for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks

The Greek that is translated as “for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” or similar in English is translated in Muna as “what comes-out at the lips, it comes from the fullness/overflowing of the heart.”

René van den Berg explains: “It is very impolite in Muna to mention someone’s mouth (wobha) or tongue (lela). The words themselves are not taboo or obscene, but in combination with a possessor they are frowned upon and should be avoided. In fact, if you want to abuse someone, you should refer to his or her mouth or tongue. The implications for translation are obvious (…). [Sometimes] ‘mouth’ was replaced by ‘lips’ (wiwi), a perfectly acceptable term, even when possessed.”

In the German Luther Bible it says: Denn wes das Herz voll ist, des geht der Mund über or “what the heart is full of, with that the mouth flows over” (source: Zetzsche), in Uab Meto it says “his mouth says only what the heart is more than full of,” and in Tzeltal it is “in our hearts arise all those things which come out of our mouths” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel), and in Elhomwe it is translated literally since that exact idiom is used in that language as well (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext).

In Cherokee, “abundance of the heart” is translated as “heart place” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 30).

complete verse (Luke 6:45)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 6:45:

  • Noongar: “A good man has good things in his heart so he brings out good things. A bad man has bad things in his heart and so he brings out bad things. The mouth says the things which come out of the heart.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “So also man. Good people, definitely speak good words, since their hearts are full of good [things]. Bad/evil people, their speech/words are also bad, because their hearts are full of bad/evil [things]. Because whatever the contents of our hearts, that also is what is spoken at our lives.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Mankind is figuratively also like a tree. A good person has good conduct and his words are good because he is good in his liver. But a bad person, because there is bad in his liver therefore his conduct and his words are not good. Whatever is in the liver of mankind that is what comes out from his mouth.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “It’s the same way also with people,’ said Jesus, ‘because if a person’s custom is good, then also are good the things which are hidden in his breath. And good also are the things which he says. But if he is a person with bad custom, then bad also are the things that are hidden in his breath and bad also are the things which he says, because what is hidden in the breath of a person, that also is what he will say.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “It is like us people as well. The good person, good is what he causes-to-come-forth (i.e. words), because of course what has been stored in his mind is good. But the bad person, bad also is what he causes-to-come-forth, because of course what has been stored in his mind is also bad. Because what a person says, it indeed also has-come from what is in his mind.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well it’s like that too with people. Because as for a person with a good nature/ways, always good is what comes out of his mouth, because only good is what he stores in his mind/inner-being. However a person with wholly evil stored in his mind/inner-being will have wholly evil coming out of his mouth. For what is stored in the mind/inner-being of a person can be known by his words.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 6:45

Exegesis:

ho agathos anthrōpos ‘a good man’; the article has generic force. V. 45 applies to man what has been said about trees in vv. 43f.

ek tou agathou thēsaurou tēs kardias ‘from the good treasure of the (his) heart.’

thēsauros (1) ‘place where something is kept,’ ‘treasure-room’; (2) ‘that which is kept,’ ‘treasure.’ Since agathos denotes the quality of that which is kept and not the place where it is kept, interpretation (2) is preferable. tēs kardias ‘of the heart’ has locative meaning, i.e. ‘in his heart.’

propherei to agathon ‘produces what is good.’ The article to is generic. propherei is used in a literal sense, i.e. of bringing out, or, bringing to the fore (cf. Zürcher Bibel, bringt hervor, and Bible de Jérusalem, tire).

ek tou ponērou scil thēsaurou tēs kardias ‘from the evil (treasure of the heart),’ elliptic phrase.

ek gar perisseumatos kardias ‘for out of the abundance of the heart,’ gar introduces a statement of general principle.

perisseuma ‘fullness,’ ‘abundance,’ here in a concrete sense, ‘that which fills and overflows the heart.’

Translation:

The good man. If one receptor language term covers both ‘good’ and ‘beautiful,’ some qualification will be required, e.g. ‘of heart’ (Toraja-Sa’dan, Batak Toba). The same is true of “the bad man” in the next clause.

Out of the good treasure of his heart, or, ‘from the good things stored/treasured up in his heart,’ “from the store of good within himself” (New English Bible).

Out of his evil treasure. If the ellipsis has to be filled out the terms used should preserve the parallel with the preceding clause, e.g. ‘from the good things (stored/treasured up in his heart),’ ‘from the store of evil (within himself).’

Out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks, a literalism against which no less a translator than Luther has already declaimed. More idiomatic renderings are, ‘his mouth says only what his heart is (more than) full of’ (cf. An American Translation, Uab Meto), ‘the mouth speaks what comes from the heart, where there is a fullness of it’ (Shona 1966), ‘it is what fills (or, overflows from) the heart that comes out of the mouth’ (cf. The Four Gospels – a New Translation), ‘in our hearts arise/have-their-source all those things which come out of the mouth’ (Tzeltal). Mouth may in this context be more idiomatically rendered by ‘lips,’ ‘throat.’ In Nyanja the word for ‘mouth’ (derived from ‘to drink’) cannot be the subject of ‘to speak’; hence, ‘in his mouth there is utterance out of….’ Another language distinguishes between ‘mouth (as organ of eating)’ and ‘oral cavity (as organ of speaking),’ used here; an older version in this language employed the former term—with catastrophic results!

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 6:45

6:45a

In this verse, Jesus explained how his teaching in 6:43–44 applied to people.

The good man brings good things out of the good treasure of his heart: This is a comparison. A good man is compared to a good tree. Just as a good tree produces good fruit, a good man produces/does good things.

In this verse the word heart represents a person’s thoughts. (See the note on heart later in this part of the verse for more details.) Jesus compared a person’s thoughts to a place where people store things that they want to keep. He was teaching that what a person thinks determines whether he will do good or evil things. This includes speaking good or evil words.

If possible, use the same general word for good here (good man, good things, good treasure) that you used for fruit and trees in 6:44. (If you must choose a word that is different or more specific, choose a word that refers to what is ethically good or noble.) Another way to translate this is:

Good people do good things because of the good in their hearts. (Contemporary English Version)

The good man: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as man refers to anyone, male or female. Some other ways to translate this are:

A good person (Good News Translation)
-or-
Good people (Contemporary English Version)

brings…out: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as brings…out means “to produce” or “to cause to exist.” This is similar to a tree producing fruit. It may not be natural in some languages to say that a man “produces” good things. If that is true in your language, you may want to say that he “does” good things/deeds. Some examples of how this is translated in English versions are:

Good people produce good (Revised English Bible)
-or-
Good people do good things (Contemporary English Version)

good things: The Greek words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as “good things” are literally “the good.” Some other ways to translate this are:

what is good (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
good acts/deeds

the good treasure of his heart: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally focuses on the fact that this good is stored or kept, rather than on its value, as the word “treasure” might otherwise imply. If “good” is what is stored/kept inside a person’s heart, then good actions and words will be the result. Another way to translate this is:

the good things that he keeps in his heart

heart: For the Jews, a person’s heart represented the part of a person that he used to think, feel, and decide things. Some languages use a different part of the body or another expression to describe this. Use a natural expression in your language.

6:45b

the evil man brings evil things out of the evil treasure of his heart: This part of the verse presents a truth that contrasts with 6:45a and is its opposite. Translate this in a way that shows the direct contrast with 6:45a. Some other ways to translate this are:

…an evil person produces evil deeds from an evil heart. (New Living Translation (1996))
-or-
Bad people do bad things because of the evil in their hearts. (Contemporary English Version)

If possible, use the same general word for evil here (evil man, evil things, evil treasure) that you used for bad fruit and bad trees in 6:43. If you must choose a word that is different or more specific, choose a word that refers to what is ethically bad or evil.

the evil treasure of his heart: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the evil treasure of his heart is literally “from the evil.” This is an ellipsis. The Berean Standard Bible has supplied the implied words “treasure of his heart.” The Greek phrase refers to the evil that a person keeps inside him in his thoughts/heart. Some other ways to translate this are:

the evil that is in them (God’s Word)
-or-
the evil in their hearts (Contemporary English Version)

If evil is what is inside a person’s heart, then evil actions and words will be the result.

6:45c

For: The Berean Standard Bible translates the Greek conjunction that connects 6:45c to 6:45a–b as For. It marks 6:45c as explaining what Jesus has just said. It is also a general statement that summarizes what Jesus has just said. Some ways to connect 6:45c are:

So then
-or-
Thus

In some languages, no conjunction is necessary here.

out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks: The Greek noun that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the overflow means “abundance” or “an exceeding quantity.” It describes a quantity that fills a container completely full and then overflows it. In this clause, it is used in a figurative way. The clause means that a person’s thoughts and beliefs control what he says. His heart/thoughts determine how he acts and speaks.

Jesus was saying here that a person’s words reflect what he is really like in his thoughts and character. Some other ways to translate this are:

…the words of the mouth flow out of what fills the heart. (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
Your words show what is in your heart. (Contemporary English Version)

In the Greek text, the words out of the overflow of the heart are moved forward in the clause to emphasize them. If you have a way to emphasize these words in your language, consider doing that here. One way to do this in English could be:

It is out of what his heart is full of that his mouth speaks.

the heart…the mouth: Here, the refers to any person and could apply either to the good person of 6:45a or to the evil person of 6:45b. It some languages, it may be more natural to translate this in a more general way. For example:

People speak the things that are in their hearts. (New Century Version)
-or-
The heart will be full of something, and that is what the mouth will speak.

What the heart is full of is what the mouth speaks.

heart: See the note on heart at 6:45a.

mouth: In some languages, another part of the body such as “the lips” or “the throat” may be associated with speaking.

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