parable of the prodigal son (image)

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Image taken from the Wiedmann Bible. For more information about the images and ways to adopt them, see here .

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feeding the pigs (image)

The story of feeding the pigs is illustrated for use in Bible translations in West Africa by Wycliffe Cameroon like this:

Illustration 1999 Mbaji Bawe Ernest, © Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc. Used with permission.

complete verse (Luke 15:15)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 15:15:

  • Noongar: “So he went and worked for a man of that country who sent him to his land to look after his pigs.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “He went to a townsperson wanting to earn a wage. That townsperson ordered him to look-after his pigs.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Therefore he went to a person there in that country and became his servant. That person told him to go to his field to care for the pigs.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “He begged for some work from one of the inhabitants there, and he was given the work of feeding the pigs in the field.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “So he went to join-in-working for (lit. earn-salary-with) one of the residents there and he sent him to the grazing-area where pigs were to watch them.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Therefore without anything further, he went-to-work-for a person from there. Where he was sent was to the fields, for he was caused to tend the pigs.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 15:15

Exegesis:

kai poreutheis ekollēthē heni tōn politōn tēs chōras ekeinēs ‘he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country.’ poreutheis refers to a change of place and, implicitly, of situation.

kollaomai lit. ‘to cling to’ (cf. 10.11), here ‘to associate with,’ ‘to join oneself to.’

politēs (also 19.14) ‘citizen.’

kai epempsen auton eis tous agrous autou ‘and he (i.e. the citizen) sent him to his fields,’ change of subject not indicated.

boskein choirous ‘(in order) to tend pigs,’ cf. on 8.32.

Translation:

Joined himself, i.e. begged to be allowed to work, probably for nothing more than some food. The verb has been rendered by, “to hire oneself out” (An American Translation), ‘to seek work with’ (Sranan Tongo), an idiom meaning ‘to hang around (in the hope of getting something)’ (Zarma), ‘to enter the service of, or, work with’ (cf. Bible de Jérusalem, Malay); or by a specific term for comparable relationships that come close to serfdom or peonage (e.g. in Toraja-Sa’dan, Batak Toba). In Tzeltal the usual phrase in such circumstances is ‘to talk,’ the specification having to be supplied from the context.

Citizens of that country is not used here in a political sense; hence, ‘people of (or, living/residing in) that country,’ cf. also “local landowners” (New English Bible).

Fields, cf. 2.8; 12.28.

To feed swine, i.e. ‘to tend/look-after/guard the pigs while they are, or, were feeding’ (cf. 8.32).

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.