23:3a
God will strike you, you whitewashed wall: Paul called the high priest a whitewashed wall. In some languages this term of address must be first in the clause. For example:
You whitewashed wall, God will strike you!
The phrase whitewashed wall is a metaphor. A whitewashed wall is a wall of stones that was painted white to hide how weak or ugly it was. People used this metaphor to refer to someone who was a hypocrite. That person pretended to be good, but was really evil. Some ways to translate this phrase are:
• Translate the metaphor as a simile. For example:
God will strike you. You ⌊are like a⌋ whitewashed wall
• Explain the metaphor in your translation. For example:
God will strike you. You ⌊are as phony/fake as a⌋ whitewashed wall
-or-
God will strike you. You ⌊are like a⌋ wall painted white ⌊to hide the bad parts⌋
• Translate the meaning of the metaphor. For example:
You hypocrite, God will strike you!
-or-
You deceive people, so God will strike you!
You may then want to indicate the literal words in a footnote. An example footnote is:
Literally “whitewashed wall.” This is a metaphor for being a hypocrite.
• Translate the metaphor literally and explain it in a footnote. An example footnote is:
This is a metaphor for being a hypocrite. People paint the wall white to hide how weak or ugly it was.
God will strike you: This clause in Greek is literally “God is about to strike you.” It indicates that God will soon strike the high priest or will certainly strike him. Luke used the word strike again to connect the sentence to 23:2b. For example:
God is going to strike you (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
God will certainly strike you (Good News Translation)
The clause God will strike you is a figure of speech which means “God will harm you.” If possible, use the same verb for strike that you used in 23:2b. Some languages use a different verb for God striking/harming people. If that is true in your language, use a verb that indicates or implies that God would harm him.
23:3b–c
You sit here to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck: The scholars of the Greek New Testament interpret this sentence as a question. For example:
Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet contrary to the law you order me to be struck? (Revised Standard Version)
It is a rhetorical question. Paul used it to rebuke him. Translate it as a rebuke in your language. Some ways are:
• As a rhetorical question. For example:
How can you sit there to judge me according to the Law, and then break the Law by ordering a man to strike me? (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
Do you sit to try me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law order me to be struck? (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
⌊Why⌋ do you sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck?
• As a statement. For example:
You sit there to judge me according to the Law, yet you break the Law by ordering them to strike me! (Good News Translation)
-or-
You sit there and judge me, using the law of Moses, but you are telling them to hit me, and that is against the law. (New Century Version)
• As a command. For example:
⌊Consider that⌋ you sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!
You sit here to judge me: Here the word judge refers to deciding whether what someone says is true or a lie. If this were a trial, the leader of the Sanhedrin would be deciding if Paul deserved to be punished. Here, the Roman commander asked the leader to find out if the mob’s accusations against Paul (22:30) were true.
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