complete verse (Luke 7:25)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 7:25:

  • Noongar: “What did you go to see? A man wearing beautiful clothes? Rich people wearing beautiful clothes, you only see them inside palaces.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “So, what do you go wanting to see? Perhaps you want to see a person whose clothes are beautiful? Of course not, because people whose clothes are beautiful and whose lives are rich/live richly, they are just in the houses of kings.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Na, what then did you want to see when you went? A person dressed in expensive clothes? The people dressing in expensive clothes and have a good/easy life live in the palaces.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Did you go out to see a person whose clothing was very beautiful? That is not it also because the people who wear beautiful clothing and whose livelihood is very good, they are only found in the palaces of kings.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Who then did you go to see? Was it a person wearing beautiful and expensive (clothes)? Of course not also, because those who wear (clothes) like that and whose lives are nice/good, it is in kings’ houses where they stay.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well what did you really want to see there? A person whose clothes were the best? Of course not either, for those dressed in elaborate clothes and those who have-all-they-want of good food are of course only in the households of kings.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

behold / look / see (Japanese honorifics)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God or a person or persons to be greatly honored, the honorific prefix go- (御 or ご) can be used, as in go-ran (ご覧), a combination of “behold / see” (ran) and the honorific prefix go-.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also Japanese benefactives (goran).

Translation commentary on Luke 7:25

Exegesis:

alla ti exēthate idein? ‘but what did you go out to see?’ alla implies that the answer to the last question of v. 24 is, ‘of course not.’

anthrōpon en malakois himatiois ēmphiesmenon ‘a man dressed in soft garments.’ Probably a contrastive allusion to John’s way of dressing as described in Mk. 1.6 and Mt. 3.4. Again the implied answer to the question is, ‘of course not.’

malakos ‘soft,’ has the connotation of ‘luxurious,’ ‘fine’ (cf. An American Translation).

amphiennumi ‘to dress,’ ‘to clothe.’

idou ‘behold,’ serves to lend emphasis to what follows.

hoi en himatismō endoxō kai truphē huparchontes ‘those who are in splendid apparel and in luxury.’

himatismos (also 9.29) ‘clothing,’ ‘apparel.’

endoxos (also 13.17) ‘splendid,’ ‘gorgeous.’

truphē ‘luxury,’ ‘splendour.’

huparchō ‘to exist,’ ‘to be at one’s disposal,’ often simply a substitute for eimi ‘to be.’

en tois basileiois eisin ‘are, or, live in (royal) palaces.’

basileios ‘royal,’ here used as a substantive in the neuter plural, ‘(royal) palace.’

Translation:

For remarks on syntax and clause structure cf. on v. 24.

In what then did you…?, or, ‘but what did you…?’ the word ‘then,’ or ‘but,’ serves to introduce a further question that mentions a comparable possibility. If the preceding phrase has been rendered as a rhetorical question, it may be preferable to say, ‘if that is not so (or, if not), what did you…?.’

A man clothed in soft raiment, or, ‘a man in (or, who wears) soft/fine/splendid clothes’; the reference probably is primarily to outer clothing or adornment. The term for “clothes” may basically be a word meaning ‘what covers the body’ (Tae’), ‘what-is-used’ (Javanese, Bahasa Indonesia).

Gorgeously apparelled is virtually synonymous with the preceding “clothed in soft raiment”; hence, the renderings may have to coincide, cf. e.g. ‘having beautiful clothing/adornment’ (Toraja-Sa’dan).

Live in luxury has been rendered by such phrases as, ‘their lives are “choosy” ,’ i.e. they have a wide choice of food and clothing (Trukese, Pohnpeian), ‘they enjoy themselves (by amusements etc.)’ (Marathi), ‘the big life of them is passing the mark’ (Sranan Tongo), or, referring to food only, ‘they continually eat nice food’ (Western Highland Purepecha), ‘they receive all-kinds-of delicacies’ (Toraja-Sa’dan).

Kings’ courts, or, ‘houses of princes/nobles’ (Batak Toba, Balinese).

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 7:25

7:25a

Otherwise: The Greek word that the Scholars interpret the phrase translates as Otherwise is literally “but.” It introduces a shorter form of the question in 7:24b (“What did you go out into the wilderness to see?”). The word Otherwise implies a contrast to “A reed swaying in the wind.” A fuller form of this contrast would be:

If ⌊you did⌋ not ⌊go there to see a reed swaying in the wind…⌋

The Revised English Bible translates it as:

No? Then…

what did you go out to see?: This is a shorter form of the question in 7:24b. If it is more natural in your language, you can translate as you did for 7:24b.

what: See the note on “What” at 7:24b–c.

to see: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as to see is a different word than the word for “to see” in 7:24b. However, these two words have basically the same meaning. In your translation, you may either use the same word or use a different word with the same meaning. Do what is good style in your language.

7:25b

A man dressed in fine clothes?: This rhetorical question suggests another answer to the question in 7:24b and 7:25a. Its full form would be:

Did you go out into the desert to see a man dressed in fine clothes?

There are two ways to translate this rhetorical question:

• As a question with the implied answer “No.” You may want to make the answer explicit. For example:

A man dressed in fine clothes? No… (New International Version)
-or-
Or were you expecting to see a man dressed in expensive clothes? No… (New Living Translation (2004))

• As an emphatic statement. For example:

You certainly did not go to see a man dressed in fine clothes.

fine clothes: The phrase fine clothes refers to clothes that are fancy or soft to the touch. They are the kind of clothes that rich people wear.

7:25c

Look: In the Greek text, this verse part begins with a word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Look. This word is an exclamation that calls attention to something. Many English versions translate it as “Behold.” Other versions, such as the New International Version, do not translate this word. In some languages it may be natural to translate it as “Listen!” See the note on “Behold” at 1:31a.

those who wear elegant clothing: The phrase elegant clothing is literally “glorious clothes.” The phrase refers to the same type of clothes as the “fine clothes” in 7:25c. Other ways to translate it are:

Those who wear splendid clothes (God’s Word)
-or-
people who wear beautiful clothes (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
those who are beautifully dressed

If you use a different word from the one you used in 7:26b, make sure that your readers understand that it has the same meaning. For example:

People who dress like that (Good News Translation)

live in luxury: The phrase live in luxury means to enjoy all the nice, expensive things that often only rich people can buy. Wearing fine, expensive clothes was an example of this. So you may need to say:

indulge in ⌊other⌋ luxuries

are found in palaces: The word palaces refers to big, expensive houses that kings live in. While the Berean Standard Bible translates this phrase as passive, are found in palaces, it is active in Greek, “are in palaces.” It may be more natural in your language to use an active phrase. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

live in kings’ palaces (New Century Version)
-or-
are in royal palaces (God’s Word)

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