11:32
See the General Comment on 11:32a–d at the end of 11:32d for a way to put the information in this verse in chronological order.
11:32a
The men of Nineveh: The phrase The men of Nineveh means “the men who lived in the city of Nineveh.” The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as The men normally refers to males. The men were the leaders and representatives of their families. If a literal translation would make your readers think that women will not be present at the judgment, you may need to translate this as the Contemporary English Version has done:
The people of Nineveh
Nineveh: Nineveh was the main city in the country of Assyria. The people of Nineveh, like the Queen from the South, were Gentiles.
will stand at the judgment: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as will stand is a different word from the word translated as “rise” in 11:31a, but it means basically the same thing. Here it refers to standing/appearing in a court in order to accuse someone.
with this generation: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible literally translates as with this generation indicates that, during the judgment, two groups will be standing at the same time:
(a) the men of Nineveh
(b) the people of this generation
The word with does not indicate that the men of Nineveh will stand in support of this generation. In fact, they will stand to condemn them. The New Living Translation (2004) shows one way to make this clear:
against this generation
this generation: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as generation probably refers here to the majority of Israelites who were alive at that time. It refers to the people to whom Jesus was speaking. The Contemporary English Version makes this explicit by translating this as:
you
This phrase indicates that they were a group of people who shared the same character.
The word generation also occurs in 9:41a.
11:32b
and condemn it: The people of Nineveh will show that the people in Jesus’ time were guilty. They will accuse them of doing wrong. This is the same phrase as in 11:31b.
11:32c
for: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as for introduces the reason why the men of Nineveh will condemn this generation. They will condemn it because they repented, whereas the people of Jesus’ time did not repent. For example:
because (Good News Translation)
they repented at the preaching of Jonah: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as repented means that a person “changed his mind, heart, or will.” Jonah told the people of Nineveh that God would soon destroy their city. When they heard this message, they told God that they were sorry for doing wrong. They stopped doing the evil that they had been doing.
Some ways to translate repented in this context are:
they changed their thinking/minds/hearts when they heard Jonah preach
-or-
when they heard Jonah preach, they rejected their sins
In some languages, you may have an idiom for this type of change. For example:
they turned from their sins when they heard Jonah preach (Good News Translation)
-or-
left their sinning behind
The word repented also occurs at 10:13d.
11:32d
and now One greater than Jonah is here: Jesus was implying that he was the one greater than Jonah. This clause is identical to 11:31d except that Jonah occurs here rather than Solomon. See the notes on 11:31d.
General Comment on 11:32d
Just as in 11:31d, there is important implied information here also that you may need to include in your translation or in a footnote. Jesus implied here (but did not say) “but you(plur) have not repented!” Here is a way to make this information explicit:
and you refuse to repent (New Living Translation (1996))
You can see other examples of this implied information in the Display of 11:32d.
General Comment on 11:32a–d
In some languages, it may be more natural to change the order of the parts of this verse so that it is in chronological order. For example:
32c
⌊Long ago⌋ the men of Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah. 32dNow one greater than Jonah is here, ⌊but you refuse to repent⌋. That is why, 32athe men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation, 32band condemn it.
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