20:15a
Do I not have the right to do as I please with what is mine?: This is a rhetorical question. The owner used this rhetorical question to emphasize that he had the right to do what he wanted to do with his own money. He also used this rhetorical question as a mild rebuke.
Here are some other ways to translate this emphasis and rebuke:
• As a rhetorical question. For example:
Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? (New International Version)
-or-
It is lawful for me to do what I want with my own money, is it not?
• As a statement. For example:
I can do what I want with my own money. (New Century Version)
Translate this rebuke and emphasis in a way that is natural in your language.
Do I not have the right: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as have the right refers to doing something that is lawful or right.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
Is it not lawful for me (King James Version)
-or-
Is it against the law (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Don’t I have the right (Contemporary English Version)
to do as I please: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as I please is more literally “I want.” The same verb occurs in 20:14b. Translate it here as you did there.
with what is mine?: The words what is mine refer to “my things” or “my money.”
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
with what is mine
-or-
with my own money (Revised English Bible)
20:15b
Or: One of the functions of the conjunction Or is to introduce a question that is parallel to a previous question. This conjunction also adds additional information. Here Or does not function to separate things. It does not indicate that only one of the two questions is true.
Some English versions do not translate this conjunction. For example:
Are you jealous because I am good to those people?’ (New Century Version)
In some languages, it will not be natural to translate this conjunction either.
are you envious because I am generous?: This is a rhetorical question. It is a rebuke. The owner rebuked the worker for being jealous of his generosity toward the other workers.
Here are some other ways to translate this rebuke:
• As a rhetorical question. For example:
Why should you be envious because I am generous? (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
Are you jealous because I am good to those people? (New Century Version)
• As a statement. For example:
You should not be jealous because I am good/generous ⌊towards other people⌋
• As a command. For example:
Do not be jealous of ⌊the ones to whom⌋ I have been generous.
Translate this rebuke in a way that is natural in your language.
are you envious: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as are you envious is more literally “is your eye evil?” This is an idiom. In Jesus’ time, there were many uses of this idiom. In this context, it probably refers to jealousy or envy.
Here are some other ways to translate this idiom:
are you envious (NET Bible)
-or-
Why should you be jealous (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
are you annoyed
because I am generous: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as because I am generous is more literally “because I am good.”
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
because I am good
-or-
because I am kind to others (New Living Translation (2004))
General Comment on 20:15b
Verse 20:15b is the end of the owner’s speech and the end of Jesus’ parable. The Berean Standard Bible indicates this with closing quotes. Your translation should clearly indicate that the parable ends here.
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