complete verse (Luke 17:35)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 17:35:

  • Noongar: “Two women will be grinding [with stone] grain together. One woman will be taken and the other woman remain.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “Two women who are pounding rice together, one will be taken, the other will be left behind.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “There will be two women helping each other grinding, one will be taken and the other one left behind.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And in the same way also, if it’s day time when it happens, because if there are two women helping each other grinding grain, one will be able to accompany me and the other will be left behind.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “If there are also two women pounding (e.g. rice), one will be taken and one will be left.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “If daytime if when I come, maybe there will be two pounding(rice) together, but if they are not the same in being my people, one will be left, only one taken.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 17:35

Exegesis:

esontai duo alēthousai epi to auto ‘there will be two women grinding at the same place,’ because the mills are usually operated by two persons.

epi to auto ‘on the same spot,’ hence here ‘together.’

Translation:

Grinding may require the cereal as object, cf. e.g. “grinding corn” (New English Bible), or, the result, cf. e.g. ‘grinding meal’ (Good News Translation, Malay; and Pohnpeian, ‘rub flour’); in Toraja-Sa’dan the verb used is a derivation from ‘meal.’ A common cultural equivalent is ‘to pound rice’ (e.g. in Balinese, Kele). Sometimes a generic rendering is preferable, e.g. because grinding or pounding is not a daily task of women; hence ‘to work’ (Trukese).

Together, or, ‘at the same place,’ may be taken as referring to working the same instrument, e.g. ‘mill’ (The Four Gospels – a New Translation), or, ‘mortar/pounding-block,’ or to working two instruments at the same spot, as is normal e.g. in Shona and Fulah.

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.