complete verse (Luke 5:9)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 5:9:

  • Noongar: “Simon and the others were surprised because they had caught many fish.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “Simon spoke like that, because he and all his companions were terrified to see the manyness of the fish that were caught in their nets.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “For he and his companions wondered much about the many fish they had caught (eddo’-get, fetch).” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Now the reason he said this was because his eyes were really amazed at the fish they had caught, and it was just the same with their companions.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “That’s what he said, because he and his companions were amazed (empathy particle) at the quantity of what they had netted.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Simon Pedro spoke like that because he was amazed, as were his companions in that boat, because they had been able to get such a lot of fish so quickly.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 5:9 – 5:10

Exegesis:

thambos gar perieschen auton ‘for astonishment had seized him.’ The reference is to the state in which he speaks, hence ‘he was astonished.’ For thambos cf. on 4.36.

periechō ‘to seize,’ ‘to come upon.’

kai pantas tous sun autō ‘and all the men with him,’ i.e. the men who were with Simon in the same boat.

epi tē agra tōn ichthuōn hōn sunelabon ‘at the catch of fishes which they had taken.’ The relative pronoun goes with ichthuōn and agra has the same meaning as in v. 4 where it is to be understood in an active sense, and the genitive ichthuōn is objective. If the reading hē (cf. Nestle) is accepted agra is indirectly the object of sunelabon and is to be understood in a concrete sense, ‘catch,’ i.e. the thing caught, and the genitive ichthuōn is genitive of content.

hoi ēsan koinōnoi tō Simōni ‘who were partners of Simon’s.’ The phrase refers to the same persons as tois metochois in v. 7, i.e. to the people who came in the other boat. The two terms are nearly synonymous, the difference being that metochos stresses the fact of having something in common and koinōnos (when used with dative) the fact of belonging together, but the difference should not be pressed.

Translation:

For, or, to make a better translation, ‘thus his words, because’ (Balinese).

He was astonished … at, see on “wondered at” in 1.21.

All that were with him, or, ‘all his mates/companions,’ ‘all those in his boat.’

The catch of fish which they had taken. The extraordinary character of the catch may be brought out by the use of a demonstrative pronoun, e.g. ‘such a catch of fish…’ (cf. Ekari), or more explicitly by saying, ‘their taking such-a-number of fish’ (Javanese, similarly Santali), ‘because they had caught so may fish.’

(V. 10a) James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Another phrase order may be more idiomatic in the receptor language, e.g. ‘Simon’s partners J. and J., Z.’s sons’ (Batak Toba), ‘the two children of Z., J. and J., the companions of S.’ (Toraja-Sa’dan, similarly Ekari). Partners, or, ‘those associated with’ (Balinese); the rendering often has to coincide with that of Gr. metochoi in v. 7, as e.g. in Revised Standard Version, New English Bible, Tae,’ Santali.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Luke 5:9

5:9

For: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible and most English versions translate as For introduces the reason why Simon said what he did in 5:8. The miracle of the large catch of fish showed Simon that he was with a holy, powerful man from God.

his companions: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as his companions is literally “all the ones with him.” This refers to his fellow fishermen who were in his boat with him.

Some other ways to translate this are:

everyone who was with him (God’s Word)
-or-
the other fishermen (New Century Version)

astonished: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as astonished usually describes amazement and awe. It is used to describe someone who sees or experiences something very unusual. This unusual thing is often caused by divine power. The fishermen were very surprised, amazed, and even afraid. There was no way to explain the number of fish they had caught apart from a miracle.

Some other ways to translate this are:

amazed (God’s Word)
-or-
completely surprised (Contemporary English Version)

at the catch of fish they had taken: The fishermen were astonished that they had caught fish during the day. They were especially astonished that they had caught so many fish. You may want to make this explicit in your translation. For example:

at the large number of fish they had caught (Good News Translation)
-or-
at the catch of so many fish

at: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as at here means “because of” or “on the basis/account of.” It introduces the reason why Simon Peter and his companions were astonished.

the catch of fish they had taken: Here the word catch is a noun. This word means something that is caught or taken. So it may be redundant in some languages to translate explicitly the clause they had taken. If that is the true of your language, you could consider translating this simply as:

at their enormous catch of fish
-or-
that they had caught ⌊so many⌋ fish

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