Translation commentary on Luke 22:17

Exegesis:

dexamenos potērion eucharistēsas eipen ‘when he had received a cup he gave thanks and said.’ The lack of a connective between the two participles dexamenos and eucharistēsas shows that the latter is to be taken closely with the main verb eipen. dexamenos implies that Jesus was handed a cup.

labete touto ‘take this,’ in the plural, implying that the cup will be taken by each in turn.

diamerisate eis heautous ‘distribute it among yourselves,’ referring to the content of the cup, and implying that each was to drink from the cup in turn. For diamerizō cf. on 11.17.

Translation:

He took a cup, preferably, ‘he received/accepted a cup,’ ‘after having-been-offered a cup’ (Javanese), ‘after they had handed him a cup.’ For cup one may use local equivalents such as, ‘half coconut shell for-drinking’ (Tae’), ‘hollowed-out gourd’ (Shona 1966); and cf. on 11.39.

When he had given thanks, i.e. to God, which may have to be made explicit. For the verb cf. on 2.38.

Divide (or, share) it among yourselves, or, ‘drink-it-together’ (Shona 1966), ‘pass-it-round in-order-that all (of-you) partake (of it)’ (Balinese), ‘pass-this-from-one-to-another for you all to drink’ (Tzeltal), ‘drink it and give-to-each-other’ (Zarma). The rendering chosen should not give the impression that Jesus himself did not drink from the cup.

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.

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