Translation commentary on Luke 4:20

Exegesis:

Kai ptuxas to biblion apodous tō hupēretē ‘and having rolled up the book (and) having given (it) back to the attendant,’ asyndetic clause of two conjunctive participles indicating two subsequent acts preceding the act of the main verb. Both participles have the same object, i.e. to biblion. Most translations resolve the participles into two verbal clauses, co-ordinate with one another and with the main verb (cf. Revised Standard Version).

ptussō ‘fold up,’ ‘roll up,’ cf. Plummer.

apodidōmi ‘give (away),’ ‘give back,’ cf. Plummer.

hupēretēs ‘servant,’ cf. on 1.2, here ‘attendant’ of the synagogue, cf. IDB IV, 489 on Hazzan.

ekathisen ‘he sat down,’ ingressive aorist of kathizō ‘to sit,’ ‘to sit down.’ In the synagogue the teacher used to sit down on a chair while speaking.

kai pantōn hoi ophthalmoi en tē sunagōgē ‘and the eyes of all in the synagogue,’ instead of hoi ophthalmoi pantōn tōn en tē sunagōgē. pantōn is emphatic by position.

ēsan atenizontes auto ‘were fixed on him,’ periphrastic construction without special meaning or emphasis.

atenizō (also 22.56) with dative ‘to look intently at.’

Translation:

And. The transition may have to be rendered more fully, ‘having done so,’ ‘after he had read these verses.’

He closed the book, see on its counterpart in v. 17.

Attendant. Sometimes a specific term for ‘attendant in church/mosque/temple’ is employed, e.g. in Sranan Tongo, Sundanese. Where a rather generic term such as ‘servant,’ ‘guard,’ is used, a qualification may be required, e.g. ‘guard of the meeting-house’ (Toraja-Sa’dan).

He sat down, or, ‘he sat down there,’ ‘he sat down to teach’ (Tabasco Chontal), to show he did not go back to where he had been sitting first.

The eyes of all … were fixed on him, or, ‘everyone … peered, or looked-intently at him.’ In Marathi or Ekari it is idiomatic to say that one ‘nails, respectively, kills, one’s eyes on a person.’

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 4:20

Paragraph 4:20–22

4:20a

Then: This verse begins with a Greek conjunction that is often translated as “and.” Some English versions, such as the English Standard Version, translate it that way. Other versions, such as the New Living Translation (2004) and Good News Translation, do not translate this conjunction here. However, since the events in this paragraph occurred immediately after the events in 4:16–19, in some languages, it may be natural to begin this paragraph with a time word or phrase. The Berean Standard Bible and several other English versions (New International Version, NET Bible) use the word “then.” Another way to translate this is:

After that

Begin this paragraph in a way that is natural in your language.

He rolled up the scroll: When Jesus had finished reading the passage from Isaiah, he rolled up the scroll on which it was written. He did this so that he could give the scroll to someone to put in the place where they kept it.

Make sure that the verb you choose matches the way you translate “scroll.” If you translated scroll as “book” in 4:17a, use an appropriate verb in your language. For example:

He shut/closed the book

4:20b

attendant: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as attendant refers to the man serving at the synagogue during this Sabbath meeting. This attendant was probably the same person who handed Jesus the scroll in 4:17a.

Some other ways to translate attendant are:

assistant (New Century Version)
-or-
helper
-or-
man serving ⌊at the synagogue⌋

4:20c

and sat down: It was the Jewish custom for a teacher to sit down while he taught. So the words sat down imply that Jesus was ready to start teaching. They do not imply that he was finished with what he wanted to do.

In some languages, it may be necessary to make this explicit. For example:

sat down ⌊to begin teaching⌋

4:20d

The eyes of everyone…were fixed on Him: The clause The eyes of everyone…were fixed on Him is an idiom. It means that everyone was concentrating on Jesus. The people in the synagogue were all giving Jesus their full attention. They wanted to hear what he would say next.

Some other ways to translate this are:

Everyone…watched him closely. (God’s Word)
-or-
Everyone…stared at him intently. (New Living Translation (1996))

in the synagogue: The word synagogue refers to the same building in Nazareth as is mentioned in 4:16b. It was the place where the people gathered to pray, read Scripture, teach their beliefs, and worship God. For more information, see the note on “synagogues” at 4:15a and synagogue in the Glossary.

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