Translation commentary on Luke 7:13

Exegesis:

idōn autēn ho kurios esplagchnisthē ep’ autē ‘seeing her the Lord had pity for her.’ For ho kurios referring to Jesus cf. on 1.6.

splagchnizomai ‘to have pity,’ in Luke always with some form of eidon ‘to see’ which points to pity in a direct person to person encounter.

mē klaie ‘do not weep,’ i.e. ‘stop weeping’ (cf. “weep no more”, New English Bible).

Translation:

For the Lord versions have a term characterizing Jesus as a king, or as a divine Lord, usually the latter, cf. on 1.6, sub (c), or (b).

Saw her, or, ‘saw that woman, or, the just-mentioned widow’ (Bahasa Indonesia, Javanese).

He had compassion on her, or, ‘he pitied her.’ Many idioms are on record, e.g. “his heart went out to her” (New English Bible), ‘his heart sad with her’ (Sranan Tongo).

Weep — the term does not refer here to a collective, more or less ritualized public demonstration, but to a private, individual expression of grief because of death.

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 7:13

Paragraph 7:13–15

7:13a

the Lord:
The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Lord means “master” or “one who has authority over others.” In this context the Lord is a title for Jesus. Some other ways to translate this are:

the Master
-or-
the Chief

This is the first time that Luke referred to Jesus as Lord in this context. In some languages it may be necessary to make clear that the word Lord here refers to Jesus. For example:

the Lord Jesus
-or-
Jesus, the Master

In other languages it may be necessary to indicate whose Lord is referred to. If that is true in your language, if you use the pronoun “our,” it should be the inclusive form, if your language uses that form. For example:

our(incl) Lord

See Lord, Context 2, in the Glossary.

He had compassion on her: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as He had compassion on her means “he felt compassion for her.” It implies that Jesus felt pity for her and that he wanted to help her. You may have an idiom for this in your language. Some ways to translate it are:

his heart went out to her (New International Version)
-or-
he felt sorry for her (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
he felt sad/concerned for her
-or-
his heart was filled with pity for her (Good News Translation)

7:13b

Do not weep: Here Jesus told the woman not to weep because he did not want her to feel distressed anymore. He knew that he was about to cause her son to live again. The woman was already weeping when Jesus said this. So in some languages it may be natural to translate this as:

Don’t weep any longer
-or-
Stop crying

Be sure that your translation of Do not weep expresses compassion.

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