5:35a–b

This verse contains a metaphor. Jesus compared John the Baptist to a lamp. A lamp enables people to see in the dark. In the same way, John enabled people to see (understand) God the Father and his Son, the Messiah. He taught truth about God and Jesus Christ.

In some languages a metaphor like this may not be clearly understood. If this is the case in your language, you may need to:

• Change the metaphor into a simile. For example:

John was like a burning and shining lamp, and you were happy to enjoy his light for a while. (New Century Version)
-or-
John was like a lamp, burning and shining, and you were willing for a while to enjoy his light. (Good News Translation)

• Indicate something of the meaning of the figure of speech. For example:

Like a shining lamp, John brought light into dark places ⌊by speaking truth⌋ . For a short time you liked ⌊listening to his words⌋ .
-or-
John was like a lamp that shone, and you enjoyed his shining ⌊in your minds/thoughts with his teaching⌋ for a while.

5:35a

John was a lamp that burned and gave light: This expression is a metaphor. The two expressions burned and gave light both describe the lamp. It was an oil lamp with a flame that gave light as it burned. In some cultures such lamps may be unknown. In those languages it may be possible to say:

John was a lamp lit and shining (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
John was a lamp that gave a lot of light (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
John was a like an oil lamp that was shining

5:35b

and you were willing for a season to bask in his light: This continues the metaphor of light. The people listening to John were happy to hear what he said, just as people are happy to have light. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

for a time you were content to enjoy the light that he gave (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
you were glad to enjoy his light for a while (God’s Word)

you: This pronoun is plural and refers to the Jewish people in general. It implies that some of those who heard John were present and were listening to Jesus.

for a season: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as for a season means “for an hour.” It indicates that the time was short without really saying how short it was. Here are some other ways you may translate this phrase:

for a time (New International Version)
-or-
for a short time (NET Bible)

© 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.