complete verse (Luke 1:25)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 1:25:

  • Noongar: “‘Now after a long time, God helps me,’ she said. ‘He publicly took away my shame.’ The angel tells Mary, ‘Jesus will be born.'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “‘This is the love of the Lord to me. He helped me have children, so that I am no longer ashamed/embarrassed because of my barrenness.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “She said, ‘God is really good to me. He has removed what caused shame to me before the people because soon I will give birth.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And she said, ‘At last now God has pitied me because I am able to give birth after all, and I am no longer ashamed of my not being able to give birth.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “She said to herself (lit. with her mind), ‘Why-sure-enough the Lord God has now shown-me -mercy, because he has removed my cause-for-shame to people.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Elisabet’s words were, ‘This treatment of me by God is really good. For he has shown me grace/favor in that he has removed what I was ashamed of before people, which was that all this time I haven’t had children.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 1:25

Exegesis:

houtōs moi pepoiēken kurios ‘thus has the Lord dealt with me, or, treated me.’ houtōs refers to Elizabeth’s pregnancy, and the perfect tense of pepoiēken shows that the emphasis is on the present results of the Lord’s dealing with Elizabeth. The clause means to qualify this as an act of divine mercy; it is an exclamation rather than a statement, as brought out in Phillips‘ free rendering “how good is the Lord for me”. Analogous exclamations in Gen. 21.6; 30.23.

en hēmerais hais ‘in the days in which,’ ‘in the time when,’ here used in a causal sense, “now that” (An American Translation, Phillips).

epeiden aphelein oneidos mou ‘he has looked on me, to take away my reproach,’ or, ‘has taken care, or, has deigned to take away my reproach,’ preferably the former; aphelein is a final infinitive. epeidon.

oneidos mou ‘my reproach’ with an objective genitive, cf. “the disgrace I have endured” (An American Translation). The ‘reproach’ was her barrenness, cf. Gen. 30.23.

en anthrōpois ‘among men,’ goes with oneidos.

Translation:

Thus the Lord has done to me, or, better to bring out that the reference is to the state Elizabeth is in now, ‘as-this here (is) the Lord’s doing to me’ (Javanese, similarly Batak Toba and cf. New English Bible), ‘that I am like this, the Lord has done it for me’ (Bible en français courant).

He looked on me, i.e. he cared for me, gave attention to me. In some languages closely similar expressions can have the required meaning, e.g. ‘he looked-downward-on me’ (Tae,’ especially said of the gods), ‘his eye fell upon me’ (Sranan Tongo). Elsewhere the favourable meaning must be made explicit, cf. ‘to have compassion,’ ‘to look graciously,’ ‘to be kind’ (Tagalog, Hindi, Apache).

To take away, or, ‘to remove’ (Kituba), ‘to wipe off’ (Hindi, Malay), ‘to remove throw away (i.e. to remove utterly)’ (Santali), ‘to cause-to-disappear’ (Javanese).

My reproach among men, or, ‘what disgraced me in the eyes of men,’ ‘things that were causing-to-see me shame before people’ (Kituba); or, taking ‘men’ as the agent, ‘the reason why people abased (or, laughed at) me.’ The cause of the reproach or disgrace may have to be specifically mentioned, e.g. in Shipibo-Conibo, which renders the whole phrase by, ‘that they (indefinite) might not ever again reproach me for barrenness.’ For “shame” cf. on 13.17.

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.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Luke 1:25

1:25a

In Greek, Luke’s introduction to the statement in this verse (literally, “saying”), which identifies it as something that Elizabeth said, comes at the end of verse 24. The Berean Standard Bible translates it there as “She declared.” Some versions, such as the New International Version, place this introduction within the quotation:

“The Lord has done this for me,” she said.

Place this introduction where it would be most natural in your language.

The Lord has done this for me: The word this refers to the fact that God had given Elizabeth the ability to conceive a child in her old age.

Lord: This is the same term as in 1:6b. See also Lord, Context 2, in the Glossary.

1:25b

In these days: The phrase In these days refers to the general time period in which Elizabeth became pregnant. Another way to translate this is:

Now

He has shown me favor: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as He has shown me favor is literally “he noticed/looked at (me).” It implies here that God was gracious to her and showed his concern and favor toward her. Some ways to translate this here are:

he has been gracious to me (NET Bible)
-or-
the Lord has helped me (Good News Translation)

1:25c

taken away my disgrace among the people: The words my disgrace refer to the fact that when a Jewish woman could not have children, people thought that she must have displeased God. Every Jewish wife greatly desired to have children, especially sons. When God made Elizabeth able to become pregnant, he took away the reason why she had felt ashamed.

Your translation should not imply that Elizabeth’s disgrace was because she had done something wrong. In some languages, it may be necessary to specify what this disgrace was. For example:

taken away from me the disgrace of childlessness (Revised English Bible)

Some other ways to translate this part of the verse are:

He has removed my public disgrace. (God’s Word)
-or-
What he has done prevents people from making me feel ashamed ⌊as I did when I had no children⌋.

among the people: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as among the people is literally “among people.” It does not refer specifically to certain people.

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