Section 24:36–43

Jesus appeared to his followers

This section tells about another time when Jesus appeared to people after he rose from the dead. Jesus had already appeared to Simon (24:34) and to the two men on the road to Emmaus. In this section Jesus appeared to all eleven apostles and those who were with them. He ate with them and proved that he really was alive.

Some examples of other headings for this section are:

Jesus Appears to His Followers (New Century Version)
-or-
Jesus showed his followers that he was alive

There are parallel passages for this section in Mark 16:14, John 20:19–23, and Acts 1:4–5.

Paragraph 24:36–39

24:36a

While they were describing these events: This clause introduces the very important event in 24:36b: Jesus appeared to all his followers when they were gathered together. He appeared as the two disciples were speaking in 24:35. Consider how you would introduce an important event like this in your language.

Some ways to introduce the event in English are:

They were still talking about this when ⌊suddenly⌋
-or-
As they were talking about all this (Revised English Bible)
-or-
And just as they were telling about it (New Living Translation (2004))

Introduce 24:36b in a way that is natural in your language.

24:36b

Jesus Himself stood among them: The phrase Jesus Himself is more literally “he himself,” as in the New Jerusalem Bible. The phrase “he himself” is emphatic. It emphasizes that just as the disciples spoke about Jesus, he himself was there with all of them. Some other ways to translate the clause Jesus Himself stood among them are:

Jesus himself was suddenly standing there among them (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
suddenly the Lord himself stood among them (Good News Translation)
-or-
there he was, standing among them (Revised English Bible)

English versions translate the phrase “he himself” in different ways. Some use these pronouns, and others use the name Jesus. The Good News Translation (see example above) has “the Lord.” This phrase refers back to 24:35, especially to the phrase “they had recognized Jesus.” See how you translated it there.

them: The pronoun them refers to everyone present, not just to the two disciples from Emmaus.

24:36c

There is a textual issue concerning the clause in this part of the verse:

(1) Most Greek manuscripts include 24:36c. For example:

and said to them, “Peace be with you.” (New International Version)

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

(2) A few Greek manuscripts do not include 24:36c.

(Revised Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, Revised English Bible)

It is recommended that you follow option (1). It has early and strong manuscript support, and the majority of English versions follow this option.

and said, “Peace be with you”: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Peace be with you is literally “Peace to you.” This was a common way to greet others in Jesus’ time. The greeting implies that Jesus was asking God to bless his disciples by giving them peace.

Some other ways to translate the greeting are:

and greeted them, “May ⌊God’s⌋ peace be with you”
-or-
He blessed them, saying, “May ⌊God⌋ bless/prosper you.”

In some languages it may be more natural to translate 24:36c as indirect speech. For example:

and greeted them with a blessing of peace

If you have a greeting that expresses the same meaning as the phrase Peace be with you, you should consider using it here.

A similar greeting occurred in 10:5. See how you translated it there. See also peace, Meaning 5, in the Glossary.

Peace: The Jewish people used the word Peace to refer to a condition of well-being, health, and prosperity. In this condition people are living in harmony with God and people. They are not in conflict or at war with them. All of these blessings come from God for those who trust him.

Some languages will have one way to describe not being in conflict or at war and a different way to describe general well-being and blessing. If that is true in your language, the term for general well-being fits this context better. In some languages there is an idiom to describe this meaning.

See the note on “peace” at 19:42b for more information. See also peace, Meaning 1, in the Glossary.

© 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.