Translation commentary on Luke 15:11 – 15:12

Exegesis:

eipen de ‘and he said,’ introducing a parable in the proper sense. The situation is the same as before.

(V. 12) kai eipen ho neōteros autōn tō patri ‘and the younger one of them said to his father.’ kai marks here the transition from description (v. 11) to action.

dos moi to epiballon meros tēs ousias ‘give me the part of the property that falls to me.’ epiballō means here ‘to fall to,’ or ‘to belong to’; hence to epiballon meros is ‘the part, or, share that is due’ (cf. Translator’s New Testament, “my due share”). For meros cf. on 12.46.

ousia (also v. 13) ‘property,’ equivalent to bios (below). For the much debated question whether a son could claim his part of an estate when his father was still alive, cf. commentaries. For translational purposes it is best to take the present tense of epiballon at face value and to understand the share as due at the time of claiming.

ho de dieilen autois ton bion ‘and he divided the property among them.’ For bios cf. on 8.43.

diaireō ‘to divide,’ ‘to distribute.’

Translation:

And he said, or ‘again he/Jesus said.’

(V. 12) The younger of them, or, ‘the/his younger son,’ ‘the younger-brother’ (e.g. in Batak Toba), ‘the second one’ (Northern Grebo).

Give me the share of property that falls to me presupposes that their property is to be divided, which may have to be made explicit, e.g. ‘divide the property and give me the part that I am entitled to,’ ‘gather up my birth portion and give me’ (Mossi). Give. A polite form is sometimes required, cf. e.g. ‘please-hand-out-now’ (West Nyanja). The share of property that falls to me, or, ‘my share of the/our (inclus.) property,’ ‘as many things as will become mine by you’ (Tzeltal), ‘the part of the good I must receive’ (Sranan Tongo), ‘our things that will be mine’ (Medumba), ‘the things (in contrast with somebody else’s things in the context) I am to have’ (Ekari); or making explicit the reference to inheritance, ‘my share of the things that I shall inherit’ (Shona 1966), ‘my part of what I inherited from my grandfather/ancestors’ (cf. Tae’ 1933). In some cultures, e.g. Lomwe, Yao, a father can only make a gift, but never can assign such a right; a slightly more generic rendering will be preferable then, e.g. ‘a part of the/your property.’ Elsewhere a man can leave his property only to his eldest son not to the younger ones, or to his sister’s not his own sons. I such cases a note may be advisable to explain that according to Jewish custom sons normally inherited their father’s property, the eldest obtaining double the portion assigned to his younger brothers, cf. Deut. 21.17.

He, i.e. the father, which usually has to be specified.

Divided his living between them, or, ‘between the two of them,’ ‘gave to each of them (or, of his sons) a part of his property/possessions.’

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 15:12

15:12a

The action of the story begins in this part of the verse. In some languages it may be good style to supply a general time phrase. For example:

One day

The younger son: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as The younger son means “The younger of the two sons.” In some languages it is necessary to indicate approximately how old the son was. If this is true in your language, you should use a word that applies to a man of about sixteen to twenty years old.

give me my share of the estate: In Greek, this was a request. It should not sound like a rude or abrupt command. In some languages it may be appropriate to supply a word such as “please.” Other ways to translate this request are given in the next note.

my share of the estate: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as my share of the estate means “that part of the family property that belongs to me.” Usually, sons received their portion of the family property when their father became very old or died. However, this son did not want to wait until his father died to inherit the property. He wanted to have his inheritance immediately.

In some languages it may be necessary to make explicit that the phrase my share of the estate refers to the portion that he would inherit from his father. It may also be necessary to indicate that the father would need to divide the property right then, before he died, in order to give this son his share. For example:

Please divide your wealth now and give me my share.
-or-
I want my share of your estate now before you die. (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Please give me now my share of the inheritance.

In some languages it may be more natural to leave more information implied here, since the next verse will supply some of that information. For example:

I would like to get my inheritance now.

In some languages it may be more natural to translate this request as indirect speech. See the second meaning line for 15:12a in the Display.

15:12b

So: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as So here introduces what his father did in response to his son’s request. In some languages it may be necessary to make it explicit that the father agreed to give his son his inheritance right away:

⌊His father agreed to do this⌋ and

he divided his property between them: According to Jewish custom, the older son received a share of the family property that was twice as large as that of any other son. So probably the younger son received a third of his father’s property. You may want to put this information in a footnote. Be careful not to translate divided in a way that implies dividing into two equal halves.

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