Translation commentary on Luke 8:50

Exegesis:

ho de Iēsous akousas apekrithē autō ‘but when Jesus heard (this) he said to him,’ cf. on 1.60. The object of akousas which is not stated, are the words spoken by the man from Jairus’ house. autō refers to Jairus.

monon pisteuson ‘only believe.’ The aorist tense of the imperative suggests the punctiliar nature of the injunction, ‘have faith (or, believe) right now (or, at this very moment),’ now that the sad message that she is dead has come. monon.

kai sōthēsetai ‘and she will be well’; subject is the daughter.

Translation:

Answered him. The pronoun refers to Jairus, not to the messenger; hence preferably, ‘said to Jairus, or, to the ruler’ (cf. The Four Gospels – a New Translation, Balinese), ‘interposed a word towards Jairus’ (Javanese, and cf. New English Bible); see also on 3.16.

Only believe, or, ‘do nothing except believe,’ ‘have faith, nothing else.’ For only cf. on 4.8; for the verb see the references on “faith” in 5.20.

She shall be well. The Greek verb does not contrast here with demon possession (v. 36) or illness (v. 48), but with death, which may make necessary another rendering, e.g. ‘she shall live (again)’ (Batak Toba), ‘she shall have her spirit of life returned to her,’ or, ‘she shall be snatched (back to life)’ (two alternatives in Cuyono). A more generic expression is also used, e.g. ‘it will again return good yet that (i.e. it is going to be all right)’ (Tboli).

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 8:50

8:50a

But Jesus overheard them: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as But Jesus overheard them is literally “but Jesus, hearing.” It means that Jesus heard what the man said to Jairus. Since the man was not speaking directly to Jesus, it may be possible to translate this as “overhearing this,” as the Berean Standard Bible does similarly.

and said to Jairus: When Jesus heard what the messenger said, he spoke to Jairus, not to the messenger. To clarify this, the Berean Standard Bible translates the Greek pronoun “him” as Jairus. The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as said means “to answer or respond.” Here Jesus responded to what the messenger said by encouraging Jairus. In some languages it may be confusing to use a word such “respond” here. If that is true in your language, you may translate in a more general way, as the Berean Standard Bible does by saying “said.” For example:

Jesus told Jairus

8:50b–c

In 8:50b–c Jesus was reassuring Jairus that he could still help his daughter.

Do not be afraid; just believe: The two expressions Do not be afraid and just believe contrast with each other. The first expression says what Jairus should not do; the second says what he should do. In some languages it may be natural to use a conjunction that indicates contrast. For example:

Do not be afraid. Instead, just believe.

Do not be afraid: When Jairus heard that his daughter was dead, he might fear that she could not get well again. In some languages there may be a different word to describe this reaction. For example:

Do not be distressed/troubled
-or-
Do not despair

just believe: Jesus did not say explicitly what or whom Jairus should believe. In this context, it probably means that Jairus should continue to believe that Jesus could help his daughter. The word just or “only” here means that Jairus’s confidence should not be combined with fear or doubt.

In some languages a verb like believe requires an object. If that is true in your language, you could translate here:

just have confidence ⌊in me⌋
-or-
only ⌊keep⌋ trusting ⌊me⌋
-or-
Instead ⌊continue to⌋ believe ⌊that I can save your daughter⌋

See believe, Meaning 2, in the Glossary.

just believe, and she will be healed: Here Jesus indicated that if Jairus believed, his daughter would be healed. In some languages it will be necessary to make it clear that believing is necessary for the healing. For example:

Only believe. ⌊If you do, then⌋ she will be saved.
-or-

⌊If you will⌋ only believe, ⌊then⌋ she will be rescued ⌊from death⌋.

and she will be healed: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as healed is the same word that is commonly used in the Bible to mean “saved, rescued.” In this context, it means “saved/rescued from death” by causing a person who had died to live again. If you have an expression that could be used for both “rescue from sins” and “rescue from an illness or death,” consider using it here. Some other ways to translate this are:

and she will be saved/rescued ⌊from death⌋
-or-
and she will live again

The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as will be healed is a passive verb. In some languages it may be necessary to say who would heal the girl. If so, you could say:

and ⌊I⌋ will rescue/save her ⌊from death⌋
-or-
and ⌊I⌋ will cause her to live again

© 2009, 2010, 2013 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.