Translation commentary on Luke 6:26

Exegesis:

ouai hotan… ‘woe (to you) when…,’ with omission of humin. The clause introduced by hotan describes the situation to which ouai applies, cf. on v. 22.

hotan humas kalōs eipōsin pantes hoi anthrōpoi ‘when all men speak well of you,’ i.e. ‘praise you’ or ‘say good things about you.’ For the reference of humas cf. on v. 24 humin. kalōs also 20.39.

tois pseudoprophētais ‘the false prophets,’ i.e. prophets who gave a wrong interpretation of the will of God.

Translation:

All men, or, ‘everyone,’ ‘the land,’ i.e. people all over the country (Balinese).

False prophets, or, ‘lying prophets’ (Western Highland Purepecha), ‘those who spread false words’ (Ekari, where the usual term for ‘prophet’ does not allow the combination with ‘false’).

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 6:26

6:26

This woe is the opposite of the blessing in 6:22–23. The contrast is as follows: Those who are persecuted will be honored for their faithfulness. They are “blessed.” Those who are honored in this life are in trouble. Try to make this clear in your translation.

6:26a

Woe to you: Translate this the same way you did in 6:24a.

all men: The phrase all men is hyperbole. It means “many people.” It does not mean every person in the world.

speak well of you: The phrase speak well of you means “praise you” or “honor you.” It refers to being popular. It is the opposite of being excluded and rejected. Some other ways to translate this are:

everyone says good things about you (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
you who are praised by the crowds (New Living Translation (2004))

6:26b

for: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as for introduces the reason why people who seek worldly approval are in trouble. They are in trouble because people honor them just as they honored false prophets.

their fathers treated the false prophets in the same way: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as in the same way is literally “according to the same.” Here it means that just as people honored the false prophets, “in the same way” they will honor you. It implies that they are like the false prophets. They are not true followers of God.

Some other ways to translate this are:

their ancestors said the very same things about the false prophets (Good News Translation)
-or-
their ancestors also praised false prophets (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
that is how their fathers treated the false prophets ⌊and it shows that you are like them⌋

their fathers: The phrase their fathers is a figure of speech. It means “ancestors.” For example:

their ancestors (Good News Translation)

These were the ancestors of the people “who speak well of you” in 6:26a.

This same phrase occurs in 6:23c.

false prophets: A false prophet was a person who claimed to speak messages from God but did not really receive his messages from God. Such people were not real prophets. Some other ways to translate this are:

those prophets who told lies (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
lying prophets
-or-
those who are not true prophets
-or-
those who spread false messages
-or-
people who claim/pretend to be God’s prophets ⌊but really are not⌋

See also the note on prophets at 6:23c.

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