OET interlinear LUKE 5:27

5:27a

After this: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as After this is literally “After these things” (as in the KJV). This means “after the events in the previous section occurred.” Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

After these things happened

Later (CEV)

Jesus went out: The Greek text does not say from where Jesus went out. The meaning may be that he went out of the house where he had healed the paralyzed man. It may also be that he went out of the town. (Mark 2:13 indicates that Jesus went out of the town.) Tax booths were often located just outside of a town or city.

If it is necessary in your language, make explicit from where Jesus went out. For example:

Jesus left the house

Jesus went out from the town

5:27b

saw a tax collector named Levi: This part of the verse introduces Levi and says that Jesus saw him. In some languages it may be more natural to use more than one statement to do this. For example:

There was a man there named Levi who was a tax collector…. Jesus saw him…

saw: The Greek word that the BSB translates as saw means to “look at intently or pointedly.” It implies that Jesus did not just look at Levi briefly. He continued to observe him. Here is one way to express this in English:

looked straight at (JBP)

tax collector: The Greek word that the BSB translates as tax collector refers to a man whose job was to gather money from people. This money was called a tax. Then he gave this money to the government. People paid different types of taxes. For instance, people had to pay taxes based on their wealth and property. They also had to pay a tax for using certain roads and to bring goods into the country.

Levi probably collected fees on goods and produce that people brought into Herod’s kingdom. He possibly also collected fees for using the road.The ancient road running from Damascus to Ptolemais (Acre) passed right by Capernaum and would have been the entrance point into Herod’s kingdom (or tetrarchy). Some of these taxes or fees would go to Herod Antipas. Others would be collected for the local municipality.

If you do not have a word in your language for tax collector, you may need to use a descriptive phrase. For example:

someone who collects money

a money collector for the government

You may want to include a footnote to explain the meaning of this word. You may also want to explain it in a glossary. For example:

Tax collectors worked for the Romans or King Herod. Tax collectors often cheated people by forcing them to pay more money than they owed. As a result, many Jews hated tax collectors.

sitting at the tax booth: The phrase sitting at the tax booth implies that Levi was doing his work. He was collecting taxes for the government. See the discussion about this in the introduction to Section 5:27–32.

tax booth: The tax booth was probably some sort of small table under a shelter where Levi sat to receive taxes from the people. Some other ways to translate the phrase tax booth are:

the place where taxes are collected

the place for paying taxes (CEV)

5:27c

“Follow Me,” He told him: In Greek this part of the verse begins with the words that the BSB translates as He told him. The BSB places these words after the phrase Follow Me. Put these phrases in a natural order in your language.

Follow Me: In this context the phrase Follow Me means “Become my disciple.” Jesus was inviting Levi to be with him every day, listen to his teaching, observe his actions, and learn from him.

Some ways to translate this are:

Be/become my disciple

Come, follow me wherever I go, and learn from me

You may choose to translate this as Follow Me but include a footnote to explain the idea of a disciple. For example:

Jesus was inviting Levi to become a disciple. A disciple was someone who was always with a teacher and learned from him constantly, both from his teaching and from his actions.