complete verse (Luke 11:17)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 11:17:

  • Noongar: “But Jesus saw what they were thinking, so Jesus said to them, ‘If one country is divided and people of the country fight other people of the country, then that country will not stand long; if people of a family are divided, the family will be broken.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “But actually Yesus knew what was in their hearts. That is why he said to them: ‘For example, if a king and the people in his kingdom are always fighting/reciprocally-opposing, that kingdom will definitely fall/be destroyed. So also people in a family who are always fighting, they will definitely separate-apart.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But Isa knew what was in their minds therefore he said to them, ‘For example if there is a kingdom and it’s people fight against each other, eventually that kingdom will be destroyed. And if the (members of) a family oppose each other they also will be destroyed.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “However, Jesus realized what was inside their breath, and he said, ‘For example, if there is a king and his subjects are fighting each other, the power of that king will not last very long. If there is a head of a family and his subjects turn against each other, that family will fall apart.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But Jesus knew what was in their thoughts, so he said to them, ‘If the many-people in a town/country fight-each-other, that country will be ruined. So also a family, if they quarrel, they will separate.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But Jesus knew what they were thinking. That’s why he said to them, ‘Whatever kingdom which is not harmonious for its subjects are opposing one another, of course it won’t last. Like that too will happen to whatever household. As long as its people are divided because they are in conflict, of course it won’t last.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 11:17

Exegesis:

autos de ‘but he,’ emphatic.

eidōs autōn ta dianoēmata ‘knowing their thoughts,’ i.e. understanding what really was behind their utterances in vv. 15f.

dianoēma ‘(inner) thought.’

eipen autois ‘said to them.’ autois is best understood as referring both to tines (v. 15) and heteroi (v. 16).

pasa basileia eph’ heautēn diameristheisa ‘every kingdom divided against itself,’ i.e. the composing parts are divided against one another, rather than against the kingdom as a whole. Hence renderings like ‘disunited’ (cf. An American Translation), or ‘internally divided’ (cf. Brouwer).

diamerizō ‘to divide,’ both in a literal and in a figurative sense, ‘to separate,’ ‘to distribute.’

erēmoutai ‘is ruined,’ ‘becomes desolate.’

kai oikos epi oikon piptei ‘and (as a result) house falls on house,’ or, with diameristheis understood, ‘and house, i.e. family, divided against house falls,’ preferably the former.

Translation:

To know, i.e. ‘to be aware of,’ ‘not to be ignorant about’ (Javanese).

Their thoughts, cf. on 6.8.

Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, or, ‘every kingdom that is-divided, fighting the one the other, will be broken’ (Sranan Tongo), “kingdoms are brought to ruin by internal strive” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation).

And, resultative, ‘so that.’

House falls upon house, or e.g., ‘the houses collapse, fall on each other’ (Balinese, similarly Bahasa Indonesia RC).

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.