6:8
In this verse the author compares worthless land to the fruitful land in 6:7. In some languages it is necessary to make the comparison explicit. This may be done either at the beginning of the verse or at its end. For example:
But ⌊other people are like⌋ land that produces only thorns and thistles…
-or-
…This represents the people whom God will punish.
6:8a
But: The particle But introduces a contrast to the fruitful land in 6:7. In 6:8 the land produces useless plants like thorns and thistles and must be burned. The author implies that this land is like people who fall away from Christ (6:4–6). Translate the contrast in a natural way in your language.
land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless: Here the author refers to land where nothing grows except thorns and thistles. As in 6:7, in some languages it may not be natural to speak of land “producing” plants. Translate this meaning in a similar way as you did in 6:7. Some other ways to translate it are:
But the bad soil where weeds and thorns grow is useless.
-or-
But if that land has nothing growing on it but thorns and thistles it has no value
thorns and thistles: The words thorns and thistles refer to the most common weeds in Israel. Thorn bushes and thistle plants are not useful for anything. Even most animals will not eat them. It is fine to translate the phrase thorns and thistles with similar useless, thorny weeds that are found in your area or with general terms.
Some other ways to translate the phrase are:
nothing but sword-grass and thorns growing on it
-or-
weeds and thorny plants
These two types of plants are very similar. The word thorns refers to “plants that have thorns.” Thorns are sharp spikes that can hurt someone who touches them. The word thistles refers to prickly weeds. This word only occurs here and in Matthew 7:16. The author probably mentioned both of these plants to emphasize his meaning. In some languages it may be more natural to emphasize the meaning in a different way. For example:
only thornbushes (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
only useless/harmful plants
-or-
only weeds
Both words occur in Matthew 7:16. See how you translated them there.
is worthless: The word worthless indicates here that the land produces nothing of value. It is barren, and its owners do not get anything good from it. The author implies that it is like the people who go away from Christ. They cannot do anything good to please God. Other ways to translate this meaning are:
has no use/value
-or-
is worth nothing
6:8b
and its curse is imminent: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as imminent is often translated as “near.” There are two main ways to interpret it here:
(1) It means “in danger of.” For example:
and is in danger of being cursed (New International Version)
(2) It means “soon.” For example:
The farmer will soon condemn that field (New Living Translation (2004))
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). It is supported by more English versions and commentaries.
its curse: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as its curse refers here to a decision that God may make to condemn the people who are like the worthless land. When God speaks the condemnation (curse), it is a judgment that cannot be avoided.
In some cultures the meaning of curse is different from the biblical meaning here. If that is true in your culture you may have to use a different word. For example:
being judged/condemned
-or-
being punished/destroyed
The text strongly implies that God is the one who will punish the land (people). In some languages it is necessary to make that explicit. For example:
being cursed/punished by God
-or-
⌊ God⌋may soon condemn it.
In the end it will be burned: In Greek this clause is more literally “its end [is] for burning.” It means that, finally, the land will be burned. This implies that fire will burn all the plants on the land. (It does not imply that the land itself will burn.) In many places in the world, it is common to burn a field to prepare it for planting.
Some ways to translate this clause are:
finally, it will be burned
-or-
in the end, ⌊the farmer⌋ must burn the weeds off of it
In some languages it is necessary to make the meaning more explicit. For example:
it’s burned over by the owner. And the same way also, the person like this land, he will be punished by God.
General Comment on 6:7–8
Paragraph 6:7–8 compares soil and people. In some languages it is necessary to make the comparison more explicit. For example:
7 Some people are like land that gets plenty of rain. The land produces a good crop for those who work it, and it receives God’s blessings. 8 Other people are like land that grows thorns and weeds and is worthless. It is in danger of being cursed by God and will be destroyed by fire. (New Century Version)
© 2016, 2020 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.