Paragraph 3:14

3:14a

soldiers: It is not clear whether these soldiers were Jewish or Roman or Samaritan. But they were able to take money from people wrongly.

And what should we do?: In the Greek text this question emphasizes the pronoun we. One way to show this in translation might be to say:

And us—what should we do?

3:14b

Do not take money by force or false accusation: This part of the verse indicates that the soldiers should not get money from people by violence or by accusing them falsely. Some ways to translate this are:

Take money from no one by violence or by false accusation (NET Bible)
-or-
Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation (New Revised Standard Version)

Do not take money by force: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Do not take money by force is literally “Do not shake violently.” John was telling the soldiers that they should not use violence or intimidate people in order to get money from them. Some ways to translate this are:

Do not intimidate people to give you their money.
-or-
Do not threaten people with violence so that they will give you money not to harm them.
-or-
Don’t take money from anyone by force (Good News Translation)

or false accusation: In this context the phrase or false accusation refers to trying to get money from someone by saying that he committed a crime that he did not commit. When the court charged the innocent person money for that crime, the soldier who accused him would get part of the money.

Some ways to translate this are:

and you must not try to get money by charging any person with a crime he did not commit
-or-
Do not ⌊try to get money by⌋ lying about people

In some translations it may be helpful to include a footnote about this. For example, the NET Bible has this note:

…someone could bring charges against an individual and be paid a part of the fine imposed by the court. Soldiers could do this to supplement their pay, and would thus be tempted to make false accusations.

he said: The Berean Standard Bible has placed the words he said in the middle of what John told the soldiers. Place these words where it is natural in your language.

3:14c

In this part of the verse John told soldiers what they should do, after telling them what not to do in 3:14b. Some versions start a new sentence or clause here, including the Berean Standard Bible. Other versions, such as the New International Version, connect 3:14c to 3:14b with a dash. Do what is natural in your language for this context.

Be content with your wages: The phrase Be content with your wages means “be satisfied with what you are paid.” The word wages refers to money that the government gave to a soldier to buy food and other necessities. Soldiers were not paid very much money. John told them to be content with that amount.

Some other ways to translate this are:

Be satisfied with your pay (God’s Word)
-or-
Consider your wages to be adequate
-or-
Do not desire to be paid more than ⌊the government⌋ pays you

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