foolish people

The Greek that is translated as “(you) foolish people” or “(you) foolish ones” is (back-) translated in a number of ways:

  • Ekari: “thought not (having) people”
  • Kituba, Sinhala, Marathi, Javanese: “people without sense/understanding/intelligence”
  • San Blas Kuna: “people having a dark liver” (“incapable of intelligent, thoughtful behavior”) (See Seat of the Mind for traditional views of “ways of knowing, thinking, and feeling.”)
  • Batak Toba: “those short-of-mind” (“mostly referring to stupidity or ignorance in general”)
  • Zarma: a word indicating a person who refuses to use the intelligence he has
  • Chichewa, Yao: expressions implying intractability and willful opposition to common interests or commonly accepted ideas (source for this and above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Mairasi: “(you are) beeswax” (source: Enggavoter 2004)

See also insane / fool.

complete verse (Luke 11:40)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 11:40:

  • Noongar: “You stupid people! God makes the outside part. God also makes the inside part, doesn’t he?” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “You are very foolish! Was it only our bodies that the Lord created? Did he not also create our hearts?” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “You are foolish. Don’t you know that God did not just create what is seen on the outside but he also created the inside which is not seen?” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “God who created the outside of your body created also your breath and your mind, and it’s necessary that your breath and your mind is clean, just like the outside of your body.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “You foolish-ones! God who made our bodies, he also of course made our minds, isn’t that so?” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “You must be simple/stupid, for isn’t it so that the one who made your body is the same as who made the mind/inner-being? Of course he wants all to be clean.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 11:40

Exegesis:

aphrones ‘you fools!’

aphrōn (also 12.2) ‘fool,’ ‘ignorant,’ here used as a substantive indicating culpable ignorance and carrying a strong note of reproach (cf. Translator’s New Testament, Glossary, p. 79).

ouch ho poiēsas to exōthen kai to esōthen epoiēsen ‘did not he who made the outside make the inside also?’ ouch at the beginning of an interrogative clause suggests that an affirmative answer is expected.

Translation:

You fools, or, ‘fools that you are!,’ ‘what fools you are!.’ Fools, or, ‘thought not (having) people’ (Ekari), ‘people without sense/understanding/intelligence’ (Kituba, Sinhala, Marathi, Javanese), ‘people having a dark liver’ (San Blas Kuna), ‘those short-of-mine’ (Batak Toba), mostly referring to stupidity or ignorance in general. Some versions use renderings more specifically expressing guilt and/or reproach, e.g. ‘who don’t know anything,’ a strong term of rebuke (Tzeltal), or a word indicating a person who refuses to use the intelligence he has (Zarma), or expressions implying intractability and wilful opposition to common interests or commonly accepted ideas (East Nyanja, Yao).

Made … make. Since the implied agent is God some versions use their rendering for ‘to create,’ e.g. Javanese, Batak Toba; cf. also “did not the Creator of the outside make the inside too?” (An American Translation, 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.