13:21a

At that time: The phrase At that time refers to the time of extreme suffering that Jesus has been talking about (13:19).

13:21b

if anyone says to you: This clause is a condition, that is, something that might happen. Express this condition in a natural way in your language.

Here is another way to translate this:

someone might say to you (New Century Version)

13:21c

In 13:21c, the Greek uses direct speech. In some languages it may be more natural to use indirect speech. See the General Comment on 13:21c below.

Look: The word Look is used to get the attention of the hearers. It indicates to the hearers that the information that follows is important. In some languages people may use a word like “Hey!” or “Say!” It is similar to the word “behold” in 1:2b–c. You may want to translate these two words the same way.

here is the Christ: The expression here is the Christ indicates that someone is pointing out a person as the Messiah.

the Christ: The phrase the Christ is used here as a title. In this verse it does not refer to Jesus. The people were pointing to someone else as the Christ. The Jews used the title Christ to refer to the special person whom God had appointed and promised to send as king and savior. The title Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word “Messiah,” and the two words have the same meaning.

Some ways to translate Christ are:

• Transliterate it according to the sounds of your language. For example:

Krais
-or-
Karisiti

• Transliterate it and indicate in some way that it is a title. For example:

the Christ
-or-
the Kirisita

• Transliterate Christ and include a phrase that explains the meaning. For example:

Christ, the appointed one
-or-
Cristo, the savior God promised
-or-
the Christ who comes from God

If you do not indicate the meaning of Christ in the text, you may want to include a footnote. For example:

The word/title “Christ” refers to the King and Savior whom God had promised to send.

See how you translated the Christ in 12:35c. See also Christ in the Glossary.

or: The word or is not in the Greek. In the Greek there is no joining word. The Berean Standard Bible has added this word because it is good English style. Another way to join the two exclamations in English is with “and.”

There He is!: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as There He is! is spoken by a different person from the person mentioned in 13:21b. One way to translate this is to introduce the phrase in the following way:

…or if someone else says, ‘Look, there he is!’
-or-
And others might say, ‘There he is!’

General Comment on 13:21c

In some languages, it may be more natural to use indirect speech here. For example:

If people say that the Messiah has come to this place or that place

13:21d

do not believe it: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as do not believe it is literally “do not believe,” without an object. In some languages, as in English, it is necessary to specify what they should not believe. The Berean Standard Bible supplies the word it, but some other versions say “him” (New American Standard Bible) or “them” (New Century Version). In some languages it may be natural to say:

do(plur) not believe what they say

See also believe, meaning 1, in the Glossary.

General Comment on 13:21a–d

In some languages it may be more natural to place the verb phrase “do not believe” (13:21d) immediately after the phrase “At that time” (13:21a). For example, the God’s Word says:

21aAt that time 21ddon’t believe 21banyone who tells you, 21c’Here is the Messiah!’ or ‘There he is!’

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