Open Bible Data Home About News OET Key
OET OET-RV OET-LV ULT UST BSB MSB BLB AICNT OEB WEBBE WMBB NET LSV FBV TCNT T4T LEB BBE Moff JPS Wymth ASV DRA YLT Drby RV SLT Wbstr KJB-1769 KJB-1611 Bshps Gnva Cvdl TNT Wycl SR-GNT UHB BrLXX BrTr Related Topics Parallel Interlinear Reference Dictionary Search
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 19 V1 V3 V5 V7 V9 V11 V13 V15 V17 V19 V21 V23 V25 V27 V29 V31 V33 V35 V37 V39 V41 V43 V45 V47
OET (OET-LV) Therefore, he_said, a_ certain noble _man was_gone to a_country distant, to_receive for_himself a_kingdom and to_return.
OET (OET-RV) Because of that, he told them, “Once a man of high status was going to a distant country to inherit a kingdom, and then to return after that.
Many of Jesus’ followers expected that when they arrived in Jerusalem, Jesus would establish the kingdom of God and begin to reign as king. He told the parable in this section to help them understand that events would happen differently than they expected.
There are two main ideas that Jesus taught through this parable:
Jesus, like the important man in the parable, was going away and would not return until after God made him king. In the meantime, the Jewish people would reject Jesus and God would punish them when he returned.
While Jesus is gone, his disciples must serve him faithfully and use whatever he has given them to glorify him.
Other examples of headings for this section are:
The Parable of the Gold Coins (GNT)
Jesus told a parable about ten servants
A parallel passage to this section is found in Matthew 25:14–30.
So He said, “A man of noble birth
He said, “A man from an important/ruling family
This is the parable that Jesus told: “A certain man of the nobility/aristocracy
So He said: In Greek the phrase He said is followed by a conjunction that is often translated as “therefore” and that the BSB translates as So. It implies that Jesus knew what the people were thinking, so (as a result) he told them the parable in this section. Here is another way to translate this:
He said therefore (ESV)
Some English versions do not translate this conjunction. Use a natural way in your language to make the connection clear.
A man of noble birth: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as A man of noble birth refers to a man who was born into an important family. He had high social status. In this context the man was going to become king, so some English versions have translated the word as “prince” (CEV, GW). Some other ways to translate it are:
A very important man (NCV)
A man of high rank/status
A man from an important/ruling family
went to a distant country
prepared to go to another country far away.
planned to travel to a far country
went to a distant country: In this context the word went indicates that he prepared to go. The nobleman needed to travel to another country. However, in 19:13 he was still in his own country. He was giving his servants instructions about what to do after he left.
In some languages it may be more natural to change the order of information in these verses. See the General Comment on 19:12–13 at the end of 19:13d for suggestions.
a distant country: The Greek word that the BSB translates as distant indicates that this country was “far away.” This country was so far away from the nobleman’s homeland that people knew it would be a long time before he would return home.
to lay claim to his kingship
He was going there to receive the right to rule his country as king.
so that the emperor could appoint/crown him to be a king.
to lay claim to his kingship: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as to lay claim to his kingship is more literally “to receive a kingdom.” The RSV and several other English versions translate it that way. The context shows that he wanted to be appointed as king of his own country.This action was similar to what happened in the Roman Empire at that time. Kings ruled under the authority of the Roman emperor, who could appoint the kings of the various countries. In the parable the ruler represents God. He was not going to begin ruling a kingdom far away from his home. Some ways to make this clear are:
A man of noble birth went to a distant country to receive authority to become king of his own country
A man of noble birth intended to go to a distant country to be given authority to rule his own people as their king.
The text does not make explicit who would give the nobleman authority to be king. However, the context implies that there was an emperor, a great king, who had many other kings under his authority. In some languages it is necessary to make this explicit. For example:
to receive authority from the high king/chief to be king/chief of his own country
and then return.
Then he would return home.
Then he planned to return and rule his own land.
and then return: The words and then refer to the time after the nobleman had received authority. Then he would return to rule his own country. In some languages it may be helpful to make this more explicit. For example:
After he received the authority, he would return.
When he was appointed, he would return home to rule.
Note 1 topic: writing-participants
ἄνθρωπός τις εὐγενὴς
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: εἶπεν Οὖν ἄνθρωπος Τὶς εὐγενής ἐπορεύθη εἰς χώραν μακράν λαβεῖν ἑαυτῷ βασιλείαν καί ὑποστρέψαι)
Jesus uses this phrase to introduce the main character into the story. Alternate translation: [There once was a nobleman who]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
λαβεῖν ἑαυτῷ βασιλείαν
˓to˒_receive ˱for˲_himself ˓a˒_kingdom
Jesus assumes that his listeners will know that he is speaking of a lesser king going to a greater king or emperor. The emperor would give the lesser king the right and authority to rule over his own country. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could state that explicitly. Alternate translation: [to receive authorization from the emperor to rule over his own kingdom]
καὶ ὑποστρέψαι
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: εἶπεν Οὖν ἄνθρωπος Τὶς εὐγενής ἐπορεύθη εἰς χώραν μακράν λαβεῖν ἑαυτῷ βασιλείαν καί ὑποστρέψαι)
Alternate translation: [and then to return and rule that kingdom in person]
19:12 A nobleman was called away to a distant empire to be crowned king: The account fits the situation of Judea as a client kingdom of the Roman Empire. After the death of a king, claimants to the throne would go to Rome to try to gain support. Like the nobleman, Jesus would first depart (to heaven) to receive his royal authority; he will later return to rule God’s people and judge those who have opposed him (see 19:14, 27).
OET (OET-LV) Therefore, he_said, a_ certain noble _man was_gone to a_country distant, to_receive for_himself a_kingdom and to_return.
OET (OET-RV) Because of that, he told them, “Once a man of high status was going to a distant country to inherit a kingdom, and then to return after that.
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.