Elsa Tamez (in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 59ff. ) explains: “A literal translation of this verse: ‘Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’ (Luke 8:8) is not appropriate for the Deaf community; it is difficult to understand and it can easily be misunderstood. Deaf people have ‘ears to hear’ but they cannot hear.”
In Tzotzil it is translated as “You all who with one heart want to learn, think about what I said,” in San Mateo Del Mar Huave as “Every one of you have heard this story. Now put it in your hearts,” in Gwichʼin as “He that will hear me, let him pay attention to me” (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.), and in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) as Denkt gut darüber nach or “Think about it carefully.”
In the German translation by Fridolin Stier (1989) it is translated as “Whoever has ears that are able to hear: listen.”
Willy Wiedmann rendered this phrase artistically in the following way:
The Greek in Luke 8:8 that is often translated in English as “he called out” is translated in Mandarin Chinese (Union Version) as “he said with a loud voice” and in the English translation by Heinz Cassirer (publ. 1989) “he cried out loud” both emphasizing Jesus’ loud voice that is described in Luke’s gospel but not in the parallel passage in Mark 4:9.
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 8:8:
Noongar: “But some seeds fell into the good ground; the seeds grew and gave more seeds, many, many seeds.’ And Jesus finished his story saying, ‘Then listen if you have ears.'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “There was also seed that fell in fertile [lit, fat] ground. That seed grew, it was very fertile, its fruit one hundred times from its seed.’ After that parable, Yesus said: ‘Whomever of you has ears, listen well!'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Other seeds also fell into good soil. These seeds sprouted and grew and bore fruit. It’s yield was very much.’ Then Isa spoke he said, ‘Amey-amey (a stern warning; intensifier in command) listen if something is said to you.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “There was also that which he planted which fell on good ground, and it sprouted and it thoroughly brought forth fruit a hundred fold.’ And then Jesus spoke again, ‘You must understand this which you have heard.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “But as for others, they fell in good soil, then they grew and bore-fruit one hundred each.’ Jesus concluded saying, ‘You who are listening, think-about what you have heard.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “But what got scattered on good soil fruited well. There were a hundred grains on each stalk.’ Jesus added on, saying, ‘Well, since what ears are for is listening, it’s necessary that you listen well to this which I am saying.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
The Greek that is typically translated with a generic expressions such as “he who,” “whoever,” or “if anyone” in English is translated with the plural form (“they”) in Daga. “A literal translation of these conveys the idea that one specific unnamed individual is being discussed. Thus, for instance, in John 5:24 ‘he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life’ meant in Daga that there was one fortunate individual to whom it applied.”
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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 Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, iw-are-ru (言われる) or “say” is used.
epesen eis tēn gēn tēn agathēn ‘fell into good soil.’ The article, again, is generic. agathēn is somewhat emphatic by position.
hekatontaplasiona ‘a hundredfold,’ adverb, going with the phrase epoiēsen karpon ‘bore fruit’ as a whole. Returns of hundredfold are not extraordinary.
tauta legōn ephōnei ‘saying this he cried.’ ephōnei, after legōn, indicates a raising of the voice.
Translation:
Yielded a hundredfold, or, ‘it-bore-fruit so-that its grains were in-hundreds’ (Balinese), ‘(it, i.e. its ears) became-full, one sowing-seed became hundred’ (Tae’ 1933), ‘it produced fruit a hundredfold (in-proportion-to what had been sown)’ (Tae’ rev.). A hundredfold may have to be rendered analytically, e.g. ‘ten-times-ten of fruit’ (Kele), and approximately, e.g. ‘forty of a second sixty of fruits’ (Ekari), or generically, e.g. ‘very many (fold),’ and cf. ‘when they fruit-ed, really heavy, to that extent the thickness of their fruit’ (Tboli), ‘complete it gave grains’ (Tzeltal).
As he said this, he called out, or, ‘and in a loud voice he added’ (Willibrord), ‘thus he said, then he spoke again rather loudly’ (Balinese).
He who has ears to hear, let him hear. A rendering may easily sound ridiculous; hence adjustments such as, ‘those who not in vain have ears…’ (Tzeltal), ‘ear-road they-have those hear’ (Enga), ‘if you can hear at all you had better listen.’ Batak Toba shifts to a restrictive sentence with the second person pronoun, ‘you, all-who have-ears that can-hear, ear (imperative of a verb derived from the noun ‘ear,’ and meaning ‘to hear-intently,’ ‘to grasp-the-sense-of’) this parable.’ At its first occurrence the verb (for which cf. on 1.41) refers to the faculty of hearing, at the second to the actual hearing of, or listening to something (i.e. ‘my words,’ or, ‘this parable’).
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.
Still other seed: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Still other seed introduces the fourth group of seeds. This is the final and most important group of seeds. Other ways to say this are:
And some of the seed (Revised English Bible) -or-
Other seed (New American Standard Bible)
fell: Note that in this case the seeds fell, or landed, where the farmer wished them to fall.
good soil: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as good in this context means “fertile” or “productive.” The dirt itself was not of higher quality, but it was not packed down, shallow, or mixed with thorns. Consider what term is used in your language for soil in which plants grow well.
8:8b
it sprang up: This clause indicates that the seeds that fell on good soil sprouted and grew into mature plants. Other ways to translate it are:
This seed grew (New Living Translation (2004)) -or-
the plants grew (Good News Translation) -or-
they sprouted and became ⌊strong⌋ plants
produced a crop: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as produced a crop here means “produced grain.”
a hundredfold: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates with the phrase a hundredfold literally means “a hundred times.” It means that the plants that grew from the seeds had a hundred times as many seeds as the farmer had planted. Another way to translate this is:
…the plants grew and bore grain, one hundred grains each. (Good News Translation)
A harvest of one hundred grains for each seed planted was exceptional in Israel, though probably not impossible or miraculous. If you use footnotes to give background information, you might include one here. For example:
An average harvest for the provinces of Galilee and Judea was around ten seeds for every seed that was planted. A harvest of one hundred seeds for every seed planted was possible but was considered exceptionally good.
8:8c
As Jesus said this, He called out: This part of the verse indicates that Jesus told the parable in 8:1–8b and then said, “He who has ears to hear…” (8:8d). Some other ways to say this part of the verse are:
After he had said this, he called out (God’s Word) -or-
When Jesus had finished speaking, he said (Contemporary English Version) -or-
And Jesus concluded (Good News Translation) -or-
Then Jesus said loudly ⌊to the crowd⌋
He called out: The clause He called out introduces the saying in 8:8d. The clause indicates that Jesus spoke in a loud voice.
8:8d
He who has ears to hear, let him hear: With this saying, Jesus urged the crowd to think carefully about the parable that they had just heard. He implied that they should do more than just listen to it. They should understand its meaning and then act on what they learned from it.
This saying assumes that everyone in the crowd had ears that were able to hear. Jesus said it to everyone who was listening to him. Other ways to say this are:
If/since you have ears that can hear, then hear. -or-
Those who do not have ears in vain, let them hear.
Notice that these examples use forms such as “you” or “them” instead of “he” and “him.” Use a natural way in your language to tell a saying like this to people.
In some languages, it may be more natural to express the meaning without mentioning ears. For example:
Whoever can hear, let him hear.
hear…hear: The word hear is used twice in this verse part but with slightly different meanings. The first hear refers to the physical ability to hear. The second hear has the sense of “listen attentively/carefully, understand, and be ready to obey.” Other ways to translate this are:
listen well/carefully -or-
listen and understand (New Living Translation (2004)) -or-
give attention -or-
consider/heed carefully what you hear
let him hear: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as let him hear is an indirect command. It does not express permission. Another way to translate this is to use a word like “should.” For example:
Anyone who has ears for listening should listen! (New Jerusalem Bible)
In some languages it may be more natural to use a direct command. For example:
You people who can hear me, listen! (New Century Version)
In some languages it may be necessary to supply some information and indicate that the listener should listen to Jesus or to his parable/words. For example:
If you have ears to hear, listen ⌊to me⌋! -or-
You who have ears to hear should listen to my words/parable.
General Comment on 8:8d
In some languages it may be more natural to reverse the order of the two verb clauses. For example:
Listen, then, if you have ears! (Good News Translation)
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