LUKE 23:30 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 23:26–43: Soldiers nailed Jesus to a cross

In this section the Roman soldiers did what their commander Pontius Pilate had ordered them to do. They led Jesus outside the town to the place where they crucified criminals. There they nailed Jesus on a cross. They did the same to two other men, who were criminals. Then they made the three men hang there until they died. The Jewish leaders, the soldiers, and even one of the criminals mocked Jesus. But the other criminal believed in him.

Other examples of headings for this section are:

The Crucifixion (NIV)

Jesus Is Nailed to a Cross (CEV)

Roman soldiers nailed Jesus to a cross

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 27:31–44, Mark 15:21–32, and John 19:17–27.

23:30

This verse has parallel parts. Parts a–b and c–d have the same meaning:

^aAt that time they will say to the mountains,

^b“Fall on us!”

^cand to the hills,

^d“Cover us!”

In some languages it may be more natural to combine the parallel parts so that the introductions and the two quotations are combined. For example:

^a,cThen they will say to the mountains and hills, ^b,d“Fall on us and cover us!”

At that time, people will speak to the hills like this: “Fall on us, hills! Cover us, stones!”Uma back translation on TW.

23:30a

At that time ‘they will say to the mountains,

Then, they will begin to say to the mountains,
At that time as the Scripture says, people will call out to the stones of the mountains
Then people will wish that stones and dirt from the mountains and hills

23:30a–b

At that time ‘they will say…’: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as At that time ‘they will say is literally “Then they will begin to say.”Most scholars believe that the verb “begin” does not add significantly to the meaning of the verb “say” here. Scholars are not sure what the word “begin” adds to the meaning of the verb say here. It probably emphasizes the coming time to which the phrase At that time refers. For example:

That will be the time when people will say (GNT)

At that time everyone will say (CEV)

Some English versions do not translate the word “begin.” Do what is natural here in your language.

At that time: The phrase At that time introduces a quotation from Hosea 10:8 in the Old Testament. In some languages it may be helpful to introduce this quotation more explicitly. For example:

At that time, as the Scripture says/prophecies

Then it will happen as a prophet wrote in God’s Word

The BSB marks this quotation with single quote marks (‘…’) beginning in 23:30a and ending in 20:30d. You should mark this quotation in the same way as you mark other quotations from the Old Testament in your translation. You may also include a footnote or cross reference.

they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”: Here Jesus predicted what the people will wish for in the future time of trouble. They will wish that the mountains and hills will fall on them. Some ways to translate the wish are:

As direct speech:
they will beg the mountains, “Fall on us!”
they will call out to the mountains, “Fall on us!”
As indirect speech:
they will beg the mountains to fall on them
As a wish or hope:
they will wish/hope that the mountains would fall on them

Translate the wish in a natural way in your language.

they: The word they is used in the same way as the word “people” in 23:29b. It refers to people in general, especially the people in Jerusalem. You can translate it here in the same way or a similar way as you translated “people” in 23:29b.

23:30b

“Fall on us!”

‘Come/Crash^(plur) down on us^(excl)!’
to descend on them and kill them.
would slide down on them

Fall on us!: The clause Fall on us! probably indicates that people will wish that the dirt or stones of the mountains would come down on them and kill them. It implies that people will suffer so terribly that they will wish that they could die. If the mountains fell on them, they would die quickly. They would not have to endure the terrible sufferings of that time.

In some languages people do not speak of mountains “falling.” If that is true in your language, describe it in natural way in your language. Some ways to do this are:

will plead that the mountains will landslide in order to bury/cover themKankanaey back translation on TW.

will say, “Why doesn’t this mountain cover me?”Yakan back translation on TW.

23:30c

and to the hills,

and they will also say to those hills,
They will plead/beg
and

23:30d

“Cover us!”’

‘Bury us^(excl)!’”
for the hills to bury them.
cover them up/over.

23:30c–d

and to the hills, “Cover us!”: There is an ellipsis here. The full form is, “and they will say to the hills, ‘Cover us.’” It has almost the same meaning as the wish in 23:30a–b. The difference between hills and “mountains” is only that hills are smaller than mountains. If the hills covered the people, they would be buried alive and die. Another way to translate 23:30c–d is:

And they will say also to the hill, “Cover us up.”Western Bukidnon Manobo back translation on TW.

As in 23:30a–b, Jesus predicted what the people will wish in the future. You may translate this part of the verse in a similar way as you did there. See the note on “they will say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’” at 23:30a–b for translation suggestions.

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-time-simultaneous

τότε

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Τότε Ἄρξονται λέγειν τοῖς ὄρεσιν Πέσετε ἐφʼ ἡμάς καί τοῖς βουνοῖς Καλύψατε ἡμάς)

Here, Then does not mean that people would say this after what they said in the previous verse. Rather, it means that they would say this at the same time that they were saying that. Alternate translation: [At that time]

Note 2 topic: writing-pronouns

ἄρξονται λέγειν

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Τότε Ἄρξονται λέγειν τοῖς ὄρεσιν Πέσετε ἐφʼ ἡμάς καί τοῖς βουνοῖς Καλύψατε ἡμάς)

Here Jesus is likely using the pronoun they in an indefinite sense, as in the previous verse. He probably does not have specific individuals in mind. However, the general reference may be to the people of Jerusalem, as UST suggests. Alternate translation: [people will begin to say] or [the people of Jerusalem will begin to say]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / apostrophe

λέγειν τοῖς ὄρεσιν, πέσετε ἐφ’ ἡμᾶς; καὶ τοῖς βουνοῖς, καλύψατε ἡμᾶς

˓to_be˒_saying ˱to˲_the mountains (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Τότε Ἄρξονται λέγειν τοῖς ὄρεσιν Πέσετε ἐφʼ ἡμάς καί τοῖς βουνοῖς Καλύψατε ἡμάς)

Jesus is saying that at this time people will address something they know cannot hear them in order to express in a strong way what they are feeling. Alternate translation: [to say that they wished the mountains would fall on them and the hills would cover them]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / quotesinquotes

λέγειν τοῖς ὄρεσιν, πέσετε ἐφ’ ἡμᾶς; καὶ τοῖς βουνοῖς, καλύψατε ἡμᾶς

If it would be helpful in your language, you could translate this so that there is not a quotation within a quotation. Alternate translation: [to tell the mountains to fall on them and the hills to cover them]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / imperative

πέσετε ἐφ’ ἡμᾶς & καλύψατε ἡμᾶς

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Τότε Ἄρξονται λέγειν τοῖς ὄρεσιν Πέσετε ἐφʼ ἡμάς καί τοῖς βουνοῖς Καλύψατε ἡμάς)

This is an imperative, but since the people cannot order the mountains and hills to do this, they would be using the imperative to express their wishes. Alternate translation: [We wish you would fall on us … We wish you would cover us]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

πέσετε ἐφ’ ἡμᾶς & καλύψατε ἡμᾶς

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Τότε Ἄρξονται λέγειν τοῖς ὄρεσιν Πέσετε ἐφʼ ἡμάς καί τοῖς βουνοῖς Καλύψατε ἡμάς)

The people do not want the mountains and hills to fall on them to harm them, but rather to protect them. Alternate translation: [We wish you would fall on us to protect us … We wish you would cover us to protect us]

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / exclusive

πέσετε ἐφ’ ἡμᾶς & καλύψατε ἡμᾶς

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Τότε Ἄρξονται λέγειν τοῖς ὄρεσιν Πέσετε ἐφʼ ἡμάς καί τοῖς βουνοῖς Καλύψατε ἡμάς)

When the people say us, they are referring to themselves only, not to the mountains and hills as well. So here, use the exclusive form of us if your language marks that distinction.

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

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.

OET interlinear LUKE 23:30

SR Greek word order (including unused variant words in grey)

Section 23:26–43: Soldiers nailed Jesus to a cross

23:30

23:30a

23:30a–b

23:30b

23:30c

23:30d

23:30c–d

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)