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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Luke C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24
Luke 11 V1 V3 V5 V7 V9 V11 V13 V15 V17 V19 V21 V23 V25 V27 V29 V31 V33 V35 V37 V39 V41 V43 V45 V47 V49 V51 V53
OET (OET-LV) Then it_is_going and is_taking seven other spirits more_evil than itself, and having_come_in, is_dwelling there, and the last of_ the that _person is_becoming, worse than the first.
OET (OET-RV) so it goes and finds seven other spirits more evil than itself. They all move in and live there, so the result is that the person ends up worse in the end than they were at the beginning.”
In the last section, Jesus explained that he cast out unclean spirits by the power of God. In this section, he gave a warning about people who had been delivered from an unclean spirit. He said that if they did not entrust their lives to someone else, they were in danger of being possessed by even more unclean spirits.
Another possible heading for this section is:
The return of the evil spirit (GNT)
There is a parallel passage for this section in Matthew 12:43–45.
Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more wicked than itself,
Then that evil spirit goes and finds/invites/calls seven other spirits that are more evil than it is,
Then that demon goes away and brings back seven other demons that are even more wicked than it is.
Then: The Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as Then indicates that the events in 11:26a follow the events in 11:25b. Use a natural way in your language to connect this sequence of events.
it goes and brings: The phrase it goes and brings indicates here that the unclean spirit goes away and then brings back seven other unclean spirits. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
the spirit finds (NLT)
the spirit goes and brings along (GW)
it goes away and invites
seven other spirits more wicked than itself: This phrase indicates that there were seven other demons or unclean spirits that were more evil/wicked than the first unclean spirit.
and they go in and dwell there.
and they all enter that house and live there.
And all those demons go and possess that man and stay there.
they go in and dwell there: The pronoun they refers to the unclean spirit plus the seven other unclean spirits. These eight unclean spirits are pictured as entering and living in the person, as people enter and live in a house. There are at least three ways to translate this metaphor:
Keep the metaphor of the house. For example:
they enter that house and live there
Use terms that refer directly to unclean spirits possessing a person. For example:
they take possession of the person and keep him under their control
Use general terms that could refer to either a house or a person. For example:
They enter and take up permanent residence there. (GW)
they come and live there (GNT)
Use an option that is clear and natural in your language.
And the final plight of that man is worse than the first.”
As a result, the condition/situation of that person is worse at the end than at the beginning.”
So the person will have more troubles/problems than before.”
And: The Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as And introduces what happens as a result of 11:26a–b. Another way to introduce this result is:
And so (NLT)
As a result
the final plight of that man is worse: The phrase the final plight of that man refers to the time in the man’s life when eight demons are living in him. At this later time, these unclean spirits will cause many bad things to happen to the man. Then, his situation will be much worse than before.
The phrase final plight does not refer to the man’s final destiny.
than the first: The phrase the first refers to the first condition of the man. This was the time in the man’s life when only one demon lived in him.
Some other ways to translate 11:26c are:
In the end the condition of that person is worse than it was before. (GW)
So the person has even more trouble than before. (NCV)
In some languages, it may be more natural to use future tense verbs rather than present tense in this verse. For example:
Then it will go and take…and they will go and live there. And the final condition of that man will be worse than the first.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / nominaladj
γίνεται τὰ ἔσχατα τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐκείνου, χείρονα τῶν πρώτων
˓is˒_becoming (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Τότε πορεύεται καί παραλαμβάνει ἑτέρα πνεύματα πονηρότερα ἑαυτοῦ ἑπτά καί εἰσελθόντα κατοικεῖ ἐκεῖ καί γίνεται τά ἔσχατα τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐκείνου χείρονα τῶν πρώτων)
Here the adjectives last and first function as nouns. They are plural, and ULT supplies the noun things in each case to show that. If your language does not use adjectives in this way, you can supply a more specific singular noun. Alternate translation: [the final condition of that person is worse than his original condition]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / gendernotations
τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐκείνου
¬the ˱of˲_person that
Here Jesus is using the term man in a generic sense that includes all people. Alternate translation: [that person]
11:26 seven other spirits: Seven may indicate completeness, meaning that the man was completely under their power, or it could simply indicate an overwhelming force.
OET (OET-LV) Then it_is_going and is_taking seven other spirits more_evil than itself, and having_come_in, is_dwelling there, and the last of_ the that _person is_becoming, worse than the first.
OET (OET-RV) so it goes and finds seven other spirits more evil than itself. They all move in and live there, so the result is that the person ends up worse in the end than they were at the beginning.”
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.
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