he who, whoever

The Greek that is typically translated with a generic expressions such as “he who,” “whoever,” or “if anyone” in English is translated with the plural form (“they”) in Daga. “A literal translation of these conveys the idea that one specific unnamed individual is being dis cussed. Thus, for instance, in John 5:24 ‘he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life’ meant in Daga that there was one fortunate individual to whom it applied.”

See also love your neighbor as yourself.

complete verse (Luke 17:31)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 17:31:

  • Noongar: “That Day, a man sitting on the roof of his house, he must not go down inside his house to get his things. Also, a man standing outside his house, he must not go back inside the house.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “‘On that day, quickly run away! The person sitting on the porch, let him no longer take-time-to enter into the house to get his goods. So also the person in the garden/fields, let him no longer take-time-to go home to get anything in the town.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “‘When that day arrives, if there is someone outside his house and all his belongings inside the house, he shall not go inside to fetch them but he shall flee. Likewise also the person who is on his field he shall not go back to his house.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And on that day,’ said Jesus, ‘a person who is found outside of his house and still inside are his possessions, he should not go back into the house to get anything, because on that day there will be no value in possessions. It’s the same way also with a person who’s found in the field. It’s not necessary that he return home to his house.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “‘On that day, the one who is in the yard of his house, he must not enter to go get his possessions. The one also who is in the rice-field, he should not go-home.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “On that day, that one there on the flat roof of his house isn’t to enter his house again to get his belongings. And that one in the field, he isn’t to go home to get anything. Because on that day, belongings will have no more usefulness.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 17:31

Exegesis:

en ekeinē tē hēmera ‘on that day,’ referring back to hē hēmera in v. 30, and emphatic because of its position at the beginning of the clause, even before the relative pronoun hos.

hos estai epi tou dōmatos kai ta skeuē autou en tē oikia ‘(he) who will be on the house-top/roof and his belongings in the house,’ or, removing the syntactic incongruity between the two parts, ‘whose belongings are in the house.’ For dōma cf. on 5.19.

skeuos (cf. on 8.16) here in the plural in the general meaning ‘property,’ ‘belongings,’ ‘things.’

mē katabatō arai auta ‘he must not go down (scil. into the house) to pick them up.’ arai is final infinitive and has the general meaning ‘to take,’ ‘to pick up,’ ‘to get.’

ho en agrō homoiōs mē epistrepsatō eis ta opisō ‘he who is in the field must, in the same way, not turn around to what is behind.’ The common thought of both parts of v. 31 appears to be that on the day of the Son of man there is no point in turning to, or caring about, things which might otherwise be important. eis ta opisō lit. ‘to what is behind,’ may refer either to what is behind him on the field (cf. 9.62), or to his house and what is in it. The former is preferable.

Translation:

Here again a shift to an ‘if’-clause may be preferable, cf. 9.24.

On the housetop, see “roof” in 5.19; if renderings as discussed there would suggest a decidedly abnormal place to stay, one would have to seek functional equivalent, e.g. ‘outside,’ suggesting ‘in the yard’ (Guerrero Amuzgo), with ensuing shift from ‘go down’ to ‘go in.’

With his goods in the house, or, ‘but has his belongings in the house,’ ‘but his possessions in the house.’

To be in the field, cf. 15.25.

Turn back, preferably, ‘turn around to what is behind’ (see Exegesis). ‘turn to look at/for the things he left behind’ (Sranan Tongo).

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.