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OET (OET-LV) And see, a_woman having a_spirit of_sickness eighteen years, and she_was bending_over and not being_able to_straighten_up to the full_extent.
OET (OET-RV) and, look, a woman who’d had a spirit of sickness for eighteen years was there. She was bent over and unable to stand up straight
In this section Jesus healed a woman whom an evil spirit had caused to be unable to stand straight. This story occurred on a Sabbath day sometime during Jesus’ ministry. It did not necessarily occur after the previous section. One of its possible connections with the previous section is that Jesus called people in both sections “hypocrites.”
Another possible heading for this section is:
The Healing of a Woman with a Bent/Crooked Back
This story occurs only in Luke.
and a woman there had been disabled by a spirit for eighteen years.
There was also a woman there who had an evil spirit that had crippled/disabled her. She had been this way for eighteen years.
One of the people there was a woman who had been weak/infirm for eighteen years. An evil spirit was causing this.
and a woman there: In Greek, this verse begins with the words “and behold.” A few English versions translate these words literally. In this context, these words call attention to a woman who is first mentioned here in this verse. She was one of the people who were in the synagogue listening to Jesus.
Consider how your language introduces a major but unnamed character into a story. Some languages use a word like “certain.” Other use a phrase such as “There was….” For example:
A certain woman was there
There was a woman there
Use a natural way in your language to introduce an important character.
had been disabled by a spirit: The phrase that the BSB translates as had been disabled by a spirit is more literally “had a spirit of weakness/illness.” It means that an evil spirit had caused the woman to have a weakness or illness that prevented her from straightening her back (13:11b). This condition had lasted for eighteen years. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
had had a spirit of infirmity (RSV)
had been possessed by a spirit that crippled her (NJB)
had been disabled by a spirit (NET)
had an evil spirit that had kept her sick
In some languages, words such as “crippled” refer only to people who are unable to walk. In other languages, words such as “sick” refer only to illnesses, not to conditions such as being hunchbacked. Use a natural expression in your language to describe a long-term condition of this nature that is caused by an evil spirit.
a spirit: The word spirit here refers to a demon or evil spirit. See demon in the Glossary.
She was hunched over and could not stand up straight.
Her back was very bent, and she could not stand up straight, even a little.
She was extremely hunchbacked and was totally unable to stand upright.
This part of the verse further describes the condition caused by the spirit in 13:11a. Make sure that the expression you used in 13:11a fits the details about the woman’s crooked back in 13:11b.
She was hunched over: The clause She was hunched over means that the woman’s back was bent, or crooked, so that she could not stand upright.
could not stand up straight: There are two ways to interpret the Greek phrase that the BSB translates as could not stand up straight:
It means that the woman could not straighten up at all, even a little. For example:
was quite unable to stand up straight (NRSV) (NIV, GNT, NJB, CEV, KJV, NASB, NRSV, REB)
It means that the woman could straighten up some, but not completely. For example:
and could not fully straighten herself (RSV) (BSB, RSV, NET)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), which has stronger commentary support.
Notice that the two phrases “was hunched over” and “could not stand up straight” are two ways of saying the same thing. In some languages it may be more natural to put the emphasis of the phrase “at all” on the first expression. For example:
She was completely bent over and could not straighten up. (CEV)
In some languages it may be more natural to combine the three expressions describing the woman’s condition into two. For example:
There was also a woman there whom an evil spirit had caused to be hunchbacked for eighteen years. She was completely unable to straighten her back.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ἰδοὺ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἰδού γυνή πνεῦμα ἔχουσα ἀσθενείας ἔτη δεκαοκτώ καί ἦν συγκύπτουσα καί μή δυναμένη ἀνακύψαι εἰς τό παντελές)
Luke uses the term behold to calls the reader’s attention to what he is about to say. Your language may have a similar expression that you can use here.
Note 2 topic: writing-participants
γυνὴ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἰδού γυνή πνεῦμα ἔχουσα ἀσθενείας ἔτη δεκαοκτώ καί ἦν συγκύπτουσα καί μή δυναμένη ἀνακύψαι εἰς τό παντελές)
Luke uses this phrase to introduce a new character into the story. If your language has its own way of doing that, you could use it here in your translation. Alternate translation: [there was a woman there]
πνεῦμα ἔχουσα ἀσθενείας
˓a˒_spirit having ˱of˲_sickness
Alternate translation: [whom an evil spirit had been making weak]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / nominaladj
εἰς τὸ παντελές
to (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἰδού γυνή πνεῦμα ἔχουσα ἀσθενείας ἔτη δεκαοκτώ καί ἦν συγκύπτουσα καί μή δυναμένη ἀνακύψαι εἰς τό παντελές)
Luke is using the adjective complete as a noun in order to indicate the woman’s full height. Alternate translation: [to her complete height] or [completely]
OET (OET-LV) And see, a_woman having a_spirit of_sickness eighteen years, and she_was bending_over and not being_able to_straighten_up to the full_extent.
OET (OET-RV) and, look, a woman who’d had a spirit of sickness for eighteen years was there. She was bent over and unable to stand up straight
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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