Translation commentary on Luke 13:12 – 13:13

Exegesis:

idōn de autēn ho Iēsous prosephōnēsen kai eipen autē ‘when Jesus saw her he called (her) to him and said to her.’ prosephōnēsen and eipen are best understood as referring to two different acts. For prosphōneō cf. on 6.13.

apolelusai tēs astheneias sou ‘you are released from your sickness.’ The perfect tense of apolelusai refers to a new and permanent situation, cf. Plummer. For apoluō cf. on 2.29.

(V. 13) kai epethēken autē tas cheiras ‘and he laid his hands on her,’ best understood as happening simultaneously with Jesus’ words. For the laying on of hands cf. on 4.40.

kai parachrēma anōrthōthē ‘and at once she became erect/stood upright.’ Note the change of subject.

anorthoō in the passive ‘to become erect,’ probably a medical term.

kai edoxazen ton theon ‘and she praised God,’ imperfect tense denoting a prolonged act. For doxazō cf. on 2.20.

Translation:

Woman. The corresponding Greek word, used here in the vocative, is a form of address that does not sound unkind and even may function “as a term of respect or affection” (L-Sc, 363). The same is true of some other languages, e.g. Kele, Zarma, Balinese. Elsewhere a literal rendering is impossible and one has to use an indigenous vocative word for kindly or respectfully addressing a woman without mentioning her name (Trukese, Pohnpeian, similarly Tzeltal; also Sundanese, the same term being used for “daughter” and “child” in 8.48 and 54), or a particle used to call the attention of women (Ekari, its masculine counterpart occurring in 12.20); in several languages the word in question lit. means ‘(my) mother,’ e.g. in Toraja-Sa’dan (applicable to middle-aged married women), Shona (to women that are married or of marriageable age but not yet grandmother), Batak Toba (cf. on “daughter” in 8.48).

You are freed from your infirmity, or, ‘now your illness is-healed,’ ‘from now on you are no longer sick.’

(V. 13) For he laid his hands upon her cf. 4.40.

She was made straight, or again, ‘her back/body became straight (or, stood upright).’ The aspect is inceptive-durative.

Praised God, see on “glorifying God” in 2.20.

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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