Checking Luke 15-20
Even the most familiar Bible stories can present translation problems. The account of Zacchaeus meeting Jesus is one such story. We’ve heard it in Sunday School and we’ve sung “Zacchaeus was a wee little man.”
After “Zacchaeus! You come down!” is where all the translation problems pile up. The first is that tax collecting is unknown among the Emberas. They don’t pay taxes and they don’t really know why others do pay taxes. We use the term “one who habitually collects money for the Head of Rome.” The second problem is related to the first. The people see Jesus going with Zacchaeus and complain that he has gone to the house of a sinner. What is there in the context that indicates to an Embera that Zacchaeus is a sinner? To Jewish people of that time it was painfully obvious. Do you know?
The third is that the Greek is unclear where it says “Zacchaeus stood.” It could mean he stopped walking, he stood up presumably from his dinner table, or he stood in front of Jesus before they started for his house. A few Bible commentators even say this part of the account did not occur until the next day when Jesus was ready to leave for Jerusalem. If you have more than one Bible version you can compare them here. But the Greek is unclear, so no translation is guaranteed to have it right.
Fourth: when Zacchaeus says he will give half of his fortune to the poor, he also says “if I have stolen from anyone, I will pay it back four times.” Translated literally into Embera, it sounds like Zacchaeus is unaware he has cheated anyone. In order to express the right meaning, we have to say “what I have overcharged others by lying to them, I will pay it back four times.”
The fifth problem shows up in verse 9. Jesus calls Zacchaeus a true son of Abraham. To Emberas that means Zacchaeus is Abraham’s biological son. However, “son of X” is a Hebrew way of saying “someone who is like X in a certain way.” So we have “you believe God like Abraham did.”
Sixth problem: “Salvation has come to this house.” This will have to wait until another day!