Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 9:53:
Noongar: “But the people of the village did not want him staying because they could see Jesus was going on his way to Jerusalem.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “But those townspeople, they refused to receive Yesus, because they knew he was going-toward Yerusalem.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “But the people in that village did not want that Isa stayed there because they knew that he was going to Awrusalam.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “However, the people there, they did not want Jesus to stop there, because they knew that he was a Jew and he was going up to the town of Jerusalem.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “But the residents there, they didn’t-want plural Jesus to stop-by their town, because they knew that it was to Jerusalem a town of the Jews where they were going.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “But Jesus wasn’t received by the people there for they were aware that he was on his way to Jerusalem.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:
While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)
“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, susundeo-rare-ru (進んでおられる) or “proceeding” is used.
Also, when the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as here in mi-kao (御顔) or “face (of God).”
kai ouk edexanto auton ‘and they (i.e. the people of the village) did not receive him,’ or, ‘they refused to receive him.’ It is implied that this refusal came to light when the messengers tried to make arrangements, i.e. before Jesus came to the village himself (see on v. 54).
hoti to prosōpon autou ēn poreuomenon eis Ierousalēm lit. ‘because his face was going to Jerusalem,’ a Hebraistic phrase cf. 2 Sam. 17.11 LXX. to prosōpon autou is here equivalent to the personal pronoun of the third person; its use makes the clause sound solemn.
Translation:
The people, or more specifically, “the people there” (An American Translation, Javanese), “the villagers” (New English Bible, similarly Tae’ 1933).
Would not receive him is intentional, referring to what they will do when Jesus arrives. For the verb see on 9.5.
His face was set toward, or more idiomatically rendered, “because he was making for” (New English Bible). It is stylistically preferable that the rendering should echo v. 51b exclusive of the concept of resolve, e.g. ‘his face was toward,’ ‘he had taken the road to.’
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.
But the people there refused to welcome Him: The clause But the people there refused to welcome Him probably indicates that the people in that Samaritan village did not accept the messengers whom Jesus had sent on ahead. They told the messengers that they would not offer hospitality to Jesus and his disciples, so the messengers were not able to get things ready. Some other ways to translate this are:
But the people there would not receive him (Good News Translation) -or-
But the residents there said that they did not want Jesus to enter their village.
9:53b
because He was heading for Jerusalem: The clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as because He was heading for Jerusalem is literally “because his face was set toward Jerusalem.” Several English versions translate the clause that way. The reason why the Samaritan villagers refused to welcome Jesus was that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. The Samaritans worshiped on Mount Gerazim in Samaria. For this reason, they were not friendly towards Jews who went through their territory to worship at the temple in Jerusalem.
The people of the Samaritan village did not personally see Jesus heading toward Jerusalem. This information was probably clear because they heard it from the messengers. For example:
because it was clear that he was on his way to Jerusalem (Good News Translation)
General Comment on 9:53a–b
In some languages it may be more natural to change the order of the clauses in these two verse parts so that the reason (9:53b) precedes the result (9:53a). For example:
53b but he was heading for Jerusalem, 53a so the people there did not welcome him
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.