SIL Translator’s Notes on John 19:27

19:27a

Then He said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.”: Jesus gave his disciple the responsibility of taking care of his mother after he died. He wanted his disciple to honor and provide for Mary as though she was his mother.

He said to the disciple: Jesus spoke to the disciple he just mentioned, the disciple whom he loved.

Here is your mother: Jesus directed the disciple’s attention to his mother, using the same word (translated Here is) that he did in 19:26b. Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

look, here is your mother (NET Bible)
-or-
She is now your mother. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Make my mother your mother. (Otomi Back Translation)

Jesus’ mother was not literally the mother of the disciple whom Jesus loved. So in some languages you may need to indicate that this clause is a metaphor. For example:

This woman will be like your mother.
-or-
Consider this woman to be your mother.

19:27b

So from that hour: The phrase that hour here refers to the time that Jesus died. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

From that time on (God’s Word)
-or-
From then on (Contemporary English Version)

this disciple took her into his home: This clause indicates that this disciple began to take care of Mary as though she were his own mother. He treated her as part of his family. Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

the disciple took her to live in his home (Good News Translation)
-or-
she lived with that disciple in his home (God’s Word)
-or-
the disciple brought her into his home ⌊to live⌋

took her: In your translation, avoid implying that the disciple took Mary into his home against her will. He offered to give her a home there, and she accepted. For example:

welcomed her
-or-
gave her a home

© 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.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted