3:29a

The Greek begins with conjunction that is usually translated as “or.” It introduces a new set of questions related to who God justifies (3:22–28). In some languages it is more natural to omit this conjunction, as the Berean Standard Bible does. For example:

Perhaps you think-wrongly…

Is God the God of Jews only?: This is a rhetorical question. It expects the answer “No.” God is not the God of only the Jews. Translate this clause with that meaning. Here are some ways to do that:

• As a rhetorical question. For example:

Do you think God is the God only of the Jews…? (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
Does God belong only to the Jews? (Contemporary English Version)

• As a statement. For example:

God is definitely not the God of the Jews only
-or-
God does not rule only Jews

3:29b

Is He not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too: This is a rhetorical question and its answer. The rhetorical question causes the reader to think about what the answer might be. It emphasizes the answer of Yes, (he is God) of Gentiles too. Translate this clause with that meaning. Here are some ways to do that:

• Using a rhetorical question. For example:

Is he not the God of the Gentiles also? Of course he is. (Good News Translation)
-or-
Is he also the God of the non-Jews? Yes, he is ⌊God of the non-Jews⌋.

• Using a statement. For example:

but he is also God of the Gentiles.
-or-
God also rules the non-Jews.

Gentiles: This word refers to people who are not Jews. See how you translated this word in 1:5 or 2:24.

Yes, of Gentiles too: The phrase “he is God” is implied here. In some languages the implied phrase must be supplied. For example:

Yes, ⌊he is God⌋ of Gentiles too

© 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.