complete verse (Luke 11:35)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 11:35:

  • Noongar: “Jesus told them this parable: ‘One blind man can’t go in front of another person. If he does this, both people will fall into a hole.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “So also with our hearts. We must be very careful: if the Lord shines-on our hearts, let us not make-them-dark again.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Therefore be careful so that your thinking is not at fault. Perhaps you think that it is light in your body, and-what-would-you-know, it is dark, surprise.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “It’s just the same way with a lamp of the mind of a person, which is to say, his understanding what’s right. It is necessary that this is not overcome by evil.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Be careful then lest you (sing.) think your (sing.) mind is lighted-up but sure-enough it’s dark.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Therefore it’s necessary that you be careful, for maybe as for that light which you are sure of, maybe it’s still darkness, for maybe your mind/thinking hasn’t yet been enlightened concerning the will of God.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 11:35

Exegesis:

skopei oun mē to phōs to en soi skotos estin ‘consider, then, whether the light in you is not darkness,’ or, ‘be careful lest the light in you be darkness,’ preferably the former since estin is in the indicative.

skopeō ‘consider,’ ‘look out.’

skotos ‘darkness,’ here used emphatically instead of the adjective skoteinos.

Translation:

Be careful lest, preferably, ‘consider whether,’ ‘think (carefully) whether,’ ‘ask yourself whether perhaps.’

The light in you, or, ‘the light you have in you,’ ‘what is bright about you’ (Nieuwe Vertaling).

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.