6:35a
By now the hour was already late: The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as By now the hour was already late is literally “a late hour was already coming.” It was probably mid or late afternoon, sometime after 3:00 o’clock but before sunset. According to verse 6:36, there was still time for them to go and buy food.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
When it was getting late (Good News Bible)
-or-
Late in the afternoon (New Living Translation)
If your language has an idiom for this time of day, it would be good to use it here.
6:35b
So: The word So is not in Greek. The Berean Standard Bible has added this word to connect 6:35a and 6:35b. Connect these verse parts in a way that is natural in your language.
the disciples came to Jesus: In this context, the words came to Jesus mean that the disciples approached Jesus to speak to him. The disciples were already with Jesus. They were probably sitting or standing close to Jesus as he taught. They did not come to him from a distance.
Here are some other ways to translate this:
his disciples came near to him
-or-
his disciples approached him
disciples: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as disciples means “learners” who are in a relationship with a teacher. The learners commit themselves to their teacher in order to learn from him and live according to his teaching and example. In the New Testament disciples often lived with their teacher and followed him wherever he went.
See how you translated this term at 2:15b and 6:1c. See also disciple in the Glossary.
6:35c–36c
For an example of how to translate this text as indirect speech, see the General Comment on 6:35c–36c at the end of 6:36c.
6:35c
and said: In Greek, the word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as said occurs before “This is a remote place.” The Berean Standard Bible has placed it before these words. The New International Version has placed said after these words. You should put the word said where it is most natural in your language.
This is a desolate place: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as a desolate place indicates a place where few people lived. It was a place that was far from any town or village. The Berean Standard Bible translates this same word as “a solitary place” in 6:32.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
This is a lonely place
-or-
No one lives around here (God’s Word)
6:35d
and the hour is already late: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the hour is already late is almost the same Greek phrase as in 6:35a. You should translate it in a similar way here.
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