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The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as a form of “save” in English is translated in Shipibo-Conibo with a phrase that means literally “make to live,” which combines the meaning of “to rescue” and “to deliver from danger,” but also the concept of “to heal” or “restore to health.”

Other translations include:

  • San Blas Kuna: “help the heart”
  • Laka: “take by the hand” in the meaning of “rescue” or “deliver”
  • Huautla Mazatec: “lift out on behalf of”
  • Anuak: “have life because of”
  • Central Mazahua: “be healed in the heart”
  • Baoulé: “save one’s head”
  • Guerrero Amuzgo: “come out well”
  • Northwestern Dinka: “be helped as to his breath” (or “life”) (source for all above: Bratcher / Nida),
  • Matumbi: “rescue (from danger)” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
  • Noongar: barrang-ngandabat or “hold life” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • South Bolivian Quechua: “make to escape”
  • Highland Puebla Nahuatl: “cause people to come out with the aid of the hand” (source for this and one above: Nida 1947, p. 222)
  • Bariai: “retrieve one back” (source: Bariai Back Translation)

See also salvation and save (Japanese honorifics).

complete verse (Luke 18:26)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 18:26:

  • Noongar: “All the people listening to Jesus asked, ‘Then who can save his life?'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “All the people who heard the words of Yesus were surprised, they said: ‘If thus, who [in the world] can receive eternal life?'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “When the people heard what Isa said, they said, ‘Na, who can then go to heaven, if it is like that?'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And when the people heard this, they said, ‘If it’s not possible for a rich man, it must not be possible for anybody to come to own life which has no end.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “As for those who heard that, they said, ‘If that indeed is so, who perhaps can be saved?'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Those who heard that questioned, saying, ‘Well if it’s like that, that it’s hard for the rich to be saved who have big means, well who in fact can be saved? Isn’t it so that no-one can?'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 18:26 – 18:27

Exegesis:

eipan de hoi akousantes ‘those who heard (this) said,’ to each other, or to Jesus, preferably the latter.

kai tis dunatai sōthēnai ‘then who can be saved.’ kai at the beginning of a question expresses astonishment. sōthēnai means here ‘to attain salvation,’ cf. on 8.12.

(V. 27) ta adunata para anthrōpois ‘the things which are impossible with men, i.e. for men.’

adunatos ‘impossible,’ here used as a substantive.

dunata para tō theō estin ‘are possible for God.’ The clause is an answer to the question of v. 26 in the form of a general pronouncement.

Translation:

Who can be saved, or, ‘who can reach/acquire salvation’ (Balinese, Javanese).

(V. 27) What is impossible with men is possible with God, or, ‘things men cannot do, God can (do),’ or, ‘God is able to do what no men can do.’

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 18:26

Paragraph 18:26–30

18:26a

Those who heard this: The phrase Those who heard this refers to the people who were listening to Jesus.

asked: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as asked is literally “said.” It introduces a rhetorical question. If you translate it as a statement, it may be more natural to use a verb like “said.”

The text does not specify to whom the people were speaking. They may have been speaking directly to Jesus or more generally to anyone who was listening. If you must say whom the people were asking, you may want to supply a general phrase. For example:

The people who heard this asked ⌊each other⌋

18:26b

Who then can be saved?: This is probably a rhetorical question. It is an emphatic way to say, “If that is true, no one can be saved!” It expresses the people’s surprise at what Jesus said in 18:25.

Some ways to translate this to express emphasis and surprise are:

• As a rhetorical question. For example:

How can anyone ever be saved? (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Then can anyone be saved? ⌊It is impossible!⌋

• As a statement. For example:

Then ⌊we do not know⌋ how anyone can possibly be saved!
-or-

⌊If that is true,⌋ then God will not save anyone.

Translate this emphasis and surprise in a way that is natural in your language.

then: In this context the conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as then could also be translated as “in that case” or “if that is so/true.”

be saved: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as be saved means “to be rescued or preserved from harm.” In this context it refers to God allowing someone to enter his kingdom (18:25) and to receive eternal life.

In some languages, it may be necessary to make explicit what the person was saved from. For example:

saved ⌊from his sins that would prevent him from entering God’s kingdom⌋
-or-
rescued ⌊from God’s judgment/punishment⌋ ⌊and allowed to enter God’s kingdom⌋

The verb be saved is a passive verb. In some languages it is more natural to use an active verb and supply a subject. The implied subject is God. For example:

Whom then will ⌊God⌋ save?

See save, Meaning 2, in the Glossary.

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