complete verse (Luke 14:23)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 14:23:

  • Noongar: “So the boss told the servant, ‘Go out of the town to the country roads and smallest paths and tell all people they must come here to feast, so my house will be full’.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “‘The owner of the feast said: ‘Go again to the big roads and the small roads outside the town, force the people to come, so that my house is completely full.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then the master said to his servant, ‘Go to the trails that are inland and the places inside and beg the people to come here so that my house will be full.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And his master answered him, ‘Go out into the fields and hills, and go up and down the paths there, and force the people there to come here to my feast, so that this house of mine might be full of people.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Then his master said, ‘Go then to whatever farther paths and places to still go convince others to come join-in-eating so that my house will thus be full.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “‘Well go ahead,’ said his master, ‘go to the trails outside the city and to the huts of the pitiful. Force/persuade the people, even though they are reluctant/embarrassed, to come here anyway so that this house of mine will be filled.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 14:23

Exegesis:

eis tas hodous kai phragmous ‘to the roads and hedgerows.’ The article tas goes with both hodous and phragmous although they differ in gender. hodous denotes here roads outside the town, or, highways.

phragmos ‘fence,’ ‘hedge,’ here parallel with hodos and probably referring to hedgerows in the country where vagabonds and beggars are to be found.

anagkason eiselthein ‘make (people) come in.’

anagkazō ‘to compel,’ ‘to force,’ here ‘to urge strongly.’

hina gemisthē mou ho oikos ‘that my house may be filled.’

gemizō ‘to fill,’ here in the passive ‘to become full.’

Translation:

Go out, i.e. not only out of the house (as in v. 21), but also out of the city.

To the highways and hedges. The nouns may require different prepositions, cf. e.g. ‘on the roads and among (or, along) the hedges’ (cf. An American Translation, Javanese). The phrase refers to roads and lanes or places outside the towns; hence, ‘small trails and cornfields’ (Tzeltal), ‘roads and bushes’ (Shona 1966), ‘paths and bushtrails’ (Zarma), ‘(built) roads and garden-paths’ (one West Nyanja version), ‘small roads and shacks (in the fields)’ (Batak Toba). In some cases, e.g. Tae,’ the rendering coincides with that of “the streets and lanes”, only the absence of the phrase ‘of the town/settlement’ indicating that the reference is to the countryside.

Compel people to come in, i.e. those found in the countryside; hence, ‘urge (or, demand strongly) the people there to come in (or, into my house)’ (cf. Balinese).

That my house may be filled. One may render the conjunction by ‘so that’ (resultative), or, ‘in order that’ (final).

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.