Translation commentary on Luke 8:10

Exegesis:

humin dedotai gnōnai ta mustēria tēs basileias tou theou ‘to you it has been granted to know the secrets of the kingdom of God.’ humin is emphatic as contrasted with tois de loipois. The agent of dedotai is God.

mustērion ‘secret,’ not something which is and remains a mystery, but a secret which is being disclosed by God to those to whom He grants it.

tois de loipois en parabolais ‘but to the others in the form of parables.’ The absence of a verbal clause is awkward and probably intentional (cf. Mk. 4.11); hence a rendering like, “but to the rest—parables” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation). If necessary some verb like lalō ‘I speak,’ or dedotai ‘they are given,’ i.e. the secrets of the kingdom of God (cf. Translator’s New Testament) is to be understood. The former is preferable.

hina blepontes mē blepōsin ‘that seeing they may not see.’ If a choice between a final and a consecutive rendering is necessary, the former is preferable. blepontes refers to the physical act of seeing (cf. Phillips “with their eyes open”), blepōsin to conscious and understanding perception.

kai akouontes mē suniōsin ‘and (that) hearing they may not understand,’ same differentiation between the physical act and conscious perception but this time brought out by different verbs.

Translation:

To know, i.e. to have understanding of; hence closely synonymous with the last verb of the verse.

The secrets of the kingdom of God. For secrets of Chol uses, ‘truth about … which was not previously made known.’

For (or, to) others, i.e. those who do not belong to Jesus’ disciples or followers.

They are in parables, preferably, ‘I speak in parables’ (cf. on v. 4), ‘they are told by parables’ (Marathi).

Seeing they may not see. The style of this aphorism is best preserved when different forms of the same verb can be used, cf. e.g. ‘seeing they don’t really see (perfective construction)’ (Ekari), ‘not it-is-to-be-seen to them, although they see’ (Bahasa Indonesia KB), but often different verbs or verbal phrases must be employed, e.g. ‘looking they may not perceive,’ ‘while (they) appear to them, they may not look-at (them)’ (Marathi), ‘although they have their eyes wide open, they may not see’ (Sundanese). If an object must be added, it can be pronominal reference to ‘the secrets’ (cf. Marathi), or, preferably, to the contents of the parables.

Hearing they may not understand. An interesting rendering is given in Tae,’ ‘they turn-upwards (a verb often used of the mouth held upwards to catch water) the ear, they do not understand-it (lit. find-it with the heart).’ For to understand cf. on 2.47.

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 8:10

8:10

In this verse Jesus contrasted his disciples with other people who heard his parables. This contrast is emphatic in the Greek text. Some ways to express the contrast in English are:

To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to others I speak in parables… (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-

You are allowed to know the secrets of the kingdom of God. For other people, I must use stories ⌊to talk about those secrets⌋.
-or-
Knowledge about the mysteries of the kingdom of God has been given [directly] to you. But it is given to others in stories. (God’s Word)

Express the contrast in a natural way in your language.

8:10a

He replied: The words He replied introduce the response that Jesus gave his disciples when they asked him to explain the parable. Use a natural phrase in your language. For example:

Jesus answered (God’s Word)
-or-
and he replied (Revised English Bible)

8:10b

The knowledge…has been given to you: This is a passive clause. Some ways to translate it are:

⌊God⌋ has given you the knowledge
-or-
I have explained…to you (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
You have been given the opportunity to know (NET Bible)

In some languages, knowledge is not something that can be given. Other ways to express this idea are:

God has allowed you ⌊to know⌋
-or-
God has/I have revealed to you

you: The Greek plural pronoun that the Berean Standard Bible translates as you is plural. It refers to Jesus’ disciples; see the note on 8:10.

The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God refers to understanding the secrets about God’s kingdom.

the mysteries of the kingdom of God: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as mysteries refers to truths that were previously hidden or unknown. These truths are known or revealed only to certain people. Here the mysteries were truths about the kingdom of God that people could not understand unless someone revealed the meaning to them. Jesus was now revealing that meaning to his disciples.

Other ways to translate this are:

the mysteries about God’s kingdom/reign
-or-
what people have not known before about God’s chieftaincy/reign
-or-
hidden truths about how God rules ⌊his people⌋

The term the kingdom of God also occurs in 8:1b. See also kingdom of God in Key Biblical Terms.

8:10c

to others I speak in parables: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as to others I speak in parables is literally “to others in parables.” The Berean Standard Bible has supplied I speak to make a good English sentence. Other English versions have supplied fewer specific words. For example:

for others they are in parables (NET Bible)
-or-
the others have only parables (Revised English Bible)

There is implied information here. The text implies that other people have not been permitted to know the secrets of the kingdom of God. (See Matthew 13:11.) Consider if it would be necessary to include this implied information in your translation. For example:

To others ⌊it has not been given to know these secrets. Instead, for them the secrets are hidden⌋ in parables

others: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as others refers to people who were not Jesus’ disciples. See the note on “His disciples” in 8:9. In this context Jesus indicated that he used parables to speak about the kingdom of God to people who were not his disciples.

parables: The word parables refers here to all the types of comparisons that the Greek word can describe. Some of these comparisons are metaphors, illustrations, symbolic stories, and sayings.

8:10d–e

The words after “so that” in 8:10c–d are a quote from Isaiah 6:9. This is why the Berean Standard Bible uses quotation marks to introduce the saying that follows. It also indents the lines in a special way. If you usually introduce Old Testament Scripture in a particular way, you may want to do so here, as well. For example:

…so that (as the Scriptures say),

‘though seeing, they may not see,

though hearing, they may not

understand.’

so that: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as so that here introduces a quotation from Isaiah 6:9. Jesus used this quotation to explain to his followers why he spoke in parables. He did this so that the people who did not want to believe and obey him would not understand the truths that the parables illustrated. Most English versions introduce this quotation with so that (as in the Berean Standard Bible). Some do not use a connector. Translate this connection in a natural way in your language.

though seeing, they may not see: There is a contrast here between seeing and they may not see. The Berean Standard Bible has supplied the word though to indicate that this is an unexpected contrast. Many English versions use the conjunction “but.” For example:

they may look but see nothing (Revised English Bible)

This clause describes people who see, so we would expect them to also perceive and understand, but they do not.

seeing, they may not see: The Greek words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as seeing and see are different forms of the same verb. However, they are used in different senses here. The first form, seeing, refers literally to seeing something such as a person, object, or event. The second form, see, refers figuratively to understanding the meaning of what is seen. In some languages it may be necessary to use different verbs for these ideas. For example:

they may look but not perceive (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
When they look, they don’t see (God’s Word)

Another possibility is to modify one of the verbs. For example:

even though they are seeing, they are not really/truly seeing

In some languages it may be necessary to supply objects for the two verbs. If this is true in your language you can:

• Use a general object such as “things” or “events”:

even though they see ⌊things⌋, they do not perceive ⌊them⌋

• Use an object that refers to Jesus’ actions:

even though they look at ⌊what I do⌋, they do not see ⌊it⌋

8:10e

though: Here the word though is used in the same way as in 8:10d. See the note on though at 8:10d–e.

hearing, they may not understand: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as hearing refers to the physical act of hearing something. The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as understand refers to comprehending what is heard. Here there is a contrast between these two actions.

In some languages it may be necessary to supply objects for hearing and understand. If this is true in your language, you should choose an option that is similar to the one you chose in 8:10c. For example:

• Use a general object:

although they hear words, they do not understand them

• Use an object that refers specifically to Jesus’ teaching:

although they hear ⌊what I teach⌋, they do not understand ⌊what it means⌋

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