5:7a
he shouted in a loud voice: The Greek text says literally: “crying out with/in a great voice, he said.” Use an expression that would be natural in your language to describe a person who was shouting because an unclean spirit was controlling him.
he shouted: It was the man who was speaking here. However, it is clear from what he said that the unclean spirit was making him say these words. Consider how it would be natural to introduce these words in your language.
5:7b
What do You want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?: The unclean spirit used both Jesus’ name and the title Son of the Most High God to address him. If this would not be natural in your language, you may need to use a different way to express the ideas. For example:
Jesus, you are the Son of the Most High God! What are you doing here? (Easy English Bible)
-or-
What do you want with me, Jesus? You are the Son of the Most High God!
-or-
You are Jesus, the Son of the Most High God! What do you want with me?
What do You want with me…?: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as What do you want with me…? is literally “What to me and to you?” This is an idiom. It means “What connection/relation do I have with you?” (The commentaries and a detailed article by Nigel Turner (Grammatical Insights Into the Greek NT, pages 43–47) discuss the differences in meaning between “What do we have in common?”, “What cause of enmity/injustice is there between us?” and “What business do we have with each other?” However, when the rhetorical nature of the question is appreciated, the differences between these renderings of the question largely dissolve. A sense close to “leave me alone” works well in all contexts where this is found, whether the occasion is some issue of injustice between parties, a request that someone get involved in a matter he felt was not his business, or a plea, as here, on the part of demons that Jesus refrain from punishing them.)
This is a rhetorical question that implies “we have no connection/relation” or “we have nothing in common.” It also implies a request or rebuke, that is, “since we have nothing in common, you should not trouble me.” In this context, the unclean spirit, in fear or panic, was pleading with Jesus not to cause him to leave the man.
Here are some ways to translate this rhetorical question:
• As a question. For example:
What connection do we have with each other…?
-or-
Why are you troubling/disturbing me…?
-or-
Why are you interfering with me…?
• As a statement or a command. For example:
We certainly do not have anything in common with one another…!
-or-
Do not trouble me…!
-or-
Leave me alone…! (NET Bible)
In some languages you may have an idiom that expresses this meaning. See how you translated the almost identical expression at 1:24a.
Son of…God: The Bible uses the title Son of…God to express the fact that Jesus has the same nature as God and that he comes from God. The title also indicates that the relationship between God and Jesus, his Son, is similar in some way to the relationship of human fathers and sons. God does not have a physical body, and he did not create/produce Jesus the way a human father produces a son. Jesus existed eternally as the Son with his Father.
See how you translated this expression at 1:1 and 3:11c.
the Most High God: The phrase the Most High God is a title for God that is used several times in the Old and New Testaments. It indicates that God is greater and more powerful than any other god, being, or power that exists. The title does not refer to literal height or size. In some languages there may be a special way to indicate that a phrase such as this is a title. The Berean Standard Bible uses capital letters to indicate this.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
the Greatest/Highest God
-or-
God, the One who is more powerful than all other beings
-or-
the God who is so great that no one is great like him
God: God: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as God refers here to the eternal spirit who created everything. He is more powerful than any other spirit, and he is perfectly good and wise. He deserves to be worshipped. Here are some ways to translate God:
• Use a name or title for God that people in your culture already use.
• Use a descriptive term that fits the truth about God that is revealed in the Bible. For example:
Creator
-or-
Great Spirit
-or-
Ruler of the universe
See how you translated God in 1:1. For more detailed information, see God in the Glossary.
5:7c
I beg You before God not to torture me: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as I beg you before God is a very serious expression. It is used to tell someone to swear an oath that uses God’s name. (It was common in ancient magic to appeal to the name of a greater spirit or power to assure the success of the magic. Here the unclean spirit in the man appealed to the highest name possible, God’s name.) This implies that the person should promise to do something and agree that God would punish him if he did not do it. You may have a special expression in your language to tell someone to swear an oath or make a serious promise.
Here are some other ways to translate this:
Promise me in God’s name that you won’t torture me! (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
I beg you to take an oath before God that you will not torture me!
-or-
Please promise not to torture me and agree that God may punish you if you break that promise!
not to torture me: In this context, the word torture means “punish with pain, cause to suffer.”
Here are some other ways to translate it:
not to punish me
-or-
not to torment me
-or-
not to cause me to suffer
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