responsible for them.

astheneō ‘to be sick,’ here with dative of relation ‘to suffer from.’

poikilos ‘of various kinds,’ ‘various.’

ēgagon autous pros auton ‘brought them (i.e. the sick) to him.’ Though this is done repeatedly the verb is in the aorist to bring out that it refers to every single act of bringing a sick person to Jesus.

ho de heni hekastō autōn tas cheiras epititheis ‘and laying his hands on each of them.’ The relationship between this participial clause and the subsequent main verb etherapeuen autous ‘he healed them’ is such that the former refers to the way in which the latter is brought about. The laying on of hands is generally interpreted as an act of transmission, here of the transmission of spiritual and physical wholeness, or vitality (cf. IDB II, 521). Other healings, however, do not depend upon the act of the laying on of hands (cf. 7.10; 17.14).

epitithēmi ‘to lay upon,’ ‘to put upon,’ lit. or figurative.

etherapeuen autous ‘he healed them.’ The imperfect tense etherapeuen points to the linear or even repetitive aspect of the healing.

Translation:

Now, cf. on 1.57.

When the sun was setting, or, ‘when the sun was entering/sinking/dying/descending/striking down’ (cf. Bahasa Indonesia, Toraja-Sa’dan, Batak Toba 1885, Sranan Tongo, Enga respectively), or another idiom for ‘when evening came.’

All those who had any that were sick … brought them to him. In some languages it is preferable to make ‘the sick’ the object of the clause (as done in Leyden, Bahasa Indonesia RC), applying some further partial adjustments, e.g. ‘all people brought to him the sick they had (or, their sick friends/relatives/ housemates) …’; or as the subject of the clause (as done in Cuyono, some Indonesian languages), e.g. ‘sick people … were brought to him by those who looked after them (or, by their friends),’ ‘sick people … came before him; their friends brought them’; or again, assuming a conditional relationship, ‘if people had any that were sick…, they brought them to him.’ — All, i.e. the people of Capernaum; hence, ‘all there,’ ‘all inhabitants (of C.),’ where necessary.

Any that were sick with various diseases, i.e. various sick people, each with a disease; hence, ‘various ailing people,’ ‘ill people whatever their illness’ (Bahasa Indonesia RC). It may be necessary to change the pattern of subordination, e.g. ‘any sick who were suffering of one disease or another,’ or to shift to co-ordination. In languages that have no generic term one may have to use a few specific terms for diseases most common in the area.

He laid his hands on. If the place touched has to be specified one can best say ‘on their head.’ The rendering chosen should preferably suggest a solemn act with symbolic function. An interesting cultural equivalent is used in Tae,’ which renders the whole phrase by ‘He-pressed-down,’ a verb that in former times was used with the specific meaning of ‘to press down one’s hand on a person’s head,’ in order to fortify his soul after a dangerous experience, but in Christian usage came to refer to the gesture made when blessing a person.

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 4:40

Paragraph 4:40–41

4:40a

At sunset: The phrase At sunset refers to sundown. It was about six o’clock in the evening. This was the time when the Sabbath day ended and the first day of the week began. Some other ways to translate this are:

When the sun went down (New Century Version)
-or-
After sunset (Good News Translation)

The Jewish law did not allow people to work on the Sabbath, and Jews considered carrying a sick person to be work. So they waited until the Sabbath ended to do this.

You may want to make explicit that this was the end of the Jewish Sabbath. For example:

⌊As the Sabbath day was ending⌋ at sunset

You may instead decide to make this clearer by including a footnote here. For example:

At sunset, the Jews considered the day to end and another day to begin.
-or-
At sunset, the Sabbath Day ended. These people had not brought their sick relatives/friends to Jesus earlier, because they did not want to break Jewish rules. These rules prohibited work on the Sabbath, and they considered carrying sick people to Jesus to be work.

4:40b

all who were ill with various diseases were brought to Jesus: This clause is active in Greek. It says literally “All who had sick ones with various diseases brought them to him.” For example:

all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to him (Revised Standard Version)

The Greek text does not explicitly state the relationship between the “sick ones” and those who brought them to Jesus. It says literally, “All who had sick ones….” Here, the word “had” probably refers to the fact that they took care of these sick people. So these “sick ones” were probably relatives or close friends who were sick.

Some ways to translate this are:

all who had friends who were sick with various diseases brought them to Jesus (Good News Translation)
-or-
people throughout the village brought sick family members to Jesus (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
people brought those who were sick to Jesus (New Century Version)

all: In Greek, the word all actually refers to all the people who were well and who had sick relatives or friends. For example:

all those who had any relatives sick with various diseases (NET Bible)

The Berean Standard Bible has used the word all to refer to those who were sick. This is a different way to express the same meaning. Translate this in the way that is most natural in your language.

who were ill with various diseases: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as ill with various diseases does not mean that each sick person had many diseases. It means that among them, the sick people had different types of disease. Some English versions combine “sick ones” and “various diseases” into one phrase. Some other ways to translate this are:

people with all kinds of diseases (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
friends ill with diseases of one kind or another (Revised English Bible)
-or-
friends suffering from diseases of one kind or another (New Jerusalem Bible)

4:40c

laying His hands on each one, He healed them: The clause laying His hands on each one means that Jesus touched each person as he healed them. He often touched people when he healed them.

The text does not say that they were healed because he touched them or by him touching them. So it is recommended that you say that “he laid his hands on each one and healed them.” For example:

he placed his hands on every one of them and healed them all (Good News Translation)

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