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OET (OET-LV) And having_seen the faith of_them he_said:
Man, the sins of_you have_been_forgiven to_you.
In this section, Luke focused on Jesus’ authority. Jesus used his authority from God to forgive the paralyzed man’s sins. The religious leaders questioned that authority. Jesus proved his authority to forgive sin when he healed the paralyzed man.
Some other possible headings for this section are:
Jesus showed that he had authority to forgive sins
Jesus forgave the sins of a paralyzed man and healed him
There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 9:1–8 and Mark 2:1–12.
When Jesus saw their faith,
¶ Jesus saw/realized that they trusted him,
¶ When Jesus knew/understood that they believed that he could heal the man,
When Jesus saw their faith: The phrase Jesus saw their faith means “Jesus realized that they had faith.” Jesus saw what the men did and understood from it that they had confidence in him. They trusted him to heal the paralyzed man.
their faith: The phrase their faith probably refers to the faith of the whole group who had come to Jesus. It probably includes both the faith of the man on the mat and the faith of his friends who had brought him.
faith: The Greek word that the BSB translates as faith refers here to the action of believing and trusting Jesus. The men believed that Jesus would heal the paralyzed man. In some languages, it may be more natural to translate faith as a verb. If that is true in your language, you may also need to say what they believed. For example:
Jesus realized that the paralytic and those who brought him believed that he could heal the paralytic
When Jesus understood that they trusted in him to heal the paralyzed man
See believe, Meaning 2, in the Glossary.
He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
and he said, “Man, you(sing) are forgiven for your sins.”
he said to the paralyzed man, “Friend/Brother, I forgive your(sing) sins.”
he told the man that his sins were forgiven.
Friend: The Greek word that the BSB translates as Friend is literally “man.” It was a general term that one man might use to address another. It does not mean that the paralyzed man was already a friend of Jesus. Some other ways to translate it are:
Use a term of address in your language that is fairly neutral in terms of status, familiarity, and politeness.
Use a term that is polite and indicates a good relationship between the speakers, if you do not have a neutral term.
Some other ways to translate this word are:
Young man (NLT)
My friend (CEV)
your sins are forgiven: The clause that the BSB translates as your sins are forgiven is literally “your sins have been forgiven to you.” This clause is a passive clause. Jesus was implying that he had authority from God to forgive the paralyzed man’s sins. If it is more natural in your language to use an active verb you can say:
I forgive your sinsEugene H. Peterson, The Message.
In some languages, it is more natural to say that a person is forgiven, rather than that his sins are forgiven. If this is the case in your language, you may need to say:
you are forgiven for/of all your sins
I forgive you for the sins you have committed
your sins: In this context the phrase your sins refers to the paralyzed man’s offenses against God. Jesus used the word in a general way. He was not implying that the paralyzed man had offended him personally.
If this is not clear in your language, it may be necessary to make it explicit. For example:
your sins against God
sins: The word sins refers to offenses against God or another person. Sins include acts, thoughts, and attitudes that are not what God wants or approves.In Greek, the verb that English versions translate as sin is also a term that is used in archery to mean “miss the target.” When a person sins, he “misses” the target, that is, he fails to reach God’s standard. A person can also offend God by not doing what God wants him to do.
Translate sins with a general term that can include any offense against God. Here are problems to avoid:
The term should not imply that only serious crimes like murder or stealing are sins. Other offenses like gossip and greed are also sins.
The term should not include accidents or mistakes that are not against God’s will.
Some ways to translate sins are:
wrong acts
offenses against God
evil deeds
In some languages it may be natural to translate sins with a phrase that includes a verb. For example:
wrong things that you have done
are forgiven: In this context the verb are forgiven indicates that as Jesus spoke, he canceled the paralyzed man’s sins. The verb form emphasizes a state of being forgiven. God would not punish the man for his sins. God would treat him as though he had not offended him in any way.
Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
are taken away
are canceled
are pardoned
In many languages there may be an idiom for this. For example:
are erased
are wiped away
For more information, see forgive in KBT.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
καὶ ἰδὼν τὴν πίστιν αὐτῶν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἰδών τήν πίστιν αὐτῶν εἶπεν Ἄνθρωπε ἀφέωνται σοί αἱ ἁμαρτίαι σοῦ)
The implication is that Jesus recognized that the friends of this paralyzed man strongly believed that he could heal him. Their actions proved that. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could state that explicitly. Alternate translation: [When Jesus recognized that the man’s friends were convinced that he could heal him]
ἄνθρωπε
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἰδών τήν πίστιν αὐτῶν εἶπεν Ἄνθρωπε ἀφέωνται σοί αἱ ἁμαρτίαι σοῦ)
Man was a general word that people used in this culture when speaking to a man whose name they did not know. If your language has a term that it uses for this same purpose, you could use it in your translation here. Alternate translation: [Friend]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
ἀφέωνταί σοι αἱ ἁμαρτίαι σου
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἰδών τήν πίστιν αὐτῶν εἶπεν Ἄνθρωπε ἀφέωνται σοί αἱ ἁμαρτίαι σοῦ)
If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this with an active form, and you could state who did the action. Alternate translation: [I forgive your sins]
5:17-26 The healing of the paralyzed man initiated the conflicts Jesus had with religious leaders throughout his public ministry until he was crucified in Jerusalem.
OET (OET-LV) And having_seen the faith of_them he_said:
Man, the sins of_you have_been_forgiven to_you.
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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