centurion

The Greek that is translated as “centurion” in English is translated in Noongar as “boss of the Roman soldiers (lit.: ‘men of fighting’)” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang), in Uma as “Roman army warchief” (source: Uma Back Translation), in Western Bukidnon Manobo as “a person who was not a Jew, the captain of a hundred soldiers” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation), and in Mairasi “leader of Roman warriors” (source: Enggavoter 2004).

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Roman Centurion .

love (Khanty)

There is no word in Khanty that directly corresponds to the concept of “love.”

In one of the two Bible translation projects (see here ) for which so far (2025) Genesis, Jonah, Luke, and Acts have been translated, mosty (мосты) with the primary meaning of “to be needed” or “to be necessary” was often used when translating the Greek agapao (ἀγαπάω) and the Hebrew aheb (אָהַב) — “love” in English — and the Greek agapétos (ἀγαπητός) — “beloved” in English.

Interestingly, the same word is also used in verses like Luke 7:2 for the Greek entimos (ἔντιμος) or “value highly” or in Luke 20:17 and Acts 4:11 where the “cornerstone” is the “necessary stone.”

In the other translation project in Khanty, the gospel of Mark has been translated (see here ). Here the translators have used vŏłanga săma (вŏԓаӈа сăма), meaning “important” or “pleasant to the heart” when referring to love.

Source: Ivan Borshchevsky

back-translation of Luke 7:1-10 in Finnish Sign Language

Following is the back-translation of Luke 7:1-10 from Finnish Sign Language (FiSL). One of the ways that distinguishes FiSL is by an intense way of using a spatial component via a signing space. Click or tap here to see more.

(Note: For a video of this passage in Finnish Sign Language, see below.)

Numbers attached with glosses refer to locations in signing space.

The English text gives a rough back translation of the FiSL behind the glosses.

Luke 7:1

JESUS TELL HUMAN GROUP HEAR>5
Jesus spoke and people listen

READY JESUS GO-1>2 CAPERNAUM INDEX>6
After he had finished Jesus went to Capernaum

(break)

Luke 7:2

ONE SOLDER LEADER OWN>6 SERVANT SICK NEARLY DIE
A servant of a military leader was sick and dying

LEADER INDEX>6 SERVANT PERSON-1 RESPECT
That leader respected his servant

(break)

Luke 7:3

INDEX>6 HEAR>5 JESUS
He heard about Jesus

PERSONx>5 ASK JEW HIGH-POSITION HUMANx-6 BRING-5>1 JESUS
He asked the respected Jewish men to bring Jesus to him

SERVANT PERSON-6 SAVE
to save the servant

(break)

Luke 7:4

JEW HIGH-POSITION HUMANx-6 JESUS MEET>5
The respected Jewish men met Jesus

BEG>5 SAY>5
Begging and asking:

(break)

ASK MALE INDEX>6 NEED OWN>5 HELP
Please, that man needs your help

(break)

Luke 7:5

WE HUMAN GROUP INDEX>6 LOVE
He loves our people

ALSO WE OWN>1 JEW CONGREGATION
For our Jewish congregation
INDEX>6 ALREADY BUILD HOUSE
He has built a house [= synagogue]

(break)

Luke 7:6

JESUS WITH TOGETHER-3>6 HOUSE-6 NEAR-3>6
Jesus approached the house together with others

LEADER SEND-4>5 OWN>6 FEW FRIENDx
The leader sent some of his friends

MEET-4>5
To meet Jesus:

(break)

LEADER INDEX>6 SAY
This leader says:
LORD INDEX>5 TROUBLE CLOSE-5>1 DO-NOT>5
Lord, do not trouble to come to me

Luke 7:7 (no break)

ALSO INDEX>1 CLOSE-1>5 CANNOT
As I did not come to you

(break)

[the rest of the verse moved to the end of verse 8]

Luke 7:8

COMMAND INDEX-h3>1 INDEX>1 OBEY
I am subject to command from above

ALSO SOLDER INDEX>2 INDEX>1 COMMAND INDEX-1>2
And I command solders

INDEX-2 OBEY
And they obey

(break)

OWN-1 SOLDER INDEX-2 INDEX-1 SAY
If I say to this solder of mine:

INDEX-2 GO>2
Go!

COMPLETE LEAVE-1>2
He will leave

INDEX-5 COME-5>1
Or to another: Come!

COMPLETE COME-5>1
He will come

(break)

ALSO SERVANT PERSON-2 INDEX-1 SAY
And if I say to this servant:

DO INDEXx-2
Do this!

COMPLETE DO
He will do it.

(break)

ANDx ALSO OWN>1 SERVANT PERSON-6 INDEX-5 ORDER-5>6
So, please, order this servant of mine

HEAL
And heal him.

(break)

LEADER INDEX-6 WELCOME-6>5
The leader asked Jesus to do this to him

Luke 7:9

JESUS SURPRISE>6
Jesus was surprised

TURN-6>5 HUMAN GROUP
He turned to people

SAY
And said:

LEADER OWN>6 FAITH COMPARE SAME JEW HUMAN GROUP INDEX-1 NEVER SEE-1>d
I have never seen the same faith among Jews than this leader has

(break)

Luke 7:10

FRIEND INDEXx-2 BACK-1>2>1 HOUSE-6 NEAR>6
When the friends returned to the house of the leader

SERVANT PERSON-6 ALREADY HEAL
That servant was already healthy.

Source and further explanation in Signs for words – the possibilities for the literal translation in Finnish Sign Language by Seppo Sipilä, 2008


Luke 7:1-10 in Finnish Sign Language (source )

complete verse (Luke 7:2)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 7:2:

  • Noongar: “A boss of the Roman soldiers (lit.: “men of fighting”), he lived in that village. The boss loved his servant but the servant was very sick and close to death. ” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “In that town, there was a Roman army warchief, he had a slave whom he loved very much. That slave was extremely sick, near to death.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Na, there in that town there was a captain of the Roman army. He had a manservant who was very sick and was almost dying. He really loved this servant.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And there was a person who was not a Jew, the captain of a hundred soldiers, and he had a man-servant whom he loved very much. And this servant was severely sick and was about to die.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “There was a captain of soldiers there who was from-Roma who had a servant that he loved. This servant of his was sick and close to dying.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “There was a Romano there who was a captain of soldiers. He had a servant/erand-runner whom he valued, who was so sick that it couldn’t get worse.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 7:2

Exegesis:

hekatontarchou de tinos doulos lit. ‘and of some centurion a slave.’ The position of hekatontarchou at the beginning is emphatic and indicates that he, and not his slave, is the main personality of the subsequent story. This is brought out by e.g. Revised Standard Version by making ‘a centurion’ the subject of the sentence.

hekatontarchēs (also 23.47) ‘centurion,’ a subaltern officer in the Roman army, cf. IDB I, 547ff.

doulos kakōs echōn ēmellen teleutan, hos ēn autō entimos lit. ‘a slave, being ill, was about to die, who was very dear to him.’ hos ēn autō entimos expresses another aspect of the relationship between the centurion and his slave, cf. New English Bible and Revised Standard Version. For kakōs echō cf. on 5.31, and for mellō cf. on 3.7.

teleutaō ‘to end,’ euphemistically, ‘to die.’

entimos (also 14.8) (1) ‘honoured,’ ‘respected,’ or (2) ‘valuable.’ The former is preferable, cf. 14.8 and Phil. 2.29.

Translation:

The verse is usually better divided into two sentences, the first stating the relationship between the master and his servant, the second describing the state that servant was in, cf. Good News Translation.

Centurion. The number of soldiers commanded actually varied between about 50 and 100.

Slave may be rendered or described as ‘have-to-work-er,’ ‘bought-servant,’ ‘credit bondsman/pawner/peon’ (i.e. one who is trying to work off a debt), ‘a man owned by,’ ‘one compelled to work without wages.’ Such renderings, however, sometimes refer to degrading servitude, imply moral reprobation, are said only of persons performing menial tasks (Kituba), or reflect upon the slave’s master as being cruel and merciless (Terena), none of which associations fits the situation in New Testament society. In such cases a less pejorative term is better used, e.g. ‘servant’ (for which see on 12.37), the usual rendering of Gr. doulos in Revised Standard Version.

Who was dear to him, or, ‘who was precious/important to him’ (Trukese, Pohnpeian), ‘whom he loved very much’ (some Indonesian languages).

Who was sick …, or starting a new sentence, ‘That slave/servant was sick….’

Sick and at the point of death, or, ‘so sick that he was at the point of death.’ For sick see on 4.40. At the point of death indicates that the patient had been given up; cf. e.g. ‘lay in agony,’ lit. ‘was-tossing-to-and-fro (as a young buffalo calf)’ (Toraja-Sa’dan); in Marathi the idiomatic expression is ‘leaning on death’; and cf. on “was dying” in 8.42.

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 7:2

7:2a

There: The Berean Standard Bible supplies the word There, which is not in the Greek text. This word makes explicit that the events in this story happened in Capernaum. In English this is a natural way to link 7:1b and 7:2a. The Greek text uses a conjunction. Use a natural way in your language to connect these verses. Some other ways to do this are:

In that town (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
At that time (New Living Translation (2004))

a highly valued servant of a centurion: Here Luke introduced the centurion and his servant into the story. The centurion is more important in the story than his servant. The Greek text mentions him first. Consider how to introduce the centurion and his servant in a natural way in your language. In some languages, there may be a special way to indicate that the centurion is more important in the story than the servant. For example:

A certain centurion lived there. He had a slave
-or-
A centurion there had a servant (Revised English Bible)

a highly valued servant: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as highly valued is literally “who was dear to him.” The pronoun “him” refers to the centurion. Some versions, like the Berean Standard Bible, clarify this by referring to the centurion again, using a different term such as “master” or “officer.” Here are some other ways to translate this:

whom his master valued highly (New International Version)
-or-
The officer liked this servant very much. (Contemporary English Version)

highly valued: The Greek term that the Berean Standard Bible translates as highly valued has different meanings, including “valuable, precious, honored, respected.” In this context, it means that the officer loved his servant and considered him to be important. It does not indicate only that the servant was useful to the officer. Some ways to translate this in English are:

dear (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
highly regarded (New American Standard Bible)

servant: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as servant means a “slave,” and several English versions translate it that way. It refers to someone who was owned by another person. A slave had no rights of his own and worked for his owner without receiving pay.

If the idea of slaves or servants is not known in your area, you could say:

a man/person who belonged to a centurion
-or-
a centurion owned a man/person

See “Slavery in Bible Times” in the Appendix.

a centurion: A centurion was a Roman army officer who was the leader of about one hundred soldiers. The word centurion literally means “officer of one hundred.” Some ways to translate this are:

Translate the literal meaning of the Greek word. For example:

officer of one hundred men

Use a term for such an officer in the army in your country. For example:

captain

Use a general word for an officer or commander.

You may also need to supply the information that this was a Roman officer. This is implied by the term centurion, which was used only by the Roman army.

7:2b

was sick and about to die: The Greek text that the Berean Standard Bible translates as was sick and about to die means that the servant was seriously ill and near death. Other ways to say this are:

was so sick he was nearly dead (New Century Version)
-or-
was ill and close to death (New Revised Standard Version)

General Comment on 7:2a–b

This verse first introduces the centurion and then introduces his slave. The verse gives two pieces of information about the slave:

(1) He was sick and at the point of death.

(2) He was dear to the centurion.

Consider in your language what order would be most natural to present this information. An example that follows the Greek word order is:

2aThere was a slave of a Roman centurion 2bwho was ill and about to die. 2aThis slave was dear to the centurion.

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