2:20a
The sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood: This clause is passive. Some languages must use a clause that is not passive. For example:
⌊God⌋ will turn the sun to darkness and the moon to blood
-or-
The sun will become dark, and the moon will become as red as blood (God’s Word)
The sun will be turned to darkness: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as turned is literally “changed.” God will cause or plan this event or events. In some languages a literal translation would not have the correct meaning. If that is true in your language, translate the correct meaning. For example:
⌊God⌋ will cause the sun to become dark
darkness: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as darkness can also mean “gloomy.” So it is possible that some of the light of the sun will still shine on the earth.
the moon to blood: The verb phrase “will be turned” is implied here but not repeated. God will cause the moon to become the color of blood or cause the smoke or dust to block the light of the moon so that it looks red like blood.
In some languages a literal translation would not have the correct meaning. If that is true in your language, translate the correct meaning. For example:
⌊God⌋ will cause the moon to become ⌊red like⌋ blood
2:20b
before the coming of the great and glorious Day of the Lord: The word before indicates that the wonders and signs, including the sun turning dark and the moon turning red, will happen soon before the Day of the Lord.
the coming of the great and glorious Day of the Lord: The verb coming refers to when the day of the Lord occurs. In some languages the verb “come” cannot be used for a Day. If that is true in your language, translate the correct meaning. For example:
when the great and glorious day of the Lord occurs
the…Day of the Lord: This phrase refers to the time when God will gather all people, alive or dead, and judge them.
the Lord: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the Lord means “master, owner.” See how you translated this word in 1:6.
This word refers here to God. He is master or owner over all things. In some languages it is more natural to include the word “God” here. For example:
the Lord ⌊God⌋
great: This word means “important” here, because of what God will do at that time. Here are some other ways to translate this word:
valuable
-or-
very big
-or-
important/high
glorious: The word glorious here refers to something being wonderful or remarkable. Here are some other ways to translate this word:
notable (King James Version)
-or-
magnificent (English Standard Version)
-or-
resplendent (Revised English Bible)
© 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.