Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 11:23:
Noongar: “‘If a person does not stand by me, he stands far from me, and if a person does not help me picking up things, truly, he is throwing things away.'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “‘Whoever is not on my side, truly he is my enemy. Whoever does not help me work, he bothers/persecutes my work.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Isa said yet, ‘Those who do not take my side oppose me. And those who do not help me gathering, scatter.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And Jesus said again, ‘The one who is not my companion is my enemy; he who does not help me, he hinders me.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “‘Even anyone who doesn’t join me opposes-me, and he who does not help to gather the sheep, he scatters them.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Really that one who is not siding with me, I regard him as opposing me. And that one not helping me look for people, he is the one who is misleading them.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
ho mē ōn met’ emou kat’ emou estin — The clause expresses that in the conflict between Jesus and Satan there is no neutral ground.
ho mē sunagōn met’ emou skorpizei ‘he that does not gather with me scatters.’ The picture is that of gathering a flock, rather than a harvest (as in 3.17).
skorpizō ‘to scatter,’ of sheep (cf. Jn. 10.12).
Translation:
For the first clause cf. on 9.50.
Who does not gather with me, or, ‘join me to gather’ (Javanese). If an object is required, one may use ‘the sheep,’ or, ‘the flock/herd’ (for which see on 12.32). To gather, or, ‘to cause to come together’ (Sranan Tongo), ‘to bring to the flock/herd.’
Scatters, or, ‘causes (them/it) to run away (from the flock),’ ‘breaks up the herd.’
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.
In this paragraph, Jesus concluded the illustration about the strong man in 11:22. In order to make this clear, you may want to begin this paragraph with a phrase such as:
⌊Jesus continued⌋
11:23a
He who is not with Me is against Me: The clause He who is not with Me is against Me means, “Anyone who is not my friend is my enemy.” In the context of the fight between good and evil (11:14–22), this implies that anyone who is not Jesus’ friend is Satan’s friend. There is no middle or neutral position. Some other ways to translate this clause are:
If you are not on my side, you are against me. (Contemporary English Version) -or-
Those people who are not my allies/companions are my opponents/enemies.
11:23b
and he who does not gather with Me scatters: This figure of speech means the same thing as 11:23a: anyone who is not helping Jesus in his work is opposing him.
Jesus did not say what he was gathering. Many scholars think he was comparing himself to a shepherd gathering sheep. Other scholars think he was comparing himself to a farmer gathering crops.
Some ways to translate this are:
• Use the specific example of sheep. For example:
He who does not help me gather ⌊my sheep⌋ is scattering them.
• Use the specific example of crops. For example:
If you don’t gather in the crop with me, you scatter it. (Contemporary English Version)
• Use a more generic word for gather. For example:
anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me (New Living Translation (2004))
• Translate the nonfigurative meaning. This figure of speech means that if someone is not calling people to come to God, like Jesus is, he is actually pushing people away from God. For example:
He who does not help me gather ⌊people for God⌋ is scattering them ⌊so that they go away from God⌋.
Translate this figure of speech in a way that is most natural in your language.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.