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 15:16)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 15:16:

  • Noongar: “He wanted to eat the bad food which he gave the pigs, but no person gave him food to eat.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “Because of his hunger, he desired wanting to eat the pig food. But no-one gave him food.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Because of his hunger/starving he wanted to eat even the food of the pigs, but nobody gave him anything (lit. even what).” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “He would like to have satisfied his hunger with even the husks of that which they were feeding the pigs, but there was no one who gave him anything.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because of his hunger, he wanted to eat koma some of the fruit of the tree that the pigs were eating, but they (understood as people, not pigs) didn’t give him any.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “He really wished that no matter what, there would be something he could eat, even the tree fruit/seed-pods which was only fed to the pigs. But well, no one was giving to him.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 15:16

Exegesis:

kai epethumei ‘and he desired, or, longed,’ here, ‘he would gladly have…’ with infinitive. Durative imperfect.

chortasthēnai ek tōn keratiōn hōn ēsthion hoi choiroi ‘to be satisfied,’ i.e. ‘to fill himself with the carob pods the pigs were eating.’ ek after verbs meaning ‘to fill’ means ‘with.’

keration ‘carob pod,’ i.e. fruit of the carob tree, or locust tree.

kai oudeis edidou autō ‘and nobody gave him (anything),’ scil. from the carob pods, a durative imperfect.

Translation:

The first clause expresses the degree of his hunger, cf. “he got to the point of longing to…” (Phillips), ‘his hunger (was) such (that) very-much he wanted to…’ (cf. Tae’ 1933), or, ‘he would not have hesitated to….’

To feed on, i.e. ‘to appease one’s hunger with’ rather than merely ‘to eat.’

For pods the translator may use any local term for what pigs commonly eat, e.g. ‘residue-of-coco-nut (after the oil has been pressed out)’ (Sranan Tongo), ‘bran (of the rice)’ (Tae’ 1933), or a generic rendering, as in “the food the pigs were eating” (Phillips, similarly Balinese).

And no one gave him anything, or, ‘but no one gave him any, or it’ (cf. Good News Translation, 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.