Translation commentary on Luke 16:27 – 16:28

Exegesis:

eipen de ‘he said,’ change of subject.

erōtō se oun ‘then I beg you.’ oun means ‘in that case.’

hina pempsēs auton eis ton oikon tou patros mou ‘that you send him to my father’s house,’ i.e. ‘family,’ implying a restoring to life. oikos tou patros mou refers to his brothers, as v. 28 shows, not to his father.

(V. 28) echō gar pente adelphous ‘for l have five brothers,’ parenthetical clause explaining ‘my father’s house.’

hopōs diamarturētai autois ‘in order to warn them,’ final clause dependent upon pempsēs.

diamarturomai ‘to warn,’ or, ‘to testify,’ i.e. ‘to inform fully,’ preferably the former.

hina mē kai autoi elthōsin ‘lest they too may come,’ final clause dependent upon diamarturētai.

eis ton topon touton tēs basanou ‘to this place of torment.’ tēs basanou (cf. on v. 23) qualifying genitive.

Translation:

He said. The speaker often has to be specified.

My father’s house, or, ‘those who live in my father’s house,’ ‘my nearest kin,’ ‘my family.’

(V. 28) Where a more specific term for brothers (see 6.14) is obligatory they may be taken to have been younger brothers and/or of the same parents.

So that they may warn them, often better as a new sentence here, ‘cause him to warn them,’ or, ‘let him (go and) warn them’ (cf. e.g. Sranan Tongo, Tae,’ Good News Translation). Warn them, or more analytically, ‘tell them not to do as I did.’

Lest they … come, or, ‘in order that they … may not come,’ i.e. once they will have died; hence some adjustments may be required, cf. v. 22.

Place of torment, or, ‘place where I (or, we, exclus.) suffer torment/pain.’

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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