11:49–50

The logic of Jesus’ words in 11:49–50 is something like this:

48aYou approve of what your ancestors did.

49a
Because of this ⌊attitude⌋, God has said that

49bhe will send additional prophets

49cand/but you will kill them too.

50a
Therefore, you will be judged

50b–dfor the deaths of all the prophets who were killed.

11:49a

Because of this: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Because of this means “Because of your attitude” or “Because of your evil deeds” (in 11:47–48). This phrase indicates that 11:47–48 is reason for what he said in 11:49. The word Because introduces a result. Some other ways to translate this are:

Therefore (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
For this reason (Good News Translation)
-or-
That’s why (God’s Word)
-or-
Because of your evil deeds (Contemporary English Version)

the wisdom of God said: In the Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as the wisdom of God said, Jesus talked about the “wisdom of God” as if it were a person speaking. This is a figure of speech called personification.

In this context, this figure of speech means “God wisely said.” God spoke of what would happen because he is wise and knows everything. Some other ways to express this figure of speech are:

God in his wisdom said (New International Version)
-or-
God showed his wisdom when he said

11:49b

I will send them prophets and apostles: In this quotation, the word I refers to the Wisdom of God, who is personified as speaking. The word them refers to the people of Israel. In some languages, it may be necessary to make this explicit:

I will send ⌊to the Israelites⌋ ⌊some/various⌋ prophets and apostles

Jesus intended this quote to refer to the people to whom he was speaking. So in some languages, it may be more natural to say “you” instead of them. For example:

I will send prophets and apostles to you (Contemporary English Version)

prophets: See prophet in the Glossary.

apostles: The Greek word that English versions translate as apostles means “those who are sent.” Here it refers to the people whom Jesus sent with authority to accomplish a mission or a particular task.

Some ways to translate apostles are:

• Translate the meaning of the Greek word apostles. For example:

people sent ⌊to speak/act for him⌋
-or-

⌊special⌋ messengers
-or-
representatives
-or-
men with authority from Jesus

• Indicate the role or function of apostles. For example:

chief leaders ⌊of Jesus’ work⌋
-or-
people who are in charge ⌊of Jesus’ work⌋

Be careful to choose different terms for “apostles,” “angels,” “elders,” and “prophets.”

The word apostles also occurs in 9:10a. See also apostle in the Glossary.

11:49c

God sent other prophets to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to them either. Instead, they killed them too. In some languages, it may be natural to show the contrast between 11:49b and 11:49c. For example:

but they will kill some and persecute the others (New Living Translation (2004))

some of them they will kill and others they will persecute: Scholars have understood this clause in one of two ways:

(1) It means that the people of Israel would kill some prophets and apostles and they would persecute others. For example:

They will murder some of those prophets and apostles and persecute others. (God’s Word)

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Good News Translation, New Living Translation (2004), Contemporary English Version, New Century Version, New American Standard Bible, God’s Word, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

(2) It means that the people of Israel would kill and persecute some prophets and apostles. They would do these two things to the same group of people. This implies that they would not persecute nor kill all the prophets and apostles. For example:

some of whom they will kill and persecute (NET Bible)

(Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, NET Bible, Revised English Bible, King James Version)

If you decide to follow this interpretation, you may need to reverse the order of the two verbs kill and persecute. For example:

Some they will persecute and ⌊even⌋ kill.

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with most English versions. Historically, many of the prophets and apostles were persecuted but not killed.

As in 11:49b, Jesus intended this quote to refer to the people to whom he was talking. So in some languages, it will be more natural to say “you” instead of they. For example:

you will murder some and mistreat others (Contemporary English Version)

kill: In this context kill means “murder” or “martyr.” This same word occurs in 11:47c.

others they will persecute: The word persecute means “deliberately harm someone” or “do evil to someone.” Some other ways to translate this word are:

mistreat (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
treat…cruelly (New Century Version)

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