Scriptures Plain & Simple (Luke 2:8-20)

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 2:8-20:

At night in the fields near Bethlehem,
       some shepherds were guarding their sheep,
when suddenly an angel came down from the Lord,
       and the glory of the Lord flashed all around.

The shepherds were shaken, but the angel encouraged them,
“Don’t be afraid! I have good news for you —
       news that will bring happiness to all who hear.
Today a Savior was born for you in King David’s hometown.
This Savior is Christ the Lord, and you’ll recognize him —
       he’s a newborn baby on a bed of hay.”

At that very moment a multitude of angels
       descended from heaven, singing:
“Praise! Shout praises to God in heaven!
       Peace to everyone who pleases God!”

After the angels had returned to heaven,
the shepherds said to each other,
       “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see what this is all about.”
They wasted no time, and when they arrived,
Mary and Joseph were there —
       and a newborn baby on a bed of hay.

The shepherds told the baby’s parents
       what the angel had said about Jesus.
They and everyone else were surprised,
but Mary kept all this in mind
       and never stopped wondering what it meant.

With praises to God flowing from their lips,
       the shepherds returned to their sheep.
Everything had happened exactly as the angel had said.

Translation commentary on Luke 2:9

Exegesis:

aggelos kuriou, cf. on 1.11.

epestē autois ‘stood by them,’ denoting a movement towards the shepherds, hence “came upon them” (Translator’s New Testament), and implying a note of suddenness.

ephistēmi usually in present or aorist tense only, ‘to stand by,’ ‘to approach,’ ‘to appear,’ often of the appearing of divine beings in dreams and visions.

doxa kuriou perielampsen autous ‘the splendour of the Lord shone around them.’

doxa ‘brightness,’ ‘splendour,’ ‘magnificence,’ ‘honour’; here it appears visibly as a radiant light, cf. Zürcher Bibel, Lichtglanz. In the Septuagint doxa kuriou translates kavod yahwe(h), God’s visible presence, cf. e.g. Ex. 16.10; 24.16; 40.34f.

perilampō ‘to shine around someone.’

kai ephobēthēsan phobon megan lit. ‘and they feared (with) a great fear’; phobon megan is accusative of content (cf. on v. 8) and here has the function of an adverb of degree, cf. “greatly afraid” (Translator’s New Testament).

Translation:

For the Lord (also in vv. 15, 22ff, 26, 29, 39) see on 1.6 sub (c).

Appeared to them. The verb (in the original differing from the one used in 1.11) has also been rendered, ‘came and stood at the side (or, in the midst, or, in front) of’ (cf. Sranan Tongo, Kannada, Tboli).

The glory of the Lord shone around them, or more analytically, ‘shone-on them, it surrounded them’ (Kituba). Often the expression usually rendering glory clearly conveys the concept of ‘brightness,’ ‘radiance’; then it may be better to render the verb simply by ‘was around them,’ ‘enveloped/surrounded them,’ cf. ‘great the brightness … all around them’ (Tboli). Elsewhere the usual rendering does not go idiomatically with ‘to shine’; then it may be possible to say, ‘the radiance of the majesty … shone-on them all-around’ (Balinese), or to shift to a simile, e.g. ‘the greatness/majesty … was around (or, enveloped) them like a flame/radiance.’

They were filled with fear, or, ‘they became very afraid,’ refers to the effect of the two preceding events; hence a connective like, ‘therefore,’ ‘consequently,’ ‘so’ (cf. Javanese, Batak Toba).

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 2:9

2:9a

Just then This verse begins with a Greek conjunction that is often translated as “and.” Many English versions translate it that way. Some other versions translate it as “then” to show that this is the next thing that happened in the story. The Berean Standard Bible translates it as Just then to show that this next event happened suddenly. Other English versions do not translate this conjunction.

an angel of the Lord: Here the phrase an angel of the Lord refers to an angel whom God had sent. This same expression occurs in 1:11a.

angel: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as angel means “messenger.” It refers here to a spirit-being who serves God. God sent an angel to tell a message to these shepherds. Some ways to translate this term are:

• Use a descriptive word or phrase. For example:

messenger ⌊from God/heaven⌋
-or-

⌊good/holy⌋ spirit-being
-or-
spirit-being servant of God

• Use a local term that fits the biblical meaning.

• In some areas the churches may use a borrowed term or a transliterated word for “angel.” If some people do not understand the right meaning from this word, you may need to indicate the meaning. For example:

an angelos messenger ⌊from God⌋
-or-
a sacred angelos spirit

Be sure that your term for “angel” is different from your terms for “prophet” and “apostle.” See angel, Meaning 1, in the Glossary.

stood before them: In this context, the Greek term that the Berean Standard Bible translates as stood before means that the angel appeared to the shepherds and that the shepherds had not seen him approaching. Many English versions, such as the New International Version, the English Standard Version, and the NET Bible, translated this as “appeared.” In some languages, a word such as “suddenly” or “unexpectedly” may help to express this idea. For example:

An angel from the Lord suddenly appeared to them. (God’s Word)
-or-
They suddenly saw an angel whom God had sent to them.

before them: The Greek text indicates that the angel appeared to the shepherds, but it does not specify whether the angel appeared in front of the shepherds or beside them. If you say “appeared” in your translation, you may wish to say simply “to.”

2:9b

glory of the Lord: Here the word glory refers to the Lord’s “majesty” or “greatness.” This “majesty” or “greatness” appeared to the shepherds as brightness like the shining of a very bright light. It was not normal light, but a special type of light.

Some ways to translate the phrase glory of the Lord here are:

majesty/greatness of the Lord
-or-
brightness of the Lord
-or-
bright light from the Lord
-or-
the light of the Lord

See also the word glory, sense A2, in Key Biblical Terms. See Lord, Context 2, in the Glossary.

shone around them: Some other ways to say shone around them are:

shined over/on them
-or-
illuminated/illumined the place where they were
-or-
filled the area with light (God’s Word)

2:9c

they were terrified: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as they were terrified is literally “they feared a great fear.” Some other ways to say this are:

they were very afraid
-or-
they feared greatly
-or-

⌊this⌋ really frightened/scared them

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