complete verse (Luke 9:4)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 9:4:

  • Noongar: “If people ask you, stay in that house to the day you leave the village.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “If you are received in a home, stay there until you continue on going to another town.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Whatever village you arrive at, if a person tells you to come up in his house, there you shall stay as long as you are in that place.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Whichever house there is where they welcome you, there you must stay until you leave.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “If someone invites you into their house, that’s where you are to stay until you leave that town.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Whoever’s house you go to stay in, just stay there till you leave that town again.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

formal pronoun: Jesus addressing his disciples and common people

Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.

As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator 2002, p. 210ff. ), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.

Here, Jesus is addressing his disciples, individuals and/or crowds with the formal pronoun, showing respect.

In most Dutch translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and common people with the informal pronoun, whereas they address him with the formal form.

Translation commentary on Luke 9:4

Exegesis:

eis hēn an oikian eiselthēte, ekei menete ‘whatever house you enter, stay there.’ The clause appears to mean that in each place the disciples are to stay in the very first house which offers them hospitality.

kai ekeithen exerchesthe ‘and (when you leave that place) go away from there,’ i.e. stay in that house as long as you stay in that town (cf. The Four Gospels – a New Translation, “leave it only when you leave the town”).

Translation:

Enter, i.e. ‘enter to stay,’ cf. “go to stay in” (An American Translation).

Stay there, i.e. settle in there, or in that house, for the time of your visit to that town; hence, ‘lodge there’ (Balinese, Sundanese).

From there is emphatic, ‘from that same place’ (Ekari), ‘leaving from it (i.e. that house)’ (Shona 1963).

Depart, i.e. ‘depart to another town’ (Sinhala), ‘continue your journey’ (Shona 1963, Balinese).

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 9:4

9:4a–b

Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that area: The phrase Whatever house you enter refers to any house where the apostles were invited to stay as guests on their journey. Jesus told them that they should stay in that same home until they left that town. This implies that they should not go to other houses to look for a better place to stay.

In some languages it may be necessary to make explicit some of this information or to reorder some of the parts of this verse. For example:

Wherever you go, stay in the same house until you leave town (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
When you are welcomed into a home, stay there until you leave that town (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
When you arrive in a town and someone invites you to be his guest, stay at that person’s house until you leave that town

stay there: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as stay there means “stay there as a guest,” that is, sleep there at night. It does not imply that the disciples should stay inside the house and never go outside.

until you leave that area: The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as until you leave that area is literally “and from there depart.” Several English versions translate the phrase that way. The Berean Standard Bible has supplied the words that area to make the meaning clear. Use a natural way to say this in your language.

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