Translation commentary on Luke 12:10

Exegesis:

kai pas hos erei logon eis ton huion tou anthrōpou ‘and everyone who will speak a word against the Son of man.’ For the interpretation of this difficult verse see commentaries. pas may have the same referent as pas in vv. 8 and 9, i.e. the disciples of Jesus, or refer to people in general, probably the latter. pas hos erei (future indicative) is in the nature of a general statement and may be rendered as a present. erei logon is a neutral expression, but has implications of rejection, or, blasphemy by virtue of its use in the present context. On the same grounds eis assumes here a hostile meaning.

aphethēsetai autō lit. ‘(it) will be forgiven to him,’ the subject of the verb being the speaking against the Son of man. The future tense, again, refers to final judgment.

tō de eis to hagion pneuma blasphēmēsanti ‘him who has blasphemed against the Holy Spirit.’ For the aorist tense of the participle blasphēmēsanti cf. on v. 9. The dative tō … blasphēmēsanti goes syntactically with aphethēsetai.

blasphēmeō ‘to blaspheme,’ ‘to revile.’

ouk aphethēsetai ‘(it) will not be forgiven,’ the subject being the blaspheming against the Holy Spirit.

Translation:

Speaks a word against, or, ‘says something opposing’ (Bahasa Indonesia RC), ‘speaks to-the-detriment-of’; more generic than ‘blaspheme,’ and less pejorative.

Every one who … will be forgiven, or with a shift as discussed above (v. 8), ‘when a person…, he will be forgiven, or, this (sin of him) will be forgiven (him),’ or in active construction with ‘God’ as subject.

Blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, or, ‘insults (or, spoils the name of) the Holy Spirit,’ etc.

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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