7:5

In this verse the Jewish elders gave two reasons that the officer was worthy for Jesus to help him.

7:5a–b

for he loves our nation: The phrase for he loves our nation is the first reason that the elders gave Jesus for helping the officer. The phrase indicates that the Roman officer had affection for the Jewish people. He felt friendly concern for them and tried to act in a way that helped them. Other ways to say this are:

for he loves the Jewish people (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
for he is a friend of our nation (Revised English Bible)
-or-
because he is concerned about us ⌊Jews⌋

our nation: In this context the word nation probably refers to the Jews as a people and not as a political state. Another way to translate this is:

our people (New Jerusalem Bible, Good News Translation)

Jesus and the elders were all Jews. Use a form for our that includes Jesus.

and has built our synagogue: In the Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as has built our synagogue, the words built our synagogue are emphasized. This indicates that the officer had done a very important thing when he built the synagogue for them. Some English versions express this emphasis. For example:

and he is the one who built us our synagogue (English Standard Version)
-or-
and even built a synagogue for us (New Living Translation (1996))
-or-
and it is he who built us our synagogue (Revised English Bible)

has built our synagogue: The phrase built our synagogue indicates that the officer had helped to build the synagogue in Capernaum. This does not mean that he did the actual labor of constructing it. He probably gave money to help pay for building it. He could also have helped by getting permission to build it from the Roman government.

If saying that he built our synagogue would give your readers the idea that the centurion was actually one of the builders, you could translate this as:

caused our synagogue to be built
-or-
built our synagogue at his own expense (God’s Word)
-or-
paid/provided for the building of our synagogue

our synagogue: The phrase our synagogue refers to a synagogue in Capernaum. (It is not known if there was more than one synagogue there.)

In some languages it will be necessary to decide whether the elders included Jesus in the word our. It is recommended that you use a form that includes Jesus. The focus here is probably that the officer built the synagogue “for us” in the sense that he built it for Jews.

synagogue: A synagogue was a building where Jews gathered to pray, read Scripture, teach their beliefs, and worship. The Jews also gathered there for cultural activities. There was only one temple (in Jerusalem), but each Jewish community had a synagogue. Some ways to translate synagogue are:

prayer-house ⌊of the Jews⌋
-or-
meeting-place ⌊of the Jews⌋
-or-
worship building
-or-
house for gathering together

If you make explicit a phrase such as “of the Jews,” be sure that it does not imply that Jesus was not a Jew.

If the word synagogue is already known in your area, you may write it according to the sounds of your language. You may want to include a word or phrase to explain the meaning. For example:

sinagog house/building

Consider using a footnote that contains some of the information above.

See how you have translated the word synagogue elsewhere. The first time it occurs in Luke is at 4:15. See also synagogue in the Glossary for more information.

© 2009, 2010, 2013 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.