19but, finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down on the stretcher through the tiles into the middle of the crowd in front of Jesus.
The Greek that is translated in English with “remove the roof” is translated into Avaric with an existing term: t’ox bichize. “Demolishing a roof in order to reach the interior of a house is an entirely familiar action, used, for example, in assaults on strongholds and fortified buildings in wartime; there is even a special phrase for this in Avaric (t’ox bichize).” (Source: Magomed-Kamil Gimbatov and Yakov Testelets in The Bible Translator 1996, p. 434ff. .
In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is translated with the professional term Dach abdecken or “unroof.” In Luke 5:19, the Greek text only implies the removing of the roof but Berger / Nord add deckten einige Ziegel ab or “remove some roof tiles” for clarification.
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 5:19:
Noongar: “But because of the crowd, they could not see a way to carry him inside the house. So they carried him up to the roof. They made a hole in the roof, and lowered his bed into the middle of the people in front of Jesus.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “But they could not all manage to enter, because the people were very crowded/tight. That is why they climbed the stairs carrying their companion going to the top of the house, they took off the roof and they lowered him with his stretcher going in front of Yesus in the midst of the people.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “But because of the many people, there was no way for them, therefore they went up on the flat roof of the house and made an opening in the roof. Then they lowered the sick man on his lying-down-place into the center of the people before Isa.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “But since the people were so tightly packed there at the house, there was no way to pass that person there. So they went up on the roof and they made a hole in the roof above Jesus, and the hammock where the paralyzed person was lying, they lowered down in the middle of the people where Jesus was.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “but they absolutely couldn’t because-of the crowded-in people. So they climbed-up-with him on the roof and removed some of the roofing. After that they lowered what the cripple was lying on until it/he was set-down in the middle of the people right in front of Jesus.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “But they couldn’t pass through because it was full of people. Therefore what they did was, they went up on the flat roof of that house and then made a hole in it, for they passed that man they were carrying through it and lowered him down, still on what he was lying on. They lowered him right into the presence of Jesus, there in the middle of that crowd.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Amele: “However because the men were pressed together they did not see a road to carry and go into the room of the house. Because of not they took him and climbed up the ladder to the top of the house and pulled open the top of the house and as they held and as he lay in the stretcher they fastened with a vine and let and went down vertically little by little went down went down and as Jisas stood in the middle of the group of men went down vertically and lay in his face (in front of him). ” (Source: John Roberts in this article )
The Greek Iēsous is “only” a proper name but one with great importance. The following quote by John Ellington (in The Bible Translator1993, p. 401ff. ) illustrates this:
“In Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus Christ, Joseph is told that when Mary gives birth to a son ‘you will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins’ (1:21). This name is a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name [Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) which is a short form of a name meaning] ‘the Lord [Yahweh] saves.’ The name is very significant and is in itself especially dear to Christians around the world. (…) Unquestionably great importance is attached to the name of Jesus by Christians of all persuasions and backgrounds.”
While Iēsous (pronounced: /i.ɛː.suːs/) is transliterated as “Jesus” (pronounced /ˈdʒiːzəs/) in English (but was translated as “Hælend” [the “healing one”] in Old English — see Swain 2019) it is transliterated and pronounced in a large variety of other ways as well, following the different rules of different languages’ orthographies, writing systems and rules of pronunciation. The following is a (partial) list of forms of Jesus in Latin characters: aYeso, Azezi, Cecoc, Chesús, Chi̍i̍sū, Ciisahs, Ciise, Ciisusu, Djesu, Ɛisa, Ƹisa, Eyesu, Gesù, Gesû, Gesü, Ġesù, Ghjesù, Giêsu, ꞌGiê‑ꞌsu, Giê-xu, Gyisɛse, Hesu, Hesús, Hisus, Hisuw, Ià-sŭ, Iesen, Ié:sos, Iesu, Iesui, Iesusɨn, Iesusiva, Ié:sos, Ihu, Iisus, Iisussa, Ijeesu, iJisọsị, Iji̍sɔ̄ɔsi, Iosa, Íosa, Ìosa, İsa, I’sa, Isiso, Isõs, Ísu, Isus, Isusa, Iisussa, Isuthi, Itota, Îtu, Isuva, Izesu, Izesuq, Jasus, Jeeju, Jeesus, Jeesuse, Jeezas, Jehu, Jeisu, Jeju, Jejus, Jeso, Jesoe, Jesosa, Jesoshi, Jesosy, Jesu, Jesû, Jesua, Jesuh, Jesuhs, Jesuo, Jesús, Jésus, Jesúsu, Jethu, Jezed, Jezi, Jézi, Ježiš, Jezu, Jezus, Jézus, Jėzus, Jēzus, Jezusi, Jėzus, Jezuz, Jiijajju, Jíísas, Jiizas, Jíìzọ̀s, Jisas, Jisase, Jisasi, Jisasɨ, Jisaso, Jisesi, Jisɛ̀, Jisos, Jisọs, Jisɔs, Jisu, Jiszs, Jizọs, Jizɔs, Jizọsi, Jizọsu, Jòso, Jusu, Jweesus, Ketsutsi, Njises, Sesi, Sisa, Sísa, Sisas, Sīsū, Sizi, Txesusu, uJesu, Ujísɔ̄si, ŵaYesu, Xesosi, ´Xesús, Xesús, Yasu, Ya:su, Ɣaysa, Yecu, Yeeb Sub, Yeeh Suh, Yeesey, Yeeso, Yeesso, Yēēsu, Yēēsu, Yehsu, Yëësu, Yeisu, Yeisuw, Yeshu, Yeso, Yesò, Yëso, Yɛso, ye-su, Yésu, Yêsu, Yẹ́sụ̃, Yésʉs, Yeswa, Yet Sut, Yetut, Yexus, Yezo, Yezu, Yiesu, Yiisa, Yiisu, Yiitju, Yis, Yisɔs, Yisufa, Yitati, Yusu, ‑Yusu, :Yusu’, Zeezi, Zezi, Zezì, Zezwii, Ziizɛ, Zisas, Zîsɛ, Zjezus, Zozi, Zozii, and this (much more incomplete) list with other writings systems: ᔩᓱᓯ, ᒋᓴᔅ, Հիսուս, ᏥᏌ, ኢየሱስ, ያሱስ, ܝܫܘܥ, Ісус, Їисъ, 耶稣, იესო, ईसा, イエス, イイスス, イエスス, 예수, येशू, येशो, ਈਸਾ, ພຣະເຢຊູ, ජේසුස්, যীশু, ଯୀଶୁ, ཡེ་ཤུ་, ‘ঈছা, இயேசு, ಯೇಸು, ພຣະເຢຊູ, ယေရှု, ઇસુ, जेजू, येसु, เยซู, យេស៊ូ, ᱡᱤᱥᱩ, ယေသှု, యేసు, ᤕᤧᤛᤢ᤺ᤴ, އީސާގެފާނު, ਯਿਸੂ, ꕉꖷ ꔤꕢ ꕞ, ⵏ⵿ⵗⵢⵙⴰ, ଜୀସୁ, يَسُوعَ,ㄧㄝㄙㄨ, YE-SU, ꓬꓰ꓿ꓢꓴ, 𖽃𖽡𖾐𖼺𖽹𖾏𖼽𖽔𖾏, ꑳꌠ, ᠶᠡᠰᠦᠰ (note that some of these might not display correctly if your device does not have the correct fonts installed).
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In some languages the different confessions have selected different transliterations, such as in Belarusian with Isus (Ісус) by the Orthodox and Protestant churches and Yezus (Езус) by the Catholic church, Bulgarian with Iisus (Иисус) by the Orthodox and Isus (Исус) by the Protestant church, Japanese with Iesu (イエス) (Protestant and Catholic) and Iisusu (イイスス) (Orthodox), or Lingala with Yesu (Protestant) or Yezu (Catholic). These differences have come to the forefront especially during the work on interconfessional translations such as one in Lingala where “many hours were spent on a single letter difference” (source: Ellington, p. 401).
In Literary and Mandarin Chinese where transliterations of proper names between the Catholic and Protestant versions typically differ vastly, the Chinese name of Jesus (Yēsū 耶稣) remarkably was never brought into question between and by those two confessions, likely due to its ingenious choice. (Click or tap here to see more).
The proper name of God in the Old Testament, Yahweh (YHWH), is rendered in most Chinese Bible translations as Yēhéhuá 耶和華 — Jehovah. According to Chinese naming conventions, Yēhéhuá could be interpreted as Yē Héhuá, in which Yē would be the family name and Héhuá — “harmonic and radiant” — the given name. In the same manner, Yē 耶 would be the family name of Jesus and Sū 稣 would be his given name. Because in China the children inherit the family name from the father, the sonship of Jesus to God the Father, Jehovah, would be illustrated through this. Though this line of argumentation sounds theologically unsound, it is indeed used effectively in the Chinese church (see Wright 1953, p. 298).
Moreover, the “given name” of Sū 稣 carries the meaning ‘to revive, to rise again’ and seems to point to the resurrected Jesus. (Source: J. Zetzsche in Malek 2002, p. 141ff., see also tetragrammaton (YHWH))
There are different ways that Bible translators have chosen historically and today in how to translate the name of Jesus in predominantly Muslim areas: with a form of the Arabic Isa (عيسى) (which is used for “Jesus” in the Qur’an), the Greek Iēsous, or, like major 20th century Bible translations into Standard Arabic, the Aramaic Yēšūaʿ: Yasua (يَسُوعَ). (Click or tap here to see more.)
Following are languages and language groups that use a form of Isa include the following (note that this list is not complete):
In Indonesian, while most Bible translations had already used Yesus Kristus rather than Isa al Masih, three public holidays used to be described using the term Isa Al Masih. From 2024 on the government is using Yesus Kristus in those holiday names instead (see this article in Christianity Today ).
Some languages have additional “TAZI” editions (TAZI stands for “Tawrat, Anbiya, Zabur, and Injil” the “Torah, Prophets, Psalms and Gospel”) of the New Testament that are geared towards Muslim readers where there is also a translation in the same language for non-Muslims. In those editions, Isa is typically used as well (for example, the Khmer TAZI edition uses Isa (អ៊ីសា) rather than the commonly used Yesaou (យេស៊ូ), the Thai edition uses Isa (อีซา) rather than Yesu (เยซู), the Chinese edition uses Ěrsā (尔撒) vs. Yēsū (耶稣), and the English edition also has Isa rather than Jesus.)
In German the name Jesus (pronounced: /ˈjeːzʊs/) is distinguished by its grammatical forms. Into the 20th century the grammatical rules prescribed a unique Greek-Latin declination: Jesus (nominative), Jesu (genitive, dative, vocative), Jesum (accusative), from which today only the genitive case “Jesu” is still in active use. Likewise, in Seediq (Taroko), the morphological treatment of “Jesus” also occupies a special category by not falling under the normal rule of experiencing a vowel reduction when the object-specific suffix an is added “since it was felt that the readers might resent that the name has been changed that drastically.” (Compare Msian for “Moses” (Mosi) as an object, but Yisuan for “Jesus” (Yisu).) (Source: Covell 1998. p. 249)
In Lamba the name ŵaYesu consists of a transliteration Yesu and the prefix ŵa, a plural form for “proper names when addressing and referring to persons in any position of seniority or honor.” While this was avoided in early translations to avoid possible misunderstandings of more than one Jesus, once the church was established it was felt that it was both “safe” and respectful to use the honorific (pl.) prefix. (Source C. M. Doke in The Bible Translator 1958, p. 57ff. )
In virtually all sign languages, “Jesus” is signed with the middle finger of each hand pointing to the palm (or wrist) of the other in succession (signing the nails of the cross). In the context of Bible translation this has been pointed out as theologically problematic since the “semantic connections of the original name Jesus do point towards ‘salvation,’ they do not naturally lead to crucifixion.” (Source: Phil King in Journal of Translation 1 (2020), p. 33ff.)
Following is the oldest remaining Ethiopian Orthodox icon of Jesus from the 14th or possibly 13th century (found in the Church of the Saviour of the World in Gurji, Ethiopia). As in many Orthodox icons, Jesus’ right hand forms the Greek letters I-C-X-C for IHCOYCXPICTOC or “Jesus Christ.” Another interpretation of the right hand is that it shows three fingers pointing to the Trinity, while the two other fingers point to Jesus’ two natures.
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 )
The style of the following drawing of Jesus by Annie Vallotton is described by the artist as this: “By using few lines the readers fill in the outlines with their imagination and freedom. That is when the drawings begin to communicate.” (see here )
Illustration by Annie Vallotton, copyright by Donald and Patricia Griggs of Griggs Educational Service.
kai mē heurontes… ‘and when they did not find…,’ anabantes… ‘after they had gone up…,’ kathēkan… ‘they let down….’ Semantically anabantes and kathēkan belong together closely and are dependent upon their not finding a way to bring the paralysed man in. This is usually brought out by a rendering as found in Revised Standard Version. For a similar construction cf. on v. 12.
kai mē heurontes poias (scil. hodou) eisenegkōsin auton ‘and when they did not find along which (way) they could bring him in,’ hence ‘when they did not find a way to bring him in’ (cf. Revised Standard Version). poias scil. hodou is genitive of place.
dia ton ochlon ‘because of the crowd,’ goes with mē heurontes.
epi to dōma ‘on the roof,’ presumably a flat roof. Usually a flat roof was covered with clay and Luke’s reference to tiles (dia tōn keramōn) may be due to the fact that tiles were customary on pitch and flat roofs in the Greek world.
dia tōn keramōn kathēkan auton sun tō klinidiō ‘they let him down with the bed through the tiles,’ implying that they removed the tiles and let him down through the open space thus provided.
keramos ‘roof tile,’ of clay presumably.
kathiēmi ‘to let down.’
klinidion (also v. 24) diminutive of klinē (v. 18) but here synonymous with it.
eis to meson ‘into the middle,’ i.e. of the people gathered in the house.
emprosthen tou Iēsou ‘in front of Jesus.’
emprosthen ‘before,’ here synonymous with enōpion (v. 18).
Translation:
Because of the crowd may better be given initial position, e.g. ‘Now the people present there were many. Therefore those men could not find a way (or, were not able) to bring him in but went up….’ — Crowd, or ‘mass,’ ‘gathering of people,’ ‘many people’ (cf. 6.17; 7.11f; 8.4; 9.37f; 22.47). With the definite article (here and in 6.19; 7.24 (plur.); 8.19, 40; 9.11 (plur.), 12, 16; 11.27, 29 (plur.); 19.3), it refers to the masses that gathered to see and hear Jesus, but did not belong to the circle of his disciples and followers. The force of the article may have to be expressed by a deictic locative element, e.g. ‘great number of people there,’ or a qualifying phrase, e.g. ‘many people (that were) around/near him,’ or by a term like ‘the/his audience.’
The roof, i.e. a flat, or nearly flat, roof on which two or more people can stand. Where the normal term for ‘roof’ suggests a pitch roof, the expression will have to be adjusted, cf. e.g. ‘the top of the house’ (one Shona version, Zarma, Balinese), ‘the flat house top’ (Tzeltal), and cf. ‘they climbed up on the house’ (Marathi); or with a slight semantic shift, ‘the loft of the house’ (Bahasa Indonesia KB).
They … let him down … through the tiles. The verb may have to be specified, e.g. ‘to hand-down’ (Bahasa Indonesia), or, ‘to lower-on-ropes’ (Balinese). The prepositional phrase indicates that they made an improvised opening; hence such renderings as, ‘having removed the tiles they let…’ (Santali), or, where other material is used as a roofing, ‘they parted the roof (of split bamboo, lit. ‘roof which is split open’)’ (Tboli); or again, without reference to the material, ‘where the house top was opened by them’ (Tzeltal). — Tiles has been described as ‘flat stones’ (Shona 1966), or more generically, ‘covering’ (Sinhala), ‘roofing’ (Ekari).
Him … with his bed, or, ‘the sick man … bed-and-all’ (Javanese), ‘him … on his bed’ (Batak Toba), since the paralytic and the bed were not let down separately.
Into the midst is often better specified, e.g. “into the middle of the group” (Good News Translation, similarly Bible de Jérusalem, Sundanese).
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.
This part of the verse tells the problem that the men had as they tried to get their friend to Jesus. Connect 5:19a to 5:18b in a natural way in your language.
but they could not find a way through the crowd: This part of the verse explains the reason for the action in 5:19b. Because the men could not get near Jesus by going through the crowd, they brought the paralyzed man to him in a different way. Another way to translate this is:
They could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd. So….
It may be more natural in your language to state the reason why they were unable to get to Jesus first. If so, reorder the two parts of this phrase. For example:
Because of the crowd, however, they could find no way to take him in. (Good News Translation) -or-
But because of the crowd, they could not get him to Jesus. (Contemporary English Version)
through the crowd: The phrase through the crowd indicates that the men could not enter because so many people were at the door. The phrase does not imply that the men were afraid that the people would criticize them or forbid them to bring the paralyzed man to Jesus.
In some languages you may need to use a more specific phrase. For example:
because it was full of people -or-
since the people were so tightly packed there at the house
5:19b
So: Verse 5:19b explains what the men did because they could not get into the house through the door. In some languages it may be natural to express this as a result, as the Berean Standard Bible does by saying So. There is actually no conjunction in Greek. Another way to translate this is:
When they could not find a way to do this…, they went up (New International Version)
they went up on the roof: The original readers of the Gospel of Luke understood that the men climbed stairs to get onto the roof. They also knew that the roof was flat and the men could walk across it. In some languages, it may be necessary to communicate some of this implied information. Some ways to do this are:
• Make some of the details explicit in the text. For example:
they went up on the ⌊flat⌋ roof of the house -or-
they ⌊climbed the stairs⌋ ⌊carrying their companion⌋ to the top of the house
• Use a footnote to explain how the men got onto the roof.
• Include a drawing of a Galilean home with a ladder or stairs
5:19c
and lowered him on his mat through the tiles: These words imply that the men first made a hole in the roof by removing some of the tiles. In some languages it may be necessary to make this explicit. For example:
They made an opening in the tiles and let the man down on his stretcher (God’s Word) -or-
and took off some tiles. Then they lowered the sick man on his mat (New Living Translation (2004)) -or-
and then they removed some of the tiles ⌊to make a hole in the roof⌋ and lowered him on his mat down through the hole
Before the men lowered the paralyzed man through the hole, they probably attached ropes to the four corners of the mat. Then men on the roof could hold onto the ropes and slowly let the man down.
through the tiles: The tiles were pieces of baked clay or brick. Builders arranged these tiles in rows on top of a house to make a roof. People could easily remove a group of these tiles and thus make a hole in the roof.
If people in your culture do not use roof tiles, translate this more generally, for example:
through a/the hole in the roof
5:19d
into the middle of the crowd: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as into the middle of the crowd is literally “into the middle/center.” The Berean Standard Bible has supplied the words of the crowd. The middle could also refer to the middle of the room.
Some other ways to translate this are:
in the middle of the room (Contemporary English Version) -or-
among the people (God’s Word) -or-
into the crowd (New Living Translation (2004))
Luke did not say whether the men lowered the paralyzed man all the way to the ground.
right in front of Jesus: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as right in front of Jesus is literally “before Jesus.”
General Comment on 5:19a–d
The main verbs in this verse are “went up” (5:19b) and “lowered” (5:19c). The men did these actions because they could not find a way to enter the house (5:19a). The reason they could not enter the house is explained as “because of the crowd” (5:19a). Consider if your language has a natural order for giving the reason for an action and then the results. Here is one way of giving the reason first:
19aBut because there were so many people there, they could not find a way in. 19bSo they went up on the roof and 19clowered the man (New Century Version)
Here is an example of giving the results first:
19bThey went up on the roof and 19clowered him on his mat into the presence of Jesus. 19a⌊They did this⌋ because the crowd of people ⌊in/around the doorway⌋ made it impossible to enter the house.
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