Translation commentary on Luke 8:45

Exegesis:

tis ho hapsamenos mou ‘who (was it) that touched me,’ nominal clause in which the participle with article serves as predicate.

arnoumenōn de pantōn ‘and when all denied,’ scil. having touched Jesus.

arneomai ‘to refuse,’ ‘to deny.’

epistata ‘master,’ cf. on 5.5.

hoi ochloi sunechousin se kai apothlibousin ‘the crowds are hemming you in and pressing upon you,’ answering Jesus’ question by stating implicitly that no answer is possible.

sunechō (also 19.43) ‘to crowd,’ ‘to hem in,’ ‘to surround.’

apothlibō ‘to press upon (somebody),’ stronger than sunechō.

Translation:

Who was it that touched me?, or, placing the participle clause first, ‘someone touched me, who is it?.’

All denied it, or, ‘there was no-one that admitted (it)’ (Balinese, Bahasa Indonesia RC), ‘they said all it was not they’ (Sranan Tongo), ‘everyone said, “It was not I who did so, or, who touched you” .’

The multitudes surround you and press upon you, implying astonishment, which may be indicated by the exclamatory form of the sentence, or, more explicitly, by preposing some such phrase as, ‘how can you ask that!’ The two verbs form a closely knit unit (as is shown by the fact that the object is only expressed with the first); hence renderings by one verb or verbal expression, e.g. ‘push your person’ (Sundanese), ‘are rubbing-themselves-against you’ (Toraja-Sa’dan), or by one verb to which the other is subordinated, cf. e.g. “you are surrounded by people jostling you” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation, similarly Bahasa Indonesia RC). Such verbs or phrases are virtually synonymous with “pressed round him” in v. 42b.

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 8:45

Paragraph 8:45–48

8:45a

“Who touched Me?” Jesus asked: The Berean Standard Bible has placed the phrase Jesus asked after the quotation. In the Greek text, it comes before the speech begins. Place it where it is most natural in your language.

Jesus asked: The text does not indicate to whom Jesus spoke when he asked who touched him. It is likely that he spoke to the people who were near him in the crowd. He wanted the person who touched him to respond. In some languages you may need to indicate to whom Jesus was speaking: For example:

Jesus asked ⌊those near him⌋
-or-
Jesus asked ⌊the crowd behind him⌋

8:45b

they all denied it: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as they all refers to the various people around Jesus who heard his question.

In some languages, it may be natural to use direct speech here. For example:

Everyone around him said, “I did not touch you.”
-or-
All the people near him denied it, saying, “I am not the one.”

8:45c

“Master,” said Peter:
The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Master is a term that shows respect. Peter used it to address Jesus as a person who had high status. See the note at 5:5a where the same term is used.

the people are crowding and pressing against You:
By saying the people are crowding and pressing against You, Peter implied that many people had touched Jesus. He indicated that he did not understand why Jesus asked the question “Who touched me?” See Mark 5:31, which expresses this same lack of understanding with the question “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’”

It may be necessary or helpful to make some of this explicit in your language. For example:

…the people are crowding and pressing against you ⌊so that many people are touching you⌋.
-or-
…⌊so⌋ many people are crowding and pressing against you ⌊that I do not understand how you can ask “Who touched me?”⌋

the people: The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the people is literally “the crowds.” See the note on “the crowds” at 8:42c.

are crowding and pressing against You: The two Greek verbs that the Berean Standard Bible translates as are crowding and are…pressing against are similar in meaning. The first one means “to surround or encircle.” The second means “to press against or squeeze.” Some languages may have one word or expression that combines these ideas. Some other ways to translate the clause are:

people are crowding all around and pushing you from every side (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
this whole crowd is pressing up against you (New Living Translation (2004))

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