3Therefore whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops.
The Greek that is translated in English “housetops” or similar in English is translated in Central Mazahua as “where you meet your fellowmen,” in Sranan Tongo as “street corners,” and in Batak Toba as “the place under the tree” (i.e. a place outside the village, where people gather to discuss public matters.) (Source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
In Enlhet, “shouting from the housetops” “does not mean ‘a public announcement’ but rather ‘an omen announcing an evil spirit attack upon the village.’ The public announcement is expressed with a different form to announce in front of the house.” (Source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1971, p. 169ff. )
Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 12:3:
Noongar: “Because what you say in the dark of night will be heard in the light of day, and words you whisper (lit.: “silent talk”) in a secret place will be shouted from the top of the house.'” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Uma: “So, what you say in the night will definitely be exposed in the daytime. And what you whisper to friends/companions in a locked house, will definitely be announced all through the town.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Whatever you tell at night, will be heard when it is day. Whatever you whisper in the room, will be spread to the people in the market.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Everything which you whisper at night will be heard in the day time, and anything that you say in secret in your room, it will be known by the many people in the market.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “So even anything that you have said at night will become known in the day, and what you have been whispering in a room with closed-door will be shouted so the many-people will hear.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “For whatever you say in the dark, it’s like it’s being received/reached-out-for(fig.) in the light-place. What you whisper inside will be shouted out to the people.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
anth’ hōn ‘for,’ cf. on 1.20, here used in a somewhat weakened sense.
hosa en tē skotia eipate ‘whatever you have said in the dark.’ hosa is stronger than the simple relative pronoun which is used in the next clause.
skotia ‘darkness,’ here used in the sense of ‘night.’
en tō phōti akousthēsetai ‘will be heard in the light,’ i.e. because it will be repeated. en tō phōti means ‘in the light of the day.’
ho pros to ous elalēsate en tois tameiois ‘what you have said into the ear (of somebody) in the inner rooms.’ pros to ous qualifies elalēsate as meaning ‘you have whispered,’ cf. Revised Standard Version.
tameion (also v. 24) ‘storeroom,’ here ‘secret room,’ or ‘inner room.’
kēruchthēsetai epi tōn domatōn ‘will be proclaimed on the housetops.’ kērussō is here (as in 8.39) to be understood in the sense of telling publicly. For dōma cf. on 5.19. The housetops are mentioned here as the place from which a speaker is heard best.
Translation:
Whatever …, or. ‘when you said something it shall be heard….’
In the dark … in the light, or, ‘at night time … in day time’ (Kekchi, similarly Tae’).
Shall be heard … proclaimed, or, ‘people will hear … people/they will proclaim.’
In private rooms, or, ‘behind closed doors’ (Dios Habla Hoy), ‘in the sleeping-room’ (Sranan Tongo, Toraja-Sa’dan, Javanese), ‘in the sleeping-house’ (Balinese, using the term for the only closed building in a compound), ‘underneath the granary’ (Shona 1966, there being no really private rooms in traditional Shona houses).
Whispered, i.e. spoken softly and to one or only a few persons.
Proclaimed. The reference is to speaking loudly (cf. “shouted”, New English Bible) and publicly to many persons, cf. also note on 4.18.
The housetops, or, ‘the roof(-top)/upper-storey, or, the ridge of the house/hut-roof’ (cf. e.g. Tzeltal, Bahasa Indonesia; Kele, Lomwe). Such renderings, however, will not do where people cannot imagine a person proclaiming on or from such a place; hence functional renderings such as, ‘the meeting places’ (Shona 1966), ‘where you meet your fellowmen’ (Central Mazahua), or cultural equivalents, e.g. ‘the streetcorners’ (Sranan Tongo), ‘the place-under-the-tree’ (Batak Toba, i.e. a place outside the village, where people gather to discuss public matters).
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.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.