Translation commentary on Luke 5:33

Exegesis:

hoi de eipan pros auton ‘and they said to him.’ hoi refers back to the subject of v. 30, i.e. the Pharisees and their scribes.

hoi mathētai Iōannou ‘the disciples of John (the Baptist).’

nēsteuousin pukna kai deēseis poiuntai ‘fast often and offer prayers.’ pukna goes with nēsteuousin, and deēseis poiountai appears to refer to prayers that accompany fasting (Schlatter); for deēsis cf. also 1.13; 2.37.

nēsteuō ‘to fast,’ i.e. to abstain partly or completely from food for a certain time as a religious practice.

pukna ‘many times,’ ‘often.’

homoiōs kai hoi tōn Pharisaiōn ‘in the same way also the (disciples) of the Pharisees.’ hoi tōn Pharisaiōn means either ‘disciples (of unmentioned teachers) who belong to the party of the Pharisees,’ or ‘disciples of teachers who belong to the party of the Pharisees,’ cf. on v. 30, probably the latter.

hoi de soi esthiousin kai pinousin ‘but your (disciples) eat and drink,’ i.e. do not observe fasts at all, cf. v. 30.

Translation:

They may have to be specified, e.g. ‘the Pharisees (and their scribes),’ ‘those people,’ ‘Jesus’ interlocutors/opponents,’ cf. on v. 31.

Fast often and offer prayers. Though going with the first verb, ‘often’ qualifies the whole clause; hence it may be preferable to subordinate the second phrase, e.g. ‘offering prayers,’ ‘with prayers.’ For fast see on 2.37. For offer prayers, or, ‘say their prayers,’ ‘hold their prayers’ (Sranan Tongo), or simply, ‘pray’ (several Indonesian languages), cf. references 1.10.

And so do the disciples of … The verb may better be shifted to final position, ‘and the disciples of … do the same.’

The disciples of the Pharisees. If one wished to bring out the interpretation preferred in Exegesis it will usually be necessary to add a reference to ‘teachers.’

Eat and drink. Here the fact of the actual eating and drinking is in focus, whereas in v. 30 the emphasis was rather on the having of a meal with others. In some receptor languages this leads to differentiation, e.g. ‘just go on eating,’ i.e. without interruption by fasting (Ekari), ‘take food (including drinking)’ (Balinese); Tae’ uses the two verbs in the reduplicated form, which has intensive and/or iterative force, whereas in v. 30 the simple forms are employed.

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 5:33

Section 5:33–39

Jesus explained why his disciples did not fast

In this section, some people made a comment to Jesus about fasting. Their comment implied that they were criticizing the disciples. It also implied the question, “Why do your disciples act differently from the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees?” Jesus explained the difference in their actions. In his explanation, he compared himself to a bridegroom, and he compared his disciples to wedding guests. The disciples could not fast while he was with them, just as wedding guests do not fast while the bridegroom is with them.

After he had explained this different attitude towards fasting, he told them that he was teaching a new way to live for God. His new way would not fit into the old traditions. To illustrate this, Jesus used three comparisons:

(a) He compared the old traditional ways to an old garment. He compared his new way to cloth taken from a new garment. No one would sew the new cloth onto an old garment.

(b) He compared the old traditional ways to old wineskins. He compared his new way to new wine. When new wine is put into old wineskins, both are ruined.

(c) Jesus concluded with a saying that rebuked those who wanted to keep to the old traditions. Jesus said that people who had drunk old wine did not want to drink new wine. He was really talking about people who were content with the old ways and teaching of the Jewish religion. He said that they were unwilling to consider the new ways and teaching that he had brought.

This section can be difficult for people to understand because Jesus used comparisons to illustrate what he was teaching. He did not make what he was teaching explicit. If you need to make the meaning clearer, you should explain it in a footnote.

In this section, there are some ideas that may not be familiar in certain cultures. For example:

(a) fasting

(b) Jewish wedding customs about bridegrooms

(c) sewing patches onto cloth

(d) new wine and old wine

(e) wineskins

Consider carefully how to translate each of these ideas in a meaningful way in your language. The notes for this section will give suggestions.

Some other possible headings for this section are:

Jesus taught that his new way was different from Jewish traditions
-or-
Jesus’ new way and the old ways

This story also occurs in Matthew 9:14–17 and Mark 2:18–22.

Paragraph 5:33–35

This paragraph tells about how the religious leaders continued to disagree with Jesus. In 5:30, the religious leaders had accused Jesus of associating with the wrong kind of people. In this paragraph, they accused Jesus and his disciples of not keeping the Jewish traditions.

In this paragraph it is important for readers to know what “fasting” meant in the Jewish culture. Fasting meant to not eat food for a certain time for religious reasons. There were many reasons for fasting. For example, people fasted:

(a) to express their grief and sorrow during times of mourning;

(b) to show that they were sorry for their sins;

(c) to strengthen their prayers that God would help or guide them.

John the Baptizer’s disciples and the Pharisees’ disciples followed these Jewish customs.

5:33a

Then: This verse begins with a Greek conjunction that is often translated as “and.” Some English versions, such as the English Standard Version, translate it that way. Other versions, such as the New International Version, do not translate this conjunction. Since this story apparently took place soon after the events of the previous section, still other English versions, including the Berean Standard Bible and the NET Bible, introduce this story with the word “then.” Another way to introduce the story is:

At that time

Connect this story to the previous one in a way that is natural in your language.

they said to Him: The text does not explicitly say to whom the pronoun they refers. It may refer to the Pharisees and scribes who were mentioned in 5:30. However, if you need to make the subject explicit, it is probably best to use a general subject. For example:

Some people said to Jesus (Good News Translation)

John’s disciples: The phrase John’s disciples refers to the people who had followed John the Baptizer. They continued to follow his teaching even after he died.

Both John and Jesus had disciples. The word is the same in both cases. See the note on disciples at 5:30a for advice on translating the word disciples.

John: The name John refers here to John the Baptizer. (He is first mentioned in 3:2b.) Since more than one John is mentioned in Luke, it may be necessary to state explicitly which John this is. For example:

John ⌊the Baptizer⌋
-or-
John, ⌊the one who baptized people⌋

5:33b

and those of the Pharisees: The phrase and those of the Pharisees means “the people who follow what the Pharisees teach.”

There are at least two options for translating the term those in this context:

• Use the same term for “disciples” as you used for the disciples of Jesus and of John. (See the note on “disciples” at 5:30a.) This is probably best unless your term for “disciple” would not be possible to use with a group like the Pharisees.

• Use a different expression or term for “disciples” of the Pharisees than you used for disciples of Jesus. For example:

people who obeyed the Pharisee-group teachings

the Pharisees: See the note on Pharisees at 5:17b for advice on translating this term.

frequently fast and pray: The phrase frequently fast and pray refers to praying while fasting. It also refers to doing this regularly. The Jewish people often fasted at times when they were very serious about praying to God. Some ways to make this clear could be:

fast and pray ⌊during that time⌋
-or-
fast and say prayers (God’s Word)

fast: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as fast means “deliberately abstain from eating for some time.” If fasting for religious reasons is not a familiar idea in your language, you can translate this word with a descriptive phrase. For example:

often give up eating for a certain time (New Century Version)
-or-
going without food ⌊to pray/meditate⌋
-or-
not eating food for a certain length of time ⌊to pray⌋

It is also possible to put some information about fasting in a footnote.

5:33c

but Yours keep on eating and drinking: The phrase Yours keep on eating and drinking is an ellipsis. In this context it means “your disciples go on eating and drinking and do not fast.” (See Mark 2:18.)

keep on eating and drinking: The phrase keep on eating and drinking indicates that Jesus’ disciples regularly ate and drank. They did not skip a meal to fast. Some other ways to translate this are:

eat and drink all the time (New Century Version)
-or-
continue to eat and drink (NET Bible)
-or-
never go without eating or drinking (Contemporary English Version)

General Comment on 5:33c

What the people said to Jesus in 5:33 implied a criticism of Jesus’ disciples. These people were indirectly accusing Jesus’ disciples of not showing serious devotion to God because they did not fast. In some languages, this criticism may be more natural if asked as a rhetorical question. For example:

Why are your disciples always eating and drinking? (New Living Translation (2004))

(In the same story in Matthew 9:14 and Mark 2:18c–d, this criticism is in the form of a question.)

General Comment on 5:33a–c

In some languages, it may be more natural to change the order of the parts of this verse. For example:

33cWhy are your disciples always eating and drinking 33awhen John’s disciples 33band the Pharisees’ disciples 33aoften fast and pray?

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