Sunday, September 4, 2022

Luke 14:9

Last week, the Gospel reading was from Luke 14, and I noticed some interesting translation differences in verse 9, specifically in the clause "δὸς τούτῳ τόπον."  I was following along in my French New Testament, where this is translated "Cède la place à cette personne-là."  In the ESV, it's translated as "Give your place to this person," and in the NIV, "Give this man your seat."  The ESV and NIV both supply a possessive adjective ("your place" and "your seat") that's not present in the original Greek or my French translation.  In the NKJV, this clause is rendered as "Give place to this man," which I think is the best of these three English translations.

As the context makes clear, the man who is askt to give up this seat doesn't have a valid claim to it, so the possessive adjective your doesn't truly apply.