InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEUT JOB YEHO (JOS) HERO (JDG) RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG YOEL (JOEL) MIC ISA ZEP HAB YIR (JER) LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBAD DAN EZEK EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL 2 PS WIS TOB MAN BAR G DAN G ESD L ESD ESG JDT 3 MAC SIR 1 MAC 2 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL LAOD 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
InterlinearVerse Luke C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24
Luke 15 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V24 V26 V27 V28 V29 V30 V31 V32
OET-LV And the the elder son of_him was in the_field, and while coming, he_neared to_the house, he_heard of_music and dancing.
OET (OET-RV) “The man’s older son was out working in a field, and when he was heading home and got near the house, he could hear the sound of music and dancing
In this parable Jesus told about a young man who left his father’s home and wasted the money that his father had given him. Then Jesus told how the young man returned to his father, and how his father welcomed him home. The young man had an older brother who was not happy at all when his father welcomed his younger brother. This story illustrates what God is like. He is ready to forgive anyone who truly turns from his sins and begins to obey him. It also warns people not to be like the older son, who did not want to forgive his brother.
Some other headings for this section are:
The Lost Son (GNT)
The Son Who Left Home (NCV)
A son who wasted his share of the inheritance
A father was happy when his son returned home
Before you decide on a heading for this section, think about a natural way in your language to describe a child who deliberately left home and foolishly wasted his money. In some languages a word such as “lost” can only be used to describe someone who doesn’t know where he is. If that is true in your language, you will want to use a more appropriate expression for this context.
Meanwhile the older son was in the field,
¶ “As for the older son, he was in one of the fields at that time.
¶ “While this was happening, his older son was away working in a different part of the farm.
Meanwhile: The Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as Meanwhile here introduces something else that happened at the same time that the things in 15:20b–24 were happening. It also introduces the older son as an important person in the story. Before this, he was mentioned only indirectly in 15:11.
the older son was in the field: The phrase the older son refers to the older brother of the son who had come home. This older son was working in one of the fields that the family owned. He was away from the house.
Other ways to translate this part of the verse are:
Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. (NLT)
While this was happening, his older child was working in one of the fields.
and as he approached the house,
When he was returning home and was near the house,
In the evening he started to go home. As he approached,
and as he approached the house: The older son finished his day’s work and began to return home for his evening meal. In some languages it may be necessary to supply a phrase explaining that the older son left the field and began to walk home. For example:
In the evening he left for home. When he got close…
he heard music and dancing.
he heard the sound of people making music and dancing.
he heard strumming, drumming, and flute playing, and people dancing.
he heard music and dancing: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as he heard music and dancing means that the older son heard the sound of musical instruments being played and the beat of dancing feet. There were probably several people who played instruments and others who danced as a group. The dancers may have been acting out the story of the younger son’s experiences.
The text does not specify what kind of instruments people were playing or what kind of dancing they did. So, if possible, you should use general terms for these ideas, as the BSB has done. Another way to translate it is:
he heard people playing instruments and dancing
In some languages there are no general terms for either music or dancing. Instead, there are many specific terms for different instruments and other terms for different kinds of dances. If that is true in your language, try to use terms that refer to music/instruments that accompany a dance. Use a term for dancing that refers either to a dance in which a story is acted out or a dance in which people are celebrating a happy occasion. Avoid terms for ritual or religious dances or erotic dances.
Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-time-background
δὲ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἦν Δέ ὁ υἱός αὐτοῦ ὁ πρεσβύτερος ἐν ἀγρῷ καί ὡς ἐρχόμενος ἤγγισεν τῇ οἰκίᾳ ἤκουσεν συμφωνίας καί χορῶν)
Jesus uses the word And to introduce background information that will help readers understand what happens next. Alternate translation: [Now]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἦν & ἐν ἀγρῷ
was & in ˓the˒_field
The implication was that he was out in the field because he was working there. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could state that explicitly. Alternate translation: [was out working in the field]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ὡς ἐρχόμενος
while coming
Alternate translation: [as he came back home from the field]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
ἤκουσεν συμφωνίας καὶ χορῶν
˱he˲_heard ˱of˲_music (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἦν Δέ ὁ υἱός αὐτοῦ ὁ πρεσβύτερος ἐν ἀγρῷ καί ὡς ἐρχόμενος ἤγγισεν τῇ οἰκίᾳ ἤκουσεν συμφωνίας καί χορῶν)
The older son could not literally hear dancing, so Jesus is using the term heard in that case. Alternate translation: [he heard music and the sound of people dancing] or [he heard music and could tell that people were dancing]
OET-LV And the the elder son of_him was in the_field, and while coming, he_neared to_the house, he_heard of_music and dancing.
OET (OET-RV) “The man’s older son was out working in a field, and when he was heading home and got near the house, he could hear the sound of music and dancing
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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