11:18

Now: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Now here introduces some background information about Bethany. It is not a time word. Many English translations do not translate this word. God’s Word puts this verse in parentheses to indicate that it is background information. NET Bible Bible does the same thing with both verses 18 and 19. Indicate that verse 18 (and verse 19) is background information in a way that is natural in your language.

Bethany: Bethany is the name of the village where Lazarus had been living. See 11:1a. In some languages it is more natural to identify it as a village. For example:

the village of Bethany
-or-
the village called Bethany

Jerusalem: Jerusalem was the city where the temple was. This is where the Jewish leaders had the most power and influence.

a little less than two miles away: The Greek words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as a little less than two miles away is more literally “about fifteen (15) stadia away.” A “stadion” was what Romans called a distance of about 200 meters (or 600 feet). Fifteen stadia was a little less than three kilometers, or about two miles. The distance is not meant to be exact but indicates that Bethany was near Jerusalem. Indicate this in a way that is natural in your language. For example:

near Jerusalem, less than three kilometers away
-or-

⌊only⌋ a half hour’s walk away
-or-

⌊only⌋ a couple of miles away

© 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.