Translation commentary on Luke 12:22

Exegesis:

eipen de pros tous mathētas ‘and he said to his disciples,’ after having addressed the crowds in vv. 15-21. The clause introduces a second inference from the parable in vv. 16-20, as shown by dia touto ‘therefore.’ For the subsequent legō humin cf. on 3.8.

mē merimnate tē psuchē ti phagēte ‘do not worry about the (i.e. your) life, what you are to eat.’ For merimnaō cf. on 10.41. tē psuchē (dative of reference) refers to physical life to be sustained by food.

mēde tō sōmati ti endusēsthe ‘nor about the (i.e. your) body, what you are to put on,’ with merimnate understood. The syntactic structure is the same as in the preceding clause. For enduō cf. on 8.27.

Translation:

To be anxious, see 10.41; the expression may have to be repeated before the clause about clothing, e.g. in Tzeltal.

About your life, what you shall eat, or with two verbs, ‘how to live and what to eat.’ To bring out that life has to be sustained by what one eats some versions have, ‘about your life, that is, what will be-used-as means-to-support-life (or, livelihood)’ (Balinese), or, more radically recasting the sentence structure, “about food to keep you alive” (New English Bible), ‘concerning the food that you must get in-order to live-by’ (Kituba). For food see 3.11.

About your body, what you shall put on. The structure should preferably parallel that of the preceding clause. To put on, or, ‘to wear (clothes),’ ‘to be clothed with.’

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 12:22

Section 12:22–34

Jesus encouraged his disciples to trust God to care for them

In the previous section Jesus told the crowd a parable to teach them not to be greedy. In this section he turned again to his disciples and taught them not to worry about the things they needed. Instead, they should think about the things that were important to God and share their possessions with the poor. God would provide what they needed.

Some other possible headings for this section are:

God’s Care For Those Who Trust In Him
-or-
Trust in God (Good News Translation)
-or-
Do not Worry (New International Version)

There is a parallel passage for this section in Matthew 6:25–34.

Paragraph 12:22–26

12:22a

Then Jesus said to His disciples: In the previous paragraph Jesus spoke to the crowd. Now he began to speak specifically to his disciples.

Therefore I tell you: In this context the clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Therefore I tell you introduces advice that Jesus was about to give to his disciples. The word Therefore shows that this advice was based on his teaching about the rich fool (12:21). The words I tell you indicate that the advice is important, and Jesus wanted to emphasize it. Other ways to translate the phrase in English are:

That is why I tell you (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Because of this, I now tell you

Translate the connection and the emphasis in a natural way in your language.

12:22b

do not worry about your life, what you will eat: The phrase your life, what you will eat refers to the food that they need to live. For example:

the food you need to stay alive (Good News Translation)

Jesus told his disciples that they should not be anxious about getting enough food to survive.

your life: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as life refers here to living in this world. It is the same word that was used in 12:20b.

12:22c

or about your body, what you will wear: This phrase tells another thing about which the disciples should not worry. They should also not worry about the clothes that they need to cover their bodies. Other ways to translate this are:

or about the clothes you need for your body (Good News Translation)
-or-
And do not be anxious over having enough clothes for your body

In some languages it may be unnatural or redundant to specify that clothes are for wearing on the body. If that is true in your language, you may leave the body implicit. For example:

or about what you will wear

General Comment on 12:22a–b

In some languages it may be more natural to connect food and clothes more closely and to leave some of the information implied. For example:

not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
stop worrying about what you will eat or wear (God’s Word)

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