Translation commentary on Luke 11:21

Exegesis:

hotan ho ischuros ‘when the strong one, or, a strong man….’ The former is preferable because in the present context ho ischuros is best understood as a reference to Satan.

kathōplismenos ‘fully armed,’ apposition to ho ischuros.

phulassē tēn heautou aulēn ‘guards his own house.’

aulē (also 22.55) ‘courtyard’ (22.55), ‘farm,’ ‘house,’ ‘premises,’ ‘dwelling’ (here).

en eirēnē estin ta huparchonta autou ‘his possessions are in peace,’ i.e. are safe. For ta huparchonta cf. on 8.3.

Translation:

Fully armed, or, ‘equipped with (all) his weapons.’ Some renderings of ‘arms’ are, ‘fighting-things’ (Sranan Tongo), ‘that-which-hits’ (Toraja-Sa’dan), ‘equipment/tools of war’ (Tae,’ Trukese), or the name of the most common kind of weapons, e.g. ‘arrows’ (Ekari). One older version employed an existent phrase for ‘weapons,’ lit. ‘a man’s equipment,’ which later was discovered to be also in use as a veiled expression for ‘penis’!

Palace, preferably, ‘dwelling,’ ‘house,’ or ‘premises’ (rendered ‘place-of-the-house’ in Javanese, Balinese, and ‘by the side of the house’ in Toraja-Sa’dan).

Guards, or, ‘keeps watch over,’ ‘protects.’

Are in peace, or, ‘are safe/well-preserved/inviolate’ (Sranan Tongo, Balinese), and cf. ‘nothing will happen to all that is his’ (Tae’ 1933).

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.

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