human head hair

The Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew that is translated as “hair” in English is translated in Tzeltal as stsotsil sjol (Tzeltal de Oxchuc y Tenejapa) / stsotsel sjol (Tzeltal Bachajón): “blanket for the head.” (Source: Slocum / Watkins 1988, p. 35)

See also hair (body hair) and hairy (like Esau).

He allowed people of bad reputation to touch him (image)

“Usually, Thai men spend their free time with other men. Women only enter to serve them food, but here a woman has entered into the male social space in a counter-cultural way Not only is she female, she is a lowly prostitute. Although a Thai woman may sometimes wash her husband’s feet, she will never use her hair to dry them The men observing her are shocked at it all.”

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 7:44)

Following are a number of back-translations of Luke 7:44:

  • Noongar: “Then Jesus turned to the
    woman and said to Simon, ‘You see this woman? I entered your house and you did not give me water for my feet, but she has washed my feet with her tears, and wiped my feet with her hair.” (Source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “After that, and he turned to that woman and said to Simon: ‘Do you (sing.) see this woman? When I came to your (sing.) house earlier, you (sing.) did not prepare water for washing my feet, according to our custom for visitors. But this woman, he washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then Isa turned to the woman and said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I came to your house earlier, you didn’t even prepare water for me to wash my feet. But this woman washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then Jesus turned to the woman and he said again to Simon, ‘That parable of mine is like this woman, because I came up in your house, but even though it is our custom to give water to wash the feet of our visitors, you did not give me any. But this woman, she washed my feet with her tears and she dried them with her hair.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Then he turned-to-face the woman and said to Simon, ‘Look then at this woman. You (sing.) admittedly showed-me-hospitality in your (sing.) home, but you (sing.) sent no one to go wash my feet, but this one (appreciative particle), she has washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “And then Jesus turned his head to that woman and said next to Simon, ‘Probably you saw what this woman did. When I arrived here at your house, you didn’t give me water to wash my feet. But as for her, her tears are what she washed my feet with and her hair is what she wiped them with.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Luke 7:44

Exegesis:

kai strapheis pros tēn gunaika ‘and turning to the woman.’ kai connects the parable of vv. 42f and its application. For strapheis cf. on v. 9, but here Jesus does not address the person to whom he turns, but continues to speak to Simon.

blepeis tautēn tēn gunaika ‘do you see this woman?,’ implying that the parable applies to her and to Simon.

eisēlthon sou eis tēn oikian ‘I came into your house,’ i.e. I came as your guest. The clause introduces a series of contrasts between Simon and the woman in their behaviour concerning Jesus.

hudōr moi epi podas ouk edōkas ‘water for my feet you did not give me.’ For the custom of foot washing cf. IDB II, 308. The clause is an asyndeton, just as the two subsequent clauses (vv. 45f) which criticize Simon’s attitude towards Jesus. This lends them a note of sternness.

hautē de ‘but she,’ emphatic, repeated at the beginning of each of the final clauses of vv. 44-46. This serves to bring out the contrast with Simon.

mou tous podas ‘my feet.’ The place of mou before podas is not uncommon.

Translation:

Turning toward the woman, or, describing the situation more exactly, “turning round to the woman, while still addressing Simon” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation).

Do you see this woman, or, ‘do you see what this woman is doing to me’ (Tzeltal), ‘you see that woman, don’t you’ (Marathi, cf. Batak Toba); Shona 1966 shifts to an imperative.

For most details of vv. 44b-46 cf. on v. 38.

You gave me no water, or, where the difference between the initiator and agent is strictly to be observed, ‘you did not order (people/your servants) to give me water’; the implied censure may be made explicit, e.g. ‘you did not so much as give…’ (cf. Willibrord).

Water for my feet, or, ‘water to wash (my) feet’ (e.g. in Tboli, 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.