Translation commentary on Luke 9:16

Exegesis:

labōn…, anablepsas … eulogēsen… ‘after taking…, he looked up … and blessed.’ Of the three acts to which the participles and the main verb refer the first stands apart and the second and the third go closely together as parts of the whole act of blessing.

anablepsas eis ton ouranon ‘he looked up to heaven,’ as an act of silent invocation.

eulogēsen autous ‘he blessed them,’ i.e. ‘he said the blessing over them.’ In the light of 24.30 (where also eulogeō) and 22.17, 19 (where eucharisteō is used) there is good reason to assume that in all places blessing and thanksgiving are identical.

kai kateklasen ‘and broke (them) to pieces.’

kataklaō ‘to break to pieces’; elsewhere (e.g. 22.19) klaō is used for the same act.

kai edidou tois mathētais paratheinai tō ochlō ‘and he gave (them) to the disciples to set before the crowd.’ edidou is durative imperfect.

paratithēmi ‘to set before,’ with following dative, hence ‘to serve to,’ ‘to pass to.’

Translation:

A co-ordinating structure may be preferable, e.g. ‘thereupon he (or, Jesus) took the five loaves…, looked up…, and blessed them. Then he broke them and gave them to….’

Blessed, see on 1.42, sub (4).

Them, i.e. the loaves and fish.

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 9:16

9:16a

Taking the five loaves and the two fish: In this clause the subject changes to Jesus, after the disciples had seated the people. Someone probably handed the loaves and fish to Jesus, and he received them. Some other ways to translate this are:

Jesus took the five loaves and two fish (Good News Translation)
-or-
Jesus held the five loaves and two fish ⌊in his hands⌋

looking up to heaven: Jesus looked up to heaven because he was about to thank God. Jewish people commonly looked upward toward heaven while they were praying.

heaven: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as heaven here refers to the sky as a symbol of God’s dwelling place. Since Jesus literally looked upward at the sky, you could translate the word heaven here with the usual word for sky. You do not have to use a special term that refers to the place where God lives. See heaven in the Glossary.

9:16b

Jesus spoke a blessing: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Jesus spoke a blessing is literally “he blessed them.” The word “them” refers to the loaves and fish. There are two ways to interpret the phrase “he blessed them” in this context:

(1) It refers to thanking God for the food. For example:

he thanked God for the food (New Century Version)

(New International Version, Good News Translation, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, NET Bible, New Century Version)

(2) It refers to blessing the food. For example:

blessed the food (Contemporary English Version)

(Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, New Living Translation (2004), New American Standard Bible, God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, Revised English Bible, King James Version, New Jerusalem Bible)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). As a custom, Jews praised God and thanked him for the food that he provided for them. Another way to translate this is:

He gave thanks to God for the food

In some languages the meaning of spoke a blessing needs to be expressed with a direct quote. For example:

He said, “Thank you.”

See bless, Meaning 5, in the Glossary.

broke them: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as broke them refers to tearing the bread and fish into pieces. This was the normal way that a meal was begun. Use a verb in your language that refers to dividing bread and fish into pieces.

Some other ways to translate broke them are:

divided the food (New Century Version)
-or-
tore the loaves and fish into portions

9:16c

Then He gave them to the disciples: This clause indicates that Jesus handed the bread and fish to the disciples. In some languages it may be more natural to use a different verb rather than gave here. For example:

he…passed them to his disciples (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
-or-
he handed them to his disciples

The form of the Greek verb may imply that Jesus did this action more than once. A few English versions make this explicit. For example:

and kept giving them to the disciples (God’s Word)

to set before the people: This is a purpose clause. Jesus gave the bread and fish to his disciples so that they would give it to the people.

set before the people: The words set before the people imply that the disciples should go to the groups of people to give them the bread and fish. Some other ways to translate this are:

to distribute to the people (Good News Translation)
-or-
to give to the people (New Century Version)

You may need to put implied information after this to show that the disciples did give the food to the people. For example:

⌊The disciples did this.⌋

General Comment on 9:16a–c

In Greek this verse is one long sentence. In some languages it may be natural to break the sentence up even more than the Berean Standard Bible has done. For example:

Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish. He looked up to heaven and thanked God for the food. Then he began to break ⌊the bread and fish⌋ ⌊into pieces⌋. Then he gave them to the disciples to give to the people.

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