4:13a
cloak: The word cloak refers to a garment that a person would wear to stay warm. Another word for cloak is “coat.” In 4:21a Paul wrote about the season of cold weather arriving before long, so he had a real need for his warm clothing.
You have two main options in translating this word:
• Use your word for whatever type of outer garment people wear to stay warm.
• Use a descriptive phrase. For example, “outer garment used to keep warm.”
I left with Carpus at Troas: Paul had left his cloak at the house of a man called Carpus. This man lived in the town of Troas, which was on the northwest coast of the Roman province of Mysia. Timothy had been in that town with Paul some years earlier during one of Paul’s missionary journeys.
4:13b
and my scrolls, especially the parchments: The people of Paul’s culture used scrolls the way that people use paper and books now. A scroll was long piece of papyrus, leather or parchment that people wound around a stick in order to occupy less space and make it easy to carry. Paul probably wrote each of his letters on a scroll.
People usually made scrolls from papyrus, a kind of thick paper made from papyrus reed. People also made scrolls from parchment. Parchment was made from animal skin, usually sheepskin or goatskin. Parchment lasted longer than papyrus, so it was more expensive.
especially the parchments: Because parchments lasted longer than other types of scrolls, people wrote the most important documents on parchments. That is why Paul especially wanted Timothy to bring the parchments.
In many languages, there will be no word for scrolls or parchments. If this is true in your language, you can use a descriptive phrase or use a modern equivalent. For example, the Good News Translation uses the word “books” instead of scrolls.
Some ways to translate this verse part are:
Bring my scrolls/books, especially the important ones.
-or-
Bring my scrolls/books, especially the expensive ones.
Paragraph 4:14–15
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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.