18:25a

He had been instructed: This clause is passive. Some languages must use an active clause. For example:

⌊Someone⌋ instructed him
-or-

⌊Others⌋ instructed him

He: The Greek word is literally “this (man).” Here it used in a similar way that English uses the pronoun He.

the way of the Lord: Here this phrase refers to the message about Jesus and the ways a believer should live. In some languages a literal translation would not have that meaning. If that is true in your language, translate the correct meaning. For example:

the ways ⌊and teachings⌋ of the Lord ⌊Jesus⌋
-or-

⌊the teaching⌋ concerning the Lord

18:25b–c

He spoke and taught accurately about Jesus: The Greek words are literally “burning in spirit he was speaking and teaching accurately the things about Jesus.” The phrase “burning in spirit” and the word “accurately” probably apply to both speaking and teaching about Jesus. For example:

being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus (Revised Standard Version)

18:25b

was fervent in spirit: This phrase in Greek is literally “burning in spirit.” It is an idiom that indicates that he spoke enthusiastically. Other ways to translate this clause are:

with great spiritual fervour (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
with an enthusiastic spirit (New Living Translation (2004))

18:25c

accurately: This word indicates that Apollos always taught about Jesus according to what Jesus did and said. What Apollos said had no false teaching in it. For example:

correctly (Good News Translation)
-or-
was right (Contemporary English Version)

18:25d

though he knew only the baptism of John: This clause indicates that Apollos did not know about the baptism that Jesus commanded his followers to do (Matthew 28:19). In some languages a literal translation would not clearly indicate that. If that is true in your language, you may want to:

• Include the implied information in your translation. For example:

though he knew only the baptism of John ⌊and not the baptism/one of Jesus⌋

• Explain the implied information in a footnote. An example footnote is:

This clause implies that Apollos did not know about the baptism that Jesus commanded his followers to do (Matthew 28:19).

the baptism of John: John the Baptist had preached that people should be baptized to show that they had repented from their sins. (It was different than the baptism for Christians.) In some languages people would not be clear to what a literal translation of this phrase refers. If that is true in your language, you may want to:

• Include the implied information in your translation. For example:

the baptism of John ⌊the Baptist⌋ ⌊showing only repentance of sins⌋

• Explain the implied information in a footnote. An example footnote is:

John’s baptism was a sign that the person repented. But it was not done in the name of Jesus.

baptism: Here this word refers to the Christian ritual that uses water. See how you translated the similar word “baptized” in 18:8.

© 2001, 2021 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.