passed through

The Greek that is translated in English as “passed through (the midst of them)” needs to be translated in greater detail in some languages, including Quetzaltepec Mixe, because it needs to be specified that Jesus first needed to free himself before he could “pass through the midst of them.”

People from his home town rejected him because they could not accept who he claimed to be (image)

“Only qualified, trained leaders know the dharma (truth) yet Jesus made claims that threatened the establishment. He is being chased out of the temple because his people thought him merely a carpenter. They intended to throw him down the cliff but he just passed by.”

Drawing by Sawai Chinnawong who employs northern and central Thailand’s popular distinctive artistic style originally used to depict Buddhist moral principles and other religious themes; explanation by Paul DeNeui. From That Man Who Came to Save Us by Sawai Chinnawong and Paul H. DeNeui, William Carey Library, 2010.

For more images by Sawai Chinnatong in TIPs see here.

complete verse (Luke 4:30)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 4:30:

  • Noongar: “but he went through the middle of the people and he went his way.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “But instead, Yesus walked between the many people, and went away.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But Isa passed through the middle of them and left.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “But Jesus just pushed His way through them and left them there.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But Jesus walked-through the middle of them and left.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But Jesus went through the middle of that crowd and left.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 4:30

Exegesis:

autos de ‘but he,’ emphatic.

dielthōn dia mesou autōn ‘going through the middle of them.’ This participial phrase carries the main weight in the whole sentence. It presupposes that Jesus had freed himself, and implies that Jesus did not flee but that all the people watched him but did not dare touch him again.

eporeueto ‘he went his way,’ without suggesting that Jesus had a definite place in mind in which to go.

Translation:

Passing through the midst of them … is often rendered as a co-ordinated sentence, “he walked straight through them all, or, through the whole crowd and…” (New English Bible, Phillips, similarly Balinese), ‘he cut-straight-through the midst of those people, then…’ (Javanese).

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.