the hand of the Lord was with him

The Greek that is often translated as “the hand of the Lord was with him” in English is often rendered by another metaphorical expression, such as “he was sheltered by the hand of the Lord” (Javanese), “the Lord carried him on the palm of his hand” (Toraja-Sa’dan), or “the eye of God was always on him” (Tboli).

complete verse (Luke 1:66)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 1:66:

  • Noongar: “When all the people heard this news, they started thinking and asking, ‘What will this child do?’ All the people, they saw the power of God resting on the child.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “All who heard that news pondered, they said: ‘What will this child become?’ Because the Lord was with him with his power.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “And all who heard this, always thought and said, ‘What may God have destined for that child?’ Because it was clear that God’s power was there with that child.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And all those who heard it didn’t forget it, and it was placed in their thinking the question, ‘What, maybe, would God have that child do when he grows older?’ because it was very clear that God was controlling that child.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “All who heard, they kept-thinking-about-it and they said, ‘What perhaps will this baby become?’ Because of course it could be seen that God’s power was in/with him.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “All who observed and who heard the news of it were always wondering, ‘What, I wonder, will become of that child when he grows up?’ Because it was really clear that, as for everything concerning this child, it’s really God’s determining.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Lord

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The Hebrew adonai in the Old Testament typically refers to God. The shorter adon (and in two cases in the book of Daniel the Aramaic mare [מָרֵא]) is also used to refer to God but more often for concepts like “master,” “owner,” etc. In English Bible translations all of those are translated with “Lord” if they refer to God.

In English Old Testament translations, as in Old Testament translations in many other languages, the use of Lord (or an equivalent term in other languages) is not to be confused with Lord (or the equivalent term with a different typographical display for other languages). While the former translates adonai, adon and mare, the latter is a translation for the tetragrammaton (YHWH) or the Name of God. See tetragrammaton (YHWH) and the article by Andy Warren-Rothlin in Noss / Houser, p. 618ff. for more information.

In the New Testament, the Greek term kurios has at least four different kinds of use:

  • referring to “God,” especially in Old Testament quotations,
  • meaning “master” or “owner,” especially in parables, etc.,
  • as a form of address (see for instance John 4:11: “Sir, you have no bucket”),
  • or, most often, referring to Jesus

In the first and fourth case, it is also translated as “Lord” in English.

Most languages naturally don’t have one word that covers all these meanings. According to Bratcher / Nida, “the alternatives are usually (1) a term which is an honorific title of respect for a high-ranking person and (2) a word meaning ‘boss’, ‘master’, or ‘chief.’ (…) and on the whole it has generally seemed better to employ a word of the second category, in order to emphasize the immediate personal relationship, and then by context to build into the word the prestigeful character, since its very association with Jesus Christ will tend to accomplish this purpose.”

When looking at the following list of back-translations of the terms that translators in the different languages have used for both kurios and adonai to refer to God and Jesus respectively, it might be helpful for English readers to recall the etymology of the English “Lord.” While this term might have gained an exalted meaning in the understanding of many, it actually comes from hlaford or “loaf-ward,” referring to the lord of the castle who was the keeper of the bread (source: Rosin 1956, p. 121).

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Following are some of the solutions that don’t rely on a different typographical display (see above):

  • Navajo: “the one who has charge”
  • Mossi: “the one who has the head” (the leader)
  • Uduk: “chief”
  • Guerrero Amuzgo: “the one who commands”
  • Kpelle: “person-owner” (a term which may be applied to a chief)
  • Central Pame: “the one who owns us” (or “commands us”)
  • Piro: “the big one” (used commonly of one in authority)
  • San Blas Kuna: “the great one over all” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Guhu-Samane: Soopara (“our Supervisor”) (source: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation July, 1967, p. 5ff.)
  • Balinese: “Venerated-one” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Yanesha’: “the one who carries us” (source: Nida 1952, p. 159)
  • Northern Emberá: Dadjirã Boro (“our Head”)
  • Rarotongan: Atu (“master or owner of a property”)
  • Gilbertese: Uea (“a person of high status invested with authority to rule the people”)
  • Rotuman: Gagaja (“village chief”)
  • Samoan: Ali’i (“an important word in the native culture, it derives from the Samoan understanding of lordship based on the local traditions”)
  • Tahitian: Fatu (“owner,” “master”)
  • Tuvalu: Te Aliki (“chief”)
  • Fijian: Liuliu (“leader”) (source for this and six above: Joseph Hong in The Bible Translator 1994, p. 329ff. )
  • Bacama: Həmə miye: “owner of people” (source: David Frank in this blog post )
  • Hopi: “Controller” (source: Walls 2000, p. 139)
  • Iyansi: Mwol. Mwol is traditionally used for the “chief of a group of communities and villages” with legal, temporal, and spiritual authority (versus the “mfum [the term used in other Bantu languages] which is used for the chief of one community of people in one village”). Mwol is also used for twins who are “treated as special children, highly honored, and taken care of like kings and queens.” (Source: Kividi Kikama in Greed / Kruger, p. 396ff.)
  • Ghomala’: Cyəpɔ (“he who is above everyone,” consisting of the verb cyə — to surpass or go beyond — and pɔ — referring to people. No human can claim this attribute, no matter what his or her social status or prestige.” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn )
  • Binumarien: Karaambaia: “fight-leader” (Source: Oates 1995, p. 255)
  • Warlpiri: Warlaljamarri (owner or possessor of something — for more information tap or click here)

    We have come to rely on another term which emphasizes God’s essential nature as YHWH, namely jukurrarnu (see tetragrammaton (YHWH)). This word is built on the same root jukurr– as is jukurrpa, ‘dreaming.’ Its basic meaning is ‘timelessness’ and it is used to describe physical features of the land which are viewed as always being there. Some speakers view jukurrarnu in terms of ‘history.’ In all Genesis references to YHWH we have used Kaatu Jukurrarnu. In all Mark passages where kurios refers to God and not specifically to Christ we have also used Kaatu Jukurrarnu.

    New Testament references to Christ as kurios are handled differently. At one stage we experimented with the term Watirirririrri which refers to a ceremonial boss of highest rank who has the authority to instigate ceremonies. While adequately conveying the sense of Christ’s authority, there remained potential negative connotations relating to Warlpiri ceremonial life of which we might be unaware.

    Here it is that the Holy Spirit led us to make a chance discovery. Transcribing the personal testimony of the local Warlpiri pastor, I noticed that he described how ‘my Warlaljamarri called and embraced me (to the faith)’. Warlaljamarri is based on the root warlalja which means variously ‘family, possessions, belongingness’. A warlaljamarri is the ‘owner’ or ‘possessor’ of something. While previously being aware of the ‘ownership’ aspect of warlaljamarri, this was the first time I had heard it applied spontaneously and naturally in a fashion which did justice to the entire concept of ‘Lordship’. Thus references to Christ as kurios are now being handled by Warlaljamarri.” (Source: Stephen Swartz, The Bible Translator 1985, p. 415ff. )

  • Mairasi: Onggoao Nem (“Throated One” — “Leader,” “Elder”) or Enggavot Nan (“Above-One”) (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Obolo: Okaan̄-ene (“Owner of person(s)”) (source: Enene Enene)
  • Angami Naga: Niepu (“master,” “owner”)
  • Lotha Naga: Opvui (“owner of house / field / cattle”) — since both “Lord” and YHWH are translated as Opvui there is an understanding that “Opvui Jesus is the same as the Opvui of the Old Testament”
  • Ao Naga: Kibuba (“human master,” “teacher,” “owner of property,” etc.) (source for this and two above: Nitoy Achumi in The Bible Translator 1992 p. 438ff. )
  • Seediq: Tholang, loan word from Min Nan Chinese (the majority language in Taiwan) thâu-lâng (頭儂): “Master” (source: Covell 1998, p. 248)
  • Thai: phra’ phu pen cao (พระผู้เป็นเจ้า) (divine person who is lord) or ong(kh) cao nay (องค์เจ้านาย) (<divine classifier>-lord-boss) (source: Stephen Pattemore)
  • Arabic often uses different terms for adonai or kurios referring to God (al-rabb الرب) and kurios referring to Jesus (al-sayyid الـسـيـد). Al-rabb is also the term traditionally used in Arabic Christian-idiom translations for YHWH, and al-sayyid is an honorary term, similar to English “lord” or “sir” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin).
  • Tamil also uses different terms for adonai/kurios when referring to God and kurios when referring to Jesus. The former is Karttar கர்த்தர், a Sanskrit-derived term with the original meaning of “creator,” and the latter in Āṇṭavar ஆண்டவர், a Tamil term originally meaning “govern” or “reign” (source: Natarajan Subramani).
  • Burunge: Looimoo: “owner who owns everything” (in the Burunge Bible translation, this term is only used as a reference to Jesus and was originally used to refer to the traditional highest deity — source: Michael Endl in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 48)
  • Aguacateco: Ajcaw ske’j: “the one to whom we belong and who is above us” (source: Rita Peterson in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 49)
  • Konkomba: Tidindaan: “He who is the owner of the land and reigns over the people” (source: Lidorio 2007, p. 66)

Law (2013, p. 97) writes about how the Ancient Greek Septuagint‘s translation of the Hebrew adonai was used by the New Testament writers as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments: “Another case is the use of kurios referring to Jesus. For Yahweh (in English Bibles: ‘the Lord‘), the Septuagint uses kurios. Although the term kurios usually has to do with one’s authority over others, when the New Testament authors use this word from the Septuagint to refer to Jesus, they are making an extraordinary claim: Jesus of Nazareth is to be identified with Yahweh.”

See also Father / Lord.

Translation commentary on Luke 1:66

Exegesis:

kai ethento … en tē kardia autōn ‘and (they) laid to heart’; the phrase is best understood in the light of the Hebrew expression sim belev ‘to lay to heart,’ ‘to pay heed to.’ The subsequent clause indicates that the expression here refers to the astonishment caused by the birth of the child of Zechariah and Elizabeth.

ti ara to paidion touto estai ‘what then will this child be.’ ara serves here to enliven the question. The question is rhetorical, i.e. no direct answer is given or expected, although the question itself more or less suggests an answer.

kai gar cheir kuriou ēn met’ autou ‘for indeed the hand of the Lord was with him,’ in order to help him or to stand by him.

kai gar, stronger than the sole gar, an elliptic phrase, either as “for besides all that” (Plummer, Klostermann), or, as “for indeed” (New English Bible, Bible de Jérusalem), preferably the latter.

cheir kuriou ‘the hand of the Lord’ i.e. the saving and helping power of the Lord.

einai met’ autou ‘to be with him.’

Translation:

All who heard them. The pronoun “them”, here and in the next clause, refers to “these things” (v. 65), i.e. the events told in the preceding narrative, cf. “the whole matter” (Phillips); in some languages idiom requires a reference to the talking heard (cf. on v. 41), e.g. ‘all who heard people speak about them, or, heard the talk about that whole matter.’

Laid them up in their hearts. Many languages have formally similar expressions, but that does not warrant their referring to the same state of mind. Toraja-Sa’dan, for instance, possesses three comparable expressions, (1) ‘put-into the stomach (inward being),’ equivalent to the English ‘lay to heart’; (2) ‘put-into the spirit/mind,’ i.e. ‘consider’; and (3) ‘put-into the breast,’ i.e. ‘feel offended.’ Some other idioms used are, ‘engraved in their heart’ (Bible de Jérusalem), ‘noted-down in their heart’ (Sundanese).

What then will this child be, or “become” (New English Bible, also many other versions), or, ‘whoever will this child become,’ an idiom suggesting that the child will be someone great (Marathi, where a comparable idiom, ‘how will this child turn out,’ would suggest a reference to a naughty boy), ‘then what will that infant be(come) in the future’ (Thai, where a shorter idiom ‘what will that infant become,’ would be used when referring to disease or infirmity that may be in store for the child).

The hand of the Lord was with him is usually to be rendered by another metaphorical expression, such as ‘he was sheltered by the hand of the Lord’ (Javanese), ‘the Lord carried him on the palm of his hand’ (Toraja-Sa’dan), ‘the eye of God was always on him’ (Tboli, a figurative expression used of a possession one values highly, or a person one loves dearly); or non-metaphorically, e.g. ‘the Lord helped him’ (South Bolivian Quechua, Kituba). Most of the renderings of ‘to be with’ are different from those in v. 28, one of the reasons being that expressions used there with a personal subject cannot go with ‘hand’ or ‘power.’ Medumba uses a compound pronoun indicating individual dual (cf. on v. 58): ‘the hand of the Lord was he-plus-he.’

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.