1936 painting by Wang Suda 王肅達 (1910-1963),
Housed in the Société des Auxiliaires des Missions Collection – Whitworth University
(click image to enlarge)
Image taken from Chinese Christian Posters . For more information on the “Ars Sacra Pekinensis” school of art, see this article , for other artworks of that school in TIPs, see here.
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 9:17:
Noongar: “All the people ate and became full, and the disciples picked up twelve baskets of bread and fish which the people did not eat.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “They all ate until they were full. After they ate, his disciples gathered the left-over food. There were twelve luncu-baskets left-over.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “They all ate and were filled/satisfied. Then the disciples gathered the leftovers of the people, there were twelve full baskets.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And all of those people ate and they were satisfied. And as for that food, there was left over twelve baskets of pieces that were picked up.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “They all ate and were satisfied. When they afterwards collected the left-overs, twelve baskets were filled with the food scraps.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “All of them ate until they were full. The disciples collected the left-overs, filling twelve baskets with broken/divided bits of food.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
kai ephagon kai echortasthēsan pantes ‘and they ate and were all satisfied.’ pantes may be the subject of both verbs (cf. Revised Standard Version), or go with echortasthēsan only. The latter is preferable, and pantes serves to emphasize the climax already expressed in that verb: they ate (and not only that) they even were satisfied, all of them. For chortazō cf. on 6.21.
kai ērthē to perisseusan autois klasmatōn kophinoi dōdeka ‘and what they left was picked up (by the disciples, presumably), twelve baskets of pieces.’ klasmatōn may go with to perisseusan, or with kophinoi dōdeka, preferably the latter, and klasmatōn kophinoi dōdeka is best understood as an apposition to to perisseusan autois.
perisseuō ‘to be abundant,’ ‘to be more than enough,’ hence ‘to be left over.’ The agent, i.e. the person who leaves, follows in the dative (cf. Jn. 6.13), here autois referring to all the people who were present.
klasma ‘piece,’ i.e. the result of breaking (klaō).
kophinos ‘basket.’
Translation:
All ate and were satisfied, preferably, “they ate and were all of them satisfied” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation), or slightly more emphatic, ‘they ate, and (or, so that) they were satisfied, everyone of them.’ For to be satisfied, or, ‘to get enough,’ cf. on 6.21, and ‘to-the-very-fullest’ (Auca, in Mk. 6.42).
They took up. Tae’ has ‘they gathered-in,’ suggesting a plurality as object.
What was left over, or, ‘what they (i.e. those who ate) left over, or, did not eat’; or, in one word, ‘its rest/remains’ (several Indonesian languages).
Twelve baskets of broken pieces, or, ‘(this was) as much as twelve baskets….’ Some versions simply have, ‘twelve baskets full its total’ (e.g. Balinese), in order to avoid a cumbersome or intricate phrase; this is defensible, if it is clear that the reference is to the food that had been handed around after having been broken. Broken pieces, if translated, can sometimes be expressed by a resultative derivation of the verb used in v. 16; Sranan Tongo, using a more generic term, has to specify it: ‘pieces of bread.’
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.
They all ate and were satisfied: The Greek words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as all ate and were satisfied means that the whole crowd of people had all the food that they wanted to eat. Other ways to translate this are:
They all ate and had enough (Good News Translation) -or-
They all ate as much as they wanted (New Jerusalem Bible)
In some languages it may be necessary to make it clear that the people were able to do this because there was sufficient food:
⌊There was enough food for⌋ everyone to eat and be satisfied.
9:17b
and: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as and introduces the next action in the story. It may be natural in some languages to begin a new sentence here. It may also be natural to include a time word or phrase. For example:
Then -or-
and afterward (New Living Translation (2004)) -or-
After they were finished eating
the disciples picked up: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the disciples picked up is literally “was-picked-up.” It is a passive verb. It implies that someone/people picked up the leftover food. In this context it was the disciples who picked up this food, as Mark 8:19 indicates. Some ways to translate this are:
• As a passive clause. For example:
What was left over was gathered up (New Century Version)
• As an active clause. For example:
the disciples took up twelve baskets of what was left over (Good News Translation) -or-
What was left over filled twelve baskets. (Contemporary English Version) -or-
they picked up the leftover pieces (God’s Word)
Express this in the way that is most natural in your language.
picked up: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as picked up means to lift up and carry away. In this context it probably indicates that the disciples gathered or collected pieces of uneaten food from the crowd. It probably does not refer to crumbs being picked up from the ground.
Some other ways to translate this are:
gathered up (New Century Version) -or-
collected (New Jerusalem Bible)
twelve basketfuls: The amount of food that the disciples collected was enough to fill twelve baskets. We do not know what kind of baskets they used. They may have been small wicker baskets normally used by travelers or larger baskets used to carry produce to and from the marketplace. If possible, use a general word for “basket.”
If you need to use a specific word, use a word that refers to a medium-sized basket suitable for carrying food.
of broken pieces that were left over: The phrase broken pieces that were left over refers here to the pieces of food that remained after everyone had eaten. There was so much food that people could not eat it all. In some languages the phrase broken pieces may be understood without being stated explicitly. For example:
what was left over (Good News Translation) -or-
leftovers (New Living Translation (2004))
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