Translation commentary on Luke 8:51

Exegesis:

elthōn de eis tēn oikian ‘when he came to the house.’ The fact that all other people concerned accompany Jesus is taken for granted.

ouk aphēken eiselthein tina sun autō ‘he let nobody go in with him.’

aphiēmi ‘to permit,’ ‘to let.’

kai ton patera tēs paidos kai tēn mētera ‘and the child’s father and mother.’ tēs paidos, though syntactically going with ton patera only, refers to tēn mētera as well.

hē pais ‘the girl.’

Translation:

He came to, ‘he arrived at,’ ‘came near to,’ ‘reached,’ ‘was/stood at the entrance of.’

Permitted no one to enter, or expressing the prohibition otherwise, ‘forbade everyone to enter,’ ‘said to all the people (there), “You should not enter”, or, “I want you not to go into the house” .’

No one … except may have to be expressed by, ‘no one … only,’ ‘only a few people, namely,’ or, with the shift discussed above, ‘everyone … but not.’

For the sequence of father and mother see on 2.33.

Child (see on 1.7), or, specifying the sex, ‘girl.’

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 8:51

Paragraph 8:51–53

8:51a

When He entered: The word He refers to Jesus. Jesus came with other people, including at least Jairus, Peter, James, and John. In some languages it may be necessary to indicate this. For example:

When they arrived
-or-
When Jesus and those with him arrived

the house: The Greek text says simply “the house.” Some versions supply further information to make clear what house is being referred to. For example:

the house of Jairus (New International Version)

If it is not necessary in your language, you do not need to supply this information.

8:51b–c

He did not allow anyone to go in with Him except Peter, John, James, and the child’s father and mother: Jesus permitted these five people to go in with him when he entered the house. In some languages it may be more natural to translate this as a positive statement:

he only let Peter, John, and James, and the child’s father and mother enter with him

the child’s father and mother: If you supplied “Jairus” in 8:51a, consider whether it is confusing to refer to the same individual both as “Jairus” and as the child’s father in the same sentence. If this would cause your readers to think that Jairus was not the child’s father, you may need to translate this phrase as:

Jairus and ⌊his wife,⌋ the child’s mother

child’s: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as child’s can refer to either a young boy or a young girl. Use a term that is appropriate for a twelve-year-old girl (see Mark 5:42).

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