Paragraph 4:35–37
4:35a
But Jesus rebuked the demon: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as rebuked may also be translated as:
commanded (New Century Version)
-or-
ordered (Contemporary English Version)
Be silent!: This is the first of two commands that Jesus gave to the evil spirit. Some other ways to translate this are:
Be quiet! (New International Version)
-or-
Silence! (NET Bible)
Translate this in the way that is natural in your language to order another person to stop speaking.
He said: The Berean Standard Bible has placed the words He said after “Be silent!” In Greek, these words occur before the quotation of what Jesus said. Put these words where they are natural in your language.
Come out: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Come out means that the demon should come out from inside the man and leave him. In some languages, it may sound more natural to say “Go out.”
Your translation of this verb should be consistent with the way you translated “possessed by a demon” in 4:33a.
General Comment on 4:35a
In some languages, it may be more natural to translate Jesus’ command to the demon using indirect speech. For example:
Jesus ordered the evil spirit to be quiet and come out. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Jesus commanded the demon to be silent and to leave the man.
4:35b
At this: This verse begins with a Greek conjunction that is often translated as “and.” Some English versions, such as the English Standard Version and the New American Standard Bible, translate it that way. Many English versions do not translate this conjunction. However, since the events in 4:36b occurred immediately after the events in 4:35a, some versions connect these events with a word that describes a time sequence. The New International Version, for example, says “Then,” and the Berean Standard Bible says At this. Connect 4:35b to 4:35a in a way that is natural in your language.
the demon threw the man down: The phrase the demon threw the man down means “the demon caused the man to fall to the ground.” For example:
The evil spirit threw the man down to the ground (New Century Version)
This event happened in the synagogue. So it may be more natural to say that the demon caused the man to fall to the floor. For example:
the demon threw the man to the floor (New Living Translation (2004))
demon: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as demon is the same word as in 4:33a. You may translate it the same way in both places.
before them all: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as before them all is literally “in the middle/midst” (as in the Revised Standard Version). This means “in the middle of all the people.” The demon caused the man to fall where all the people in the synagogue could see what was happening. Some other ways to translate this are:
before all the people (New Century Version)
-or-
in front of everyone (Contemporary English Version)
4:35c
came out: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as came out is the same verb as in 4:35a. It means that the demon left the man. In some languages, this may need to be explicit. For example:
left the man (New Century Version)
-or-
came out of him (New American Standard Bible)
without harming him: The phrase without harming him means that the demon did not hurt the man. The demon probably tried to hurt the man when he threw him to the ground. But because Jesus had ordered the demon to leave, he left the man without harming him.
Avoid translating this in a way that might suggest that the demon was being kind to the man. It may be necessary to translate this as:
The demon was not ⌊able to⌋ hurt/injure the man.
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