Translation commentary on Luke 9:48

Exegesis:

hos an dexētai touto to paidion epi tō onomati mou ‘whoever receives this child on account of me.’ dechomai probably is used here because of what follows where dechomai is appropriate (see below). For epi tō onomati mou. Here the rendering ‘on my account’ appears to fit the context best.

eme dechetai ‘receives me.’ eme is emphatic.

kai hos an eme dexētai dechetai ton aposteilanta ‘and whoever receives me, receives him who has sent me.’ eme is repeated from the preceding clause. dechomai is used here in the sense of ‘acknowledge’ or ‘obey,’ cf. v. 5. For apostellō cf. on 1.19.

ho gar mikroteros en pasin humin huparchōn lit. ‘for he who is the least among you all.’ For huparchō cf. on 7.25. mikroteros has superlative force and is used metaphorically.

houtos estin megas ‘he is (really) great’; houtos is emphatic. For megas cf. on 1.15.

Translation:

Receives (4X), cf. on 9.5. Tzeltal uses an expression meaning ‘to take into account,’ ‘to consider important’ in all four occurrences.

This child, here, of course as an example of its kind, ‘a little-one like this’ (Toraja-Sa’dan).

In my name, or, ‘because of my name (or, of me); or a descriptive phrase, such as, ‘because he obeys me,’ ‘because he is a follower of mine.’

Least, the direct opposite of “the greatest” in v. 46; hence, ‘(the) least important,’ ‘(the one) most to the back,’ ‘the one who has little power’ (Kekchi).

Great here refers to a deeper, spiritual reality; hence, “really great” (An American Translation, similarly Tae’ 1933), ‘the one who really has great power’ (Kekchi), ‘what-you-call great’ (Batak Toba). Several versions (e.g. New English Bible, Translator’s New Testament, Bahasa Indonesia RC) use the superlative, because the qualification refers to one out of many.

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 9:48

9:48a

Whoever welcomes: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as welcomes is literally “receives.” Several English versions translate it that way. It refers here to accepting or receiving someone as a guest. It also implies doing it willingly.

Some other ways to translate this are:

Whoever accepts (New Century Version)
-or-
Anyone who welcomes ⌊and helps⌋
-or-
Whoever shows hospitality to

this little child: Jesus was using this child as an example of any child. In some languages a literal translation may give the wrong meaning that Jesus was thinking only of that particular child. If this is true in your language, you may need to translate this in a more general way. For example:

a little child like this (New Living Translation (2004))

in My name: The name of a person represented that person himself. So the phrase in My name indicates here that someone welcomes and helps others because he is a follower or representative of Jesus. Some ways to translate this are:

on my behalf (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
because of me (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
because of his faith in me
-or-
as my representative

welcomes Me: The verb welcomes is the same verb that was used earlier in the verse, but it is used in a figurative way here. By welcoming a child, you honor Jesus.

If people in your area will think that the words welcomes Me only refer to literally welcoming Jesus himself, you may want to include some implied information. For example:

⌊it is the same as⌋ welcoming me
-or-

⌊it is as if he is⌋ welcoming me
-or-
honors me

The word Me is emphasized in the Greek. If your language has a natural way to emphasize the word me, you may want to do so. For example:

I am the one whom he is welcoming

9:48b

and whoever welcomes Me welcomes the One who sent Me: This expression indicates that welcoming Jesus is the same as welcoming God. When someone welcomes Jesus, he also welcomes the one who sent Jesus. For example:

also welcomes the one who sent me (Good News Translation)

the One who sent Me: The phrase the One who sent Me refers to God. If people in your area would not understand that this phrase refers to God, you may need to make this explicit. For example:

my Father who sent me (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
God who sent me

9:48c

For: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as For here introduces the conclusion to Jesus’ teaching in this verse. This conclusion also answers the disciples’ argument about who was the greatest. You should introduce this connection in a natural way in your language. Some other ways to do this in English are:

Jesus concluded, “He who is least…”
-or-

What I want you to understand is this: He who is least…

In some languages a conjunction or an introductory phrase will not be needed.

whoever is the least among all of you, he is the greatest: There is an implied contrast here between what people think and what God thinks. People may think of someone as the least important, but God may consider that person to be the greatest. In this context Jesus probably also referred to what people think of themselves. The disciple who thinks that he deserves the lowest status in the group is the one whom God considers to be truly great. This kind of person would welcome children and serve others.

In some languages it may be necessary to make the meaning more explicit. For example:

Whoever among you ⌊considers himself to⌋ have the lowest status is the greatest ⌊in God’s opinion⌋.
-or-
It is the humblest among you all who is really the greatest. (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

he is the greatest: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as greatest is literally “great.” In this context it may mean “greatest” in contrast to “least” in the previous phrase. Many English versions translate it this way. For example:

…is really the greatest (New Century Version)

It may also mean “truly great.” It refers here to someone whom God considers great. This person may be very poor, and other people may not respect him. But this is the person who is truly great. For example:

he who is least among you all is the one who is great (English Standard Version)
-or-
that person is ⌊truly⌋ great/important ⌊in God’s eyes/opinion⌋

Both “great” and “greatest” fit the context. You may use either one. The expression that you use should be compatible with your translation of “greatest” in 9:46b.

General Comment on 9:48c

In some languages it may be more natural to reorder the two phrases in 9:48c. For example:

So remember this: The one whom God considers to be truly great is the one who is the humblest among you.

© 2009, 2010, 2013 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.