παραδοθήσεται γὰρ τοῖς ἔθνεσιν καὶ ἐμπαιχθήσεται καὶ ὑβρισθήσεται καὶ ἐμπτυσθήσεται
32For he will be handed over to the gentiles, and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon.
The Greek that is translated in English as “spit” is translated in Chipaya as “eject saliva” (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.).
In Noongar it is narridja-kwarda or “spittle-throw” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
See also spit and touched and spit.
The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin that is often translated as “gentiles” (or “nations”) in English is often translated as a “local equivalent of ‘foreigners,'” such as “the people of other lands” (Guerrero Amuzgo), “people of other towns” (Tzeltal), “people of other languages” (San Miguel El Grande Mixtec), “strange peoples” (Navajo (Dinė)) (this and above, see Bratcher / Nida), “outsiders” (Ekari), “people of foreign lands” (Kannada), “non-Jews” (North Alaskan Inupiatun), “people being-in-darkness” (a figurative expression for people lacking cultural or religious insight) (Toraja-Sa’dan) (source for this and three above Reiling / Swellengrebel), “from different places all people” (Martu Wangka) (source: Carl Gross).
Tzeltal translates it as “people in all different towns,” Chicahuaxtla Triqui as “the people who live all over the world,” Highland Totonac as “all the outsider people,” Sayula Popoluca as “(people) in every land” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Chichimeca-Jonaz as “foreign people who are not Jews,” Sierra de Juárez Zapotec as “people of other nations” (source of this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), Highland Totonac as “outsider people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Uma as “people who are not the descendants of Israel” (source: Uma Back Translation), “other ethnic groups” (source: Newari Back Translation), and Yakan as “the other tribes” (source: Yakan Back Translation).
In Chichewa, it is translated with mitundu or “races.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
See also nations.
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 18:32:
Exegesis:
paradothēsetai gar tois ethnesin ‘for he will be handed over to the heathen.’ For paradidōmi cf. on 1.2 and 9.44. ta ethnē refers here specifically to the Roman authorities in Jerusalem. The agent of the verbal action may be God (as in 9.44) or the Jews, presumably the former because the handing over is a fulfilment of prophecy.
empaichthēsetai kai hubristhēsetai kai emptusthēsetai ‘he will be ridiculed and insulted and spat upon.’ The agent of these actions are the Romans. For empaizō cf. on 14.29; for hubrizō cf. on 11.45.
emptuō ‘to spit upon,’ as an act of humiliation.
(V. 33) kai mastigōsantes apoktenousin auton ‘and after flogging him they will kill him,’ shift from the passive to the active, the agent being the same.
mastigoō ‘to whip,’ ‘to flog.’
tē hēmera tē tritē anastēsetai ‘on the third day he will rise.’
Translation:
For he will be delivered and the Gentiles see 9.44 and 2.32 respectively.
And will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. Because the implied agent is different this part of the verse is usually better treated as a separate clause or sentence, where preferable in an active construction, e.g. ‘who (going with ‘the Gentiles’) will mock him…,’ or, ‘they/these people will mock him….’ — To mock, or, ‘to ridicule,’ “to jeer at” (Phillips), “to make fun of” (Good News Translation). To treat shamefully, or, ‘to insult,’ ‘to treat with arrogance/insolence.’
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.
18:32a
He will be delivered over to the Gentiles: The Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates as He will be delivered over to the Gentiles is a passive clause. Some ways to translate it are:
• As a passive clause. For example:
He will be handed over to foreigners. (God’s Word)
• As an active clause. For example:
⌊people/they⌋ will put the Son of Man into the power of the Gentiles
The text does not say explicitly who would hand Jesus over to the Gentiles. The context implies that it would be some of the Jews in Jerusalem. However, it is best to use a general term like “they” or “people.”
delivered over: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as delivered over means to deliver/give someone to his enemies so that the enemies gain power over him. Then the enemies can do whatever they want to him. It is the same word that is sometimes translated as “betray,” as in 22:4.
Many English versions use a figurative expression like delivered over or “turned over” here. Describe this action in a natural way in your language. Be careful not to use a term that implies that the people would use spiritual means such as magic to put Jesus into the power of his enemies. Also, do not use an expression that would imply that Jesus was guilty.
the Gentiles: The word Gentiles refers to people who are not Jewish. In this context it refers to the Romans who were ruling Israel at this time. Here is another way to translate this:
He will be handed over to the Romans (New Living Translation (2004))
18:32b
and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon: The phrase and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon describes what the Gentiles (Romans) would do to Jesus. It does not mean that the people who would deliver Jesus over to them would do these things.
will be mocked: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as mocked means “ridiculed.” People may ridicule someone by imitating him in a distorted way. They try to humiliate or shame him so that other people will not respect him. This is what the Roman soldiers would do to Jesus in 23:35–43.
insulted: The word insulted refers to saying or doing things to shame another person. Jesus would be insulted by people who would mistreat him and speak to him with contempt. Some other ways to translate this are:
mistreat him (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
will be…shamefully treated (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
will be…insulted (New Revised Standard Version)
and spit upon: In Jewish culture, spitting on a person, especially in the face, was one of the worst ways to insult him. People spit on a person to shame him and imply that he was completely worthless. If spitting on someone does not mean this in your culture, you may need to make this explicit. For example:
spit on him ⌊to shame him⌋
General Comment on 18:32a–b
In Greek the verbs in this section are all passive. If it is natural in your language, you could also use active verbs. For example:
He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him (New International Version)
Remember that in 18:32a–b Luke referred to two groups of people:
(a) “They” or “people” handed Jesus over to the Gentiles.
(b) Then the Gentiles (Romans) mocked, insulted, and spit on him.
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