back-translation of Luke 7:1-10 in Finnish Sign Language

Following is the back-translation of Luke 7:1-10 from Finnish Sign Language (FiSL). One of the ways that distinguishes FiSL is by an intense way of using a spatial component via a signing space. Click or tap here to see more.

(Note: For a video of this passage in Finnish Sign Language, see below.)

Numbers attached with glosses refer to locations in signing space.

The English text gives a rough back translation of the FiSL behind the glosses.

Luke 7:1

JESUS TELL HUMAN GROUP HEAR>5
Jesus spoke and people listen

READY JESUS GO-1>2 CAPERNAUM INDEX>6
After he had finished Jesus went to Capernaum

(break)

Luke 7:2

ONE SOLDER LEADER OWN>6 SERVANT SICK NEARLY DIE
A servant of a military leader was sick and dying

LEADER INDEX>6 SERVANT PERSON-1 RESPECT
That leader respected his servant

(break)

Luke 7:3

INDEX>6 HEAR>5 JESUS
He heard about Jesus

PERSONx>5 ASK JEW HIGH-POSITION HUMANx-6 BRING-5>1 JESUS
He asked the respected Jewish men to bring Jesus to him

SERVANT PERSON-6 SAVE
to save the servant

(break)

Luke 7:4

JEW HIGH-POSITION HUMANx-6 JESUS MEET>5
The respected Jewish men met Jesus

BEG>5 SAY>5
Begging and asking:

(break)

ASK MALE INDEX>6 NEED OWN>5 HELP
Please, that man needs your help

(break)

Luke 7:5

WE HUMAN GROUP INDEX>6 LOVE
He loves our people

ALSO WE OWN>1 JEW CONGREGATION
For our Jewish congregation
INDEX>6 ALREADY BUILD HOUSE
He has built a house [= synagogue]

(break)

Luke 7:6

JESUS WITH TOGETHER-3>6 HOUSE-6 NEAR-3>6
Jesus approached the house together with others

LEADER SEND-4>5 OWN>6 FEW FRIENDx
The leader sent some of his friends

MEET-4>5
To meet Jesus:

(break)

LEADER INDEX>6 SAY
This leader says:
LORD INDEX>5 TROUBLE CLOSE-5>1 DO-NOT>5
Lord, do not trouble to come to me

Luke 7:7 (no break)

ALSO INDEX>1 CLOSE-1>5 CANNOT
As I did not come to you

(break)

[the rest of the verse moved to the end of verse 8]

Luke 7:8

COMMAND INDEX-h3>1 INDEX>1 OBEY
I am subject to command from above

ALSO SOLDER INDEX>2 INDEX>1 COMMAND INDEX-1>2
And I command solders

INDEX-2 OBEY
And they obey

(break)

OWN-1 SOLDER INDEX-2 INDEX-1 SAY
If I say to this solder of mine:

INDEX-2 GO>2
Go!

COMPLETE LEAVE-1>2
He will leave

INDEX-5 COME-5>1
Or to another: Come!

COMPLETE COME-5>1
He will come

(break)

ALSO SERVANT PERSON-2 INDEX-1 SAY
And if I say to this servant:

DO INDEXx-2
Do this!

COMPLETE DO
He will do it.

(break)

ANDx ALSO OWN>1 SERVANT PERSON-6 INDEX-5 ORDER-5>6
So, please, order this servant of mine

HEAL
And heal him.

(break)

LEADER INDEX-6 WELCOME-6>5
The leader asked Jesus to do this to him

Luke 7:9

JESUS SURPRISE>6
Jesus was surprised

TURN-6>5 HUMAN GROUP
He turned to people

SAY
And said:

LEADER OWN>6 FAITH COMPARE SAME JEW HUMAN GROUP INDEX-1 NEVER SEE-1>d
I have never seen the same faith among Jews than this leader has

(break)

Luke 7:10

FRIEND INDEXx-2 BACK-1>2>1 HOUSE-6 NEAR>6
When the friends returned to the house of the leader

SERVANT PERSON-6 ALREADY HEAL
That servant was already healthy.

Source and further explanation in Signs for words – the possibilities for the literal
translation in Finnish Sign Language by Seppo Sipilä, 2008


Luke 7:1-10 in Finnish Sign Language (source )

complete verse (Luke 7:10)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 7:10:

  • Noongar: “The messengers (lit., “people talk-walk”) went back to the boss’s house and saw his servant healed.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “After that, those messengers returned to the house of the warchief. When they arrived there, his slave was already healed/well.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then the people who had been sent by the captain went back and when they arrived at the house they saw the servant already well.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then those whom the boss of the soldiers had sent went home, and when they reached the house, that servant of the captain was already healed.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “When those sent by the captain then returned, they came-upon his servant recovered.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “On the return of those who had been sent, on their arrival the illness of that servant had already stopped.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 7:10

Exegesis:

hupostrepsantes eis ton oikon lit. ‘having returned to the house,’ i.e. of the centurion.

hoi pemphthentes ‘those who had been sent,’ i.e. by the centurion (cf. Phillips), hence “the messengers” (An American Translation, New English Bible, and others), refers to the friends of the centurion (v. 6).

heuron ton doulon hugiainonta ‘they found the slave in good health.’ The story implicitly assumes that Jesus did speak the healing word and did not go to the centurion’s house.

Translation:

They found the slave well. The verb ‘to find’ with accusative and following participle or adjective is often (cf. also 8.35; 11.25; 19.30) used of coming where somebody or something is and perceiving the action or state of being he or it is in. Here one may have to render it, ‘they came where the slave was and saw that he was well (again),’ or simply, ‘and there they saw that the slave was well (again).’ For well, or, ‘in good health,’ see on 5.31. For complete and instant recovery the Tboli idiom is, ‘as if the bal has come-to-life-again,’ referring to a small animal that often shams dead but the next moment may scamper away like lightning.

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.