Zacchaeus

The name that is transliterated as “Zacchaeus” in English is translated in Finnish Sign Language with the sign signifying “short” (referring to Luke 19:3). (Source: Tarja Sandholm)


“Zacchaeus” in Finnish Sign Language (source )

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

See also Zacchaeus (image), So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him (image), and Goliath.

complete verse (Luke 19:1)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 19:1:

  • Noongar: “Jesus went to Jericho, passing through the town.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “At the time that Yesus arrived in the town of Yerikho, he kept on walking passing through that town.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Isa entered the town of Ariha and passed through the middle of town.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And Jesus and company arrived at the town of Jericho, and they passed through it on their way.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “As plural Jesus were walking through Jerico,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Jesus reached the city of Jerico for the trail he was walking along went-right-by there.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Honorary "rare" construct denoting God (“passing”)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, tōtteo-rare-ru (通っておられる) or “passing” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Scriptures Plain & Simple (Luke 19:1-10)

Barclay Newman, a translator on the teams for both the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version, translated passages of the New Testament into English and published them in 2014, “in a publication brief enough to be non-threatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and un-believers alike.” The following is the translation of Luke 19:1-10:

Zacchaeus lived in Jericho and was rich — yet he was hated,
       because he collected taxes for the Roman authorities.

Somehow Zacchaeus found out
that Jesus was passing through Jericho,
       and he wanted to see what he was like.
Crowds covered every inch of the ground,
and since Zacchaeus was short and couldn’t see the road,
       he climbed up a big tree and waited.
Jesus spotted him in the tree and shouted,
       “Zacchaeus, come down! I want to visit with you today.”
Zacchaeus scampered down and greeted Jesus with a smile.

But jealousy took control of the crowds, and they grumbled,
“This guy Zacchaeus is scum!
       Is Jesus really going to eat with him?”

When Zacchaeus got up from the meal, he said to Jesus,
“Lord, I promise to give half of my property to the poor,
       and to everyone I’ve ever cheated,
       I’ll pay back four times as much.”

“Now you and your family are acceptable to God!” said Jesus.
“Indeed you are truly a son of your ancestor Abraham.
       I came to look for and to save people that others reject.”

Translation commentary on Luke 19:1

Exegesis:

kai eiselthōn diērcheto tēn Ierichō ‘and after entering Jericho he passed through it.’ diērcheto is durative imperfect. The verse sets the scene for the subsequent events. For dierchomai cf. on 2.15.

Translation:

Was passing through, or, ‘made his way through it,’ ‘passed in the midst of the town’ (Tae’), implying that Jesus did not stay in the city but entered it only to leave it at the other end.

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 19:1

Section 19:1–10

Zacchaeus the tax collector began to follow Jesus

In the preceding section Jesus was approaching Jericho. In this section he entered Jericho and met a tax collector named Zacchaeus.

The Jews thought that the tax collectors were more sinful than other people. Most tax collectors cheated their own Jewish people by charging them more money than they actually owed. The tax collectors also worked with government officials who were not Jews, so the Jews assumed that tax collectors were often ritually unclean. While they were ritually unclean, they were not able to enter the temple or synagogue to worship God publicly. If another Jew entered a tax collector’s house or ate with him while he was unclean, that Jew also would become unclean.

The city of Jericho, where Zacchaeus worked, was a busy trading center. People were required to pay taxes on things that they sold. A chief tax collector like Zacchaeus could easily become rich through collecting taxes there.

You may want to include footnotes in your translation to help readers understand this background information. Suggested footnotes are given at 19:2b, Paragraph 19:5–7, and 19:7b.

Jesus was a Jew, but he went to Zacchaeus’ house and ate a meal with him. During that time, Zacchaeus repented of his sins and received salvation.

Other examples of headings for this section are:

Jesus and Zacchaeus (Good News Translation)
-or-
Jesus went to Zacchaeus’ house
-or-
Jesus ate with Zacchaeus the tax collector

Only the Gospel of Luke tells about this event. The other gospels do not mention it.

Paragraph 19:1–4

19:1

Then: This verse begins a new section. The events in this section probably happened soon after the events in the preceding section. In some languages it may be helpful to introduce this story with a time word or phrase. The Berean Standard Bible does that by translating the Greek conjunction at the start of the verse as Then. Some other ways to do this in English are:

Soon after that
-or-
After that

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through: Jesus went through Jericho on his way to Jerusalem. The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as was passing through indicates that Jesus had begun to walk through Jericho but he had not left the city yet. Here are some other ways to translate was passing through in this context:

Jesus was going through Jericho… (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Entering Jericho he made his way through the city. (Revised English Bible)
-or-
Jesus went into Jericho and had not walked out yet.

Jesus: Since this is a new section, the Berean Standard Bible uses Jesus’ name to refer to him. The name also distinguishes Jesus from the blind man, who was the subject in 18:43. The Greek text has “he.” The Revised Standard Version and several other English versions use this pronoun rather than the name “Jesus.” Refer to Jesus here in a natural way in your language.

Jesus was still traveling with his disciples and a crowd of people. In some languages it may be necessary to include that information here. For example:

And Jesus and company arrived
-or-
Jesus ⌊and his disciples/followers⌋

Jericho: Jericho was the name of a city that was northeast of Jerusalem. For more information, see the note in 18:35a.

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