physician

The Greek that is translated as “physician” in English is translated in Jju as ba̱bvok or “diviners who used their witchcraft substance to harm others.” (Source: McKinney 2018, p. 216)

complete verse (Luke 8:43)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 8:43:

  • Noongar: “One woman walked among them. She was very sick and she had been bleeding for twelve years. She had used all her money for doctors, but not one could heal her.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “In the middle of the people, there was a woman, she had continually bled for twelve years, and there was not its stopping [it never stopped], although many had treated [lit, medicined] her.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Among the crowds of people there was a sick woman, she was always bleeding. She had had the sickness for twelve years now. She had already spent all her money for the doctors but nobody could heal her.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And there was there a woman who’d had great difficulty, because for twelve years now she had been bleeding and it would not stop. There was no one who could cure her.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “One of them was a woman whose flowing-out blood had not dried-up for twelve years. She was totally spent (of money) from what she had been paying those who medicined her, but no one was able-to-cure her.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “There was also a woman there who for twelve years had been bleeding abnormally. Even though she kept having herself treated no-one could stop it.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 8:43 – 8:44

Exegesis:

kai gunē … hēpsato ‘and a woman … touched.’ gunē and hēpsato are subject and main verb in a long sentence. With gunē go (a) ousa en rusei haimatos apo etōn dōdeka lit. ‘being in a hemorrhage since twelve years,’ conjunctive participle, and (b) hētis ouk ischusen ap’ oudenos therapeuthēnai ‘who could not be healed by any one’; (a) and (b) together serve to identify the woman by describing her hopeless plight. With the verb hēpsato goes the participle proselthousa opisthen ‘coming up behind,’ which describes the first stage of her action.

ousa en rusei haimatos ‘being in a flow of blood,’ i.e. ‘suffering from a hemorrhage.’

apo etōn dōdeka ‘since twelve years’ implying that the illness had begun twelve years ago and had lasted ever since.

hētis … ouk ischusen ap’ oudenos therapeuthēnai ‘who could not be healed by any one,’ or, “whom nobody had been able to cure” (An American Translation), in order to bring out the connotation of ‘being able,’ which ischuō often has (cf. on 6.48). For therapeuō cf. on 4.23.

[iatrois prosanalōsasa holon ton bion] ‘having spent all her property on physicians.’ The participle has concessive force.

bios ‘life,’ here ‘means of subsistence,’ ‘property.’

(V. 44) proselthousa opisthen ‘after coming up behind, or, from behind,’ in the latter case implying that she stayed behind him. opisthen also 23.26.

hēpsato tou kraspedou tou himatiou autou ‘touched the hem, or, tassel of his garment.’

kraspedon ‘hem,’ or, ‘tassel.’ The latter rendering is slightly preferable. Cf. also Num. 15.38ff and Deut. 22.12.

kai parachrēma estē hē rusis tou haimatos autēs ‘and immediately her hemorrhage stopped.’ The possessive genitive autēs goes with haimatos.

Translation:

The sentence structure of vv. 43f may have to be simplified, e.g. ‘among them (or, in the crowd) was a woman who had (or, a certain woman; she had) suffered from a flow of blood…; nobody had been able to cure her. (v. 44) She came up … and touched … At once her flow of blood ceased.’

Who had had a flow of blood. The Balinese nonvulgar term, ‘illness (that makes) ritually-impure,’ expresses a religious view that closely parallels biblical concepts: impurity according to Jewish ritual law was one of the reasons why the woman did not act openly.

To heal, here, of course, the recovery from a non-congenital disease is meant. In some cases a hemorrhage is not said to be ‘healed’ but to be ‘stopped’ (Toraja-Sa’dan, and cf. the Greek in v. 44).

(V. 44) Came up behind him, or, ‘approached him from behind,’ ‘was able to come near to his back,’ or more contextually, ‘made her way towards him from behind, or, at his back.’

Touched. The verb or verbal form used should express or imply an intentional act.

The fringe of his garment. The loose end of the rather short square upper-garment was usually thrown over the left shoulder, so that it came to hang on the upper part of the back; it will have been the ‘fringe’ or ‘tassel’ attached to this end, that the woman touched, since it was only this part of Jesus’ dress that could be reached in the situation described. A term suggesting a place low down (such as ‘foot of his robe,’ found in one version), should not be used. If fringe, or, ‘tassel,’ has to be described, one may say, ‘the loose threads at (or, that adorned) the hem, or, the end of his uppergarment.’ For garment cf. on “cloak” in 6.29.

Her flow of blood ceased, or, ‘the blood stopped to flow,’ ‘her blood dried up’ (Balinese), ‘her hemorrhage ceased’ (Nieuwe Vertaling), ‘her illness (or, she) was-healed’ (Tae’).

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 8:43

8:43a-b

This part of the verse begins a new story within the story about Jairus. It introduces the woman who is a very important person in this new story. It also gives background information about her.

including a woman: This part of the verse introduces the woman as an important person in the events that follow. Introduce her in a natural way in your language. For example:

Among them was a woman who (Good News Translation)
-or-
In the crowd was a woman who (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Meanwhile, a woman had come into the crowd. She

who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as who had suffered from bleeding is literally “being in a flow of blood.” It means that the woman had a sickness that caused her to bleed from her womb/uterus at times when it was not normal. Other ways to translate this are:

who bled from her womb for twelve years without stopping
-or-
who had had a female disorder for twelve years

In some cultures it may be unacceptable to mention a condition like this explicitly. If this is true in your language, here are two other ways to translate this:

• Use a euphemism that is clearly understood and is suitable for public reading.

• Use a more general expression. For example:

had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
had been bleeding for twelve years (Contemporary English Version)

The woman was unclean according to the law of Moses because of the bleeding that was caused by her sickness. You may want to include a footnote in your translation to give information about this. For example:

According to the law of Moses (Leviticus 15:19–30), a woman was considered ritually unclean when she was menstruating. She was also considered ritually unclean when she was bleeding from her womb because of other causes.

8:43c

There is a textual issue here.

(1) Some Greek manuscripts do not include the words “she had spent all she had on doctors.” For example:

And a woman who had had a flow of blood for twelve years and could not be healed by any one… (Revised Standard Version)

(Revised Standard Version, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Standard Bible, Revised English Bible, NET Bible, God’s Word, New Century Version, New Living Translation (2004))

(2) Other Greek manuscripts include these words. For example:

Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years; and though she had spent all she had on physicians, no one could cure her. (New Revised Standard Version)

(Berean Standard Bible, Good News Translation, King James Version, New Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version, Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation (1996))

It is recommended that you follow option (1), as a slight majority of English versions do. However, if the national language version in your area follows option (2), consider following that option. It is good to include a footnote to mention the option that you do not follow. For example:

Some early Greek manuscripts of this verse include/exclude the words “she had spent all she had on doctors.”

8:43d

but: The Berean Standard Bible has supplied the word but. There is no connector in the Greek text, and it is probably not necessary in this context.

no one was able to heal her: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as no one was able to heal her is passive. It is literally “she could not be healed by anyone.” Translate this in a way that is natural in your language. Some ways to translate this verb are:

• As a passive verb. For example:

and could not be healed by anyone (Revised Standard Version)

• As an active verb. For example:

No one could cure her. (God’s Word)

© 2009, 2010, 2013 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.