Paragraph 3:7–10
In this paragraph, John the Baptist spoke to the Pharisees and Sadducees.
3:7a
But when John saw: Verse 3:7 introduces John’s reaction to the Pharisees and Sadducees. His reaction to them contrasts with his reaction to other people who came to be baptized. Some versions indicate this contrast with the word But. Other versions have no conjunction here. For example:
When John saw (Good News Translation)
the Pharisees: The word Pharisees refers to men who were members of a particular Jewish religious group. The Pharisees believed that it was necessary to strictly obey all the laws of the Old Testament. It was also very important to them to carefully obey many other religious laws that they added. They also said that other people must obey these laws.
The Pharisees along with the Sadducees were the two most influential religious groups of the time. There were many more Pharisees than Sadducees.
Some ways to translate Pharisees are:
• Transliterate the word Pharisees according to the sounds of your language and indicate that it refers to a group of people. For example:
Farisi members
-or-
Parise adherents
• Transliterate the word Pharisees and indicate that it refers to a group of people with certain beliefs. For example:
people belonging to the Farise religious sect/group
-or-
members of the Jewish group called the Farasi
You may also want to explain the word Pharisees in a footnote or glossary. A sample footnote is:
The Pharisees were a conservative Jewish religious group. They carefully followed the Old Testament laws and added other rules as well. They were the dominant religious group among the Jews and were highly respected by other Jews.
Sadducees: The word Sadducees refers to men who were members of another Jewish religious group. They believed that people must follow the laws in the Old Testament and not add other rules. They did not believe that God would bring people back to life again after they died (Matthew 22:23). They also did not believe that angels or spirits existed (Acts 23:8). They also accepted some ideas held by the Greeks. Many Sadducees were priests.
The Sadducees along with the Pharisees were the two most influential religious groups of the time. Even though they were a much smaller group than the Pharisees, the Sadducees were wealthy and more politically important.
Here are some ways to translate Sadducees:
• Transliterate the word Sadducees according to the sounds of your language and indicate that it refers to a group of people. For example:
Sadusi members
-or-
Saduce adherents
• Transliterate the word Sadducees and indicate that it refers to a group of people with certain beliefs. For example:
people belonging to the Sadusi religious group
-or-
members of the Jewish group called the Saduce
You may also want to explain the word Sadducees in a footnote or glossary. Here is a sample footnote:
The Sadducees were another Jewish religious group. They claimed to follow only the laws in the Old Testament because they added no other rules. But they did not believe in angels or spirits or in the resurrection from the dead. They also accepted some Greek ideas. They were a small group but had much political power. They usually were wealthy.
coming to his place of baptism: There are two ways to interpret the Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible literally translates as coming to his place of baptism:
(1) They were coming for John to baptize them. For example:
coming to him to be baptized (Good News Translation)
(Good News Translation, Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Standard Bible, New Living Translation (1996), Revised English Bible, God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
(2) They were coming to where John was baptizing, but they were not necessarily coming so that they themselves could be baptized. For example:
coming to watch him baptize (New Living Translation (2004))
(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, New Century Version, NET Bible, English Standard Version, King James Version, New Living Translation (2004))
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) as do the majority of the English versions. The parallel passage in Luke 3:7 also supports this interpretation.
See also baptize, Meaning 1, in the Glossary for information on the word baptism.
3:7b
You brood of vipers: The word vipers refers to poisonous snakes. Another name for this type of snakes is “adders.” The phrase brood of vipers means “children/offspring of poisonous snakes.”
This phrase is a metaphor. In this metaphor, John compared the Pharisees and Sadducees to a brood of vipers. John used this metaphor to criticize the Pharisees and Sadducees.
The way that these men and snakes are similar is that both are evil and dangerous.
Here are some other ways to translate this metaphor:
• Use a simile. In some languages, it may be necessary to make the point of comparison clear. For example:
You (plur.) are ⌊as evil/dangerous as⌋ a group of vipers!
• Translate the metaphor but leave the word brood untranslated. John was not saying that the people were young or childlike. So some English translations do not explicitly translate the word brood. For example:
You snakes (Good News Translation)
• Translate the meaning without a simile or metaphor. For example:
You (plur.) dangerous hypocrites!
-or-
You (plur.) wicked people!
• Use a simile and explain the meaning. For example:
You evil people! You are like poisonous snakes.
If calling someone a poisonous snake is not an insult in your culture, you may also need to add a word to “John said to them.” For example:
John ⌊insulted/criticized⌋ them by saying
3:7c
who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?: This is a rhetorical question. John asked this question to rebuke the Pharisees and Sadducees. He implied that the only reason that they wanted to be baptized was so that God would not punish them in the future. John also implied that they did not really intend to repent of their sins.
Here are some other ways to translate this rebuke:
• As a rhetorical question. For example:
Who warned you to run away from God’s coming punishment? (New Century Version)
-or-
⌊Why are you here?⌋ Do you think that you can flee from the coming judgment?
• As a statement. For example:
⌊Ah ha!⌋ ⌊So⌋ someone has told you to try to escape God’s wrath!
Translate this rebuke in a way that is natural in your language.
flee: The word flee means “run away from something” or “try to avoid/escape something.” For example:
run from (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
run away from (New Century Version)
-or-
escape (Good News Translation)
-or-
try to avoid
the coming wrath: The word wrath means “anger” or “the punishment that comes as a consequence of someone’s anger.” In this context, the phrase the coming wrath refers to the fact that God will judge and punish people because of their rebellious attitudes and their sins.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
the coming judgment (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
God’s coming punishment (New Century Version)
In some languages, it may be necessary to translate this phrase as a clause. It may also be necessary to change the order of the words in 3:7c. For example:
God is angry at you and will punish you. Who warned you to flee from that?
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