Translation commentary on Luke 15:5 – 15:6

Exegesis:

kai heurōn epitithēsin epi tous ōmous autou chairōn ‘and when he has found (it) he puts it on his shoulders rejoicing.’ The question of v. 4 changes into a story, describing what happens when the lost sheep is found and leading up to the application in v. 7. chairōn serves to colour the whole clause (cf. 19.6; Acts 8.39), and explains the rather unusual act of carrying the lost sheep (cf. Lagrange).

(V. 6) kai elthōn eis ton oikon ‘and when he has come home,’ without paying further attention to the sheep left behind in the pasture land.

sugkalei tous philous kai tous geitonas ‘he calls together his friends and neighbours,’ i.e. for a celebration. For sugkaleō cf. on 9.1.

sugcharēte moi ‘rejoice with me,’ cf. on 1.58.

to probaton mou to apolōlos ‘my sheep which was lost.’ to apolōlos is emphatic.

Translation:

To lay on the shoulders, or, ‘to carry on the shoulder(s) (or, on the back of the neck, or, on the back),’ is expressed by one verb in some languages.

Rejoicing, or, ‘because he-rejoices’ (Sundanese); or with a further shift, “he is so happy that he puts it on his shoulders” (Good News Translation); “how delighted he is then! He lifts it on to his shoulders…” (New English Bible).

(V. 6) He calls together, i.e. ‘in his house’; hence ‘he invites’ (Bahasa Indonesia) is possible also.

For neighbours and for rejoice with me, sometimes a reciprocal expression, e.g. ‘let us rejoice with each other,’ cf. also 1.58.

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 15:6

15:6a

and calls together his friends and neighbors: This clause indicates that he invites his friends and neighbors to come to his house, probably for a feast or celebration.

neighbors: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as neighbors refers to the people who lived nearby.

15:6b

to tell them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost sheep!’: In some languages it may be more natural to use indirect speech and to say:

…and he will invite them to rejoice with him, because he has found his missing sheep.

to tell them: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as to tell them is literally “saying.” It introduces what the shepherd said to his friends and neighbors. He may have said this as his invitation to them or in addition to other words of invitation.

Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost sheep!: The Greek text connects these two clauses with a conjunction that is often translated as “because.” The shepherd had found his sheep, and that was the reason why he wanted to rejoice:

Rejoice with me for/because I have found my lost sheep.

In some languages it may be necessary to reverse the order of the two clauses:

I have found my lost sheep! ⌊So come,⌋ rejoice with me!

Rejoice with: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Rejoice with means “be happy with” or “be glad with.”

© 2009, 2010, 2013 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.