complete verse (Luke 9:46)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 9:46:

  • Noongar: “The disciples began arguing among themselves, ‘Which one of us is the greater?'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “Yesus’ disciples argued, which of them was more important.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “One day the disciples of Isa were arguing as to who of them was the greatest.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “There was a day, then, when his disciples were arguing about who was the highest in rank of them.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “The disciples of Jesus, they had an argument about which was the highest among them.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Before long the disciples were arguing as to which of them was the greatest/most-important.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 9:46

Exegesis:

eisēlthen de dialogismos en autois lit. ‘a discussion, or, a thought entered into them,’ hence—in order to fit dialogismos (either meaning, see below)—‘came about,’ ‘happened.’

dialogismos ‘reasoning,’ ‘deliberation,’ either outward and audible, i.e. ‘discussion,’ ‘argument,’ or inward and inaudible, i.e. ‘consideration (in oneself),’ ‘thought,’ ‘doubts.’ Since a contrast with ton dialogismon tēs kardias (‘reasoning of the heart,’ hence ‘thought’) in v. 47 appears to be present, the former rendering is preferable here.

en autois ‘among them.’

to tis an eiē meizōn autōn ‘as to which of them was the greatest’ or ‘as to who might be greater than they,’ indirect question indicating what the argument was about, introduced by the article to, cf. on 1.62. autōn is best understood as a partitive genitive, going either with tis (‘which of them’) or with meizōn (‘the greatest of them’), preferably the former. meizōn is to be interpreted as a superlative.

Translation:

An argument arose among them, or, ‘a deliberation grew/was-born among them’ (Batak Toba), “they fell into an argument” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation), ‘they disagreed-with-each-other’ (Toraja-Sa’dan), ‘they fought in speech’ (Sundanese). The expression is not neutral, as is “said to one another” (see on 4.36), but it implies less animosity than “a dispute arose” (22.24).

As to which of them was … The indirect question may have to become a direct one, ‘which of us may be…?,’ or, ‘which of us is the greatest, do you think?’ Greatest. Some languages use here ‘most in front’ (Javanese, Balinese), ‘the highest’ (Sranan Tongo); see also on 1.15. The superlative may be rendered by ascribing the qualification exclusively to one of the group, e.g. ‘of/among all of them, which one (is) great.’

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 9:46

Section 9:46–48

Jesus told his disciples that they must be humble

In Section 9:28–36, the disciples saw Jesus’ glory on the Mount of Transfiguration. In Section 9:37–43a, they saw further evidence of his power when he cast out the demon from the boy (9:37–43a). In the previous Section 9:43b–45, Jesus told his disciples that he would soon be handed over to his enemies. However, his disciples did not understand what would happen. In this Section 9:46–48, Luke showed the contrast between Jesus predicting his approaching death and the disciples being preoccupied over which of them was the greatest. In response to the disciples’ attitude, Jesus showed that being truly humble was the way to be great in God’s opinion.

Some other examples of headings for this section are:

Greatness in the Kingdom (God’s Word)
-or-
Who Is the Greatest? (New Century Version)

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 18:1–5 and Mark 9:33–37.

Paragraph 9:46–48

9:46a

Luke did not make explicit where or when the event in this section occurred. According to the parallel passage in Mark, it happened while Jesus and his disciples were traveling to Capernaum. Introduce this event in an appropriate way in your language.

Then: This verse begins with a Greek conjunction. The Berean Standard Bible translates it as Then, as do some other versions (King James Version, New Living Translation (2004)), in order to show that it introduces the next event in the story. Some other versions translate this conjunction as “And” (Revised Standard Version) or “Now” (New American Standard Bible, NET Bible), while still others do not translate it (Contemporary English Version, English Standard Version, New International Version, New Revised Standard Version). Introduce this new event in a natural way in your language.

an argument started among the disciples: The clause an argument started among the disciples means that the disciples started to argue with each other. Another way to translate this is:

his disciples began arguing (New Living Translation (2004))

9:46b

as to which of them would be the greatest: The context implies that the phrase which of them refers to which one among the disciples.

would be the greatest: There are two ways to interpret the phrase would be the greatest here:

(1) It refers to which disciple was the most important at that time. For example:

about which of them was the greatest (New Living Translation (2004))

(Revised Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version, NET Bible, Good News Translation, New Living Translation (2004))

(2) It refers to which disciple would be the greatest in the future in God’s kingdom. For example:

about who would be the greatest (God’s Word)

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, King James Version, New Living Translation (1996), God’s Word)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with most English versions. Since the Berean Standard Bible follows interpretation (2), the Good News Translation is used as the source line of the Display.

the greatest: The word greatest refers to having the highest status. The disciples wanted to know who among them was the most important person.

Some other ways to translate this are:

who was the most important
-or-
who was greatest ⌊in rank⌋
-or-
who was highest ⌊in status/name⌋
-or-
who was more important than all the others

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