SIL Translator’s Notes on John 16:2

16:2a

They will put you out of the synagogues: This clause indicates that the Jews would not allow Jesus’ disciples to worship with the other Jews in the synagogues. This implies that they will no longer consider Jesus’ disciples to be faithful Jews. See the notes and how you translated similar phrases in 9:22b and 12:42c. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

They will ban you from the synagogue. (Revised English Bible)
-or-
They will no longer consider you members of their worship houses.
-or-
They will exclude you from worship in the synagogues. (TH)
-or-

The Jewish people⌋ will not allow you to belong to their synagogues.

They will put you out of: The pronoun They refers to the Jewish leaders, or to the members of the synagogues, meaning Jews in general. They will forbid Jesus’ disciples from joining in Jewish community activities, especially worship. The phrase put you out means “cause you to leave” or “expel you (throw you out).” In some languages it may be natural to avoid using a subject like They that is not clear. You can do this by translating this clause with you as the subject and using a passive verb. For example:

You will not be allowed to join in
-or-
You will be expelled from (Good News Translation)

the synagogues: This phrase refers to Jewish worship communities. In every town and village in Israel, people met together regularly for religious purposes. The building where the Jews gathered was called the synagogue. The group of people who met there was also called the synagogues. The main activities that took place in their meetings were reading and teaching the Scriptures, praying, and worshiping God.

People who believed in Jesus would be forbidden to join in at least some of these activities in any synagogue. See Key Biblical Terms synagogue. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

their religious community
-or-
Jewish gatherings/meetings

See how you translated the word “synagogue” in 6:59, 9:22 and 12:42.

16:2b

In fact: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as In fact is a conjunction that usually introduces a strong contrast. In this context it introduces something much worse, more extreme, that shows people’s opposition to Jesus’ disciples. Connect 16:2a to 16:2b in a way that is natural in your language. For example:

Indeed (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
and (Good News Translation)
-or-
Yes (New Century Version)

a time is coming: This expression means “sometime in the future.” For example:

the time will come (Good News Translation)
-or-
it will happen that (TH)

anyone who kills you: The Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates as anyone who kills you refers to all people who would persecute Jesus’ disciples. Here are other ways to translate this expression:

those who kill you (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
whoever kills you (English Standard Version)

will think he is offering a service to God: This expression refers to the wrong thinking of the people who would kill Jesus’ disciples. They would think that God wanted these people to die and that they would serve God by killing them. But that would be totally wrong.

will think: This phrase introduces something that unbelievers will think. Their thinking would be wrong. In some languages it is more natural to make that clear. For example:

will wrongly think that

he is offering: This phrase refers to killing Jesus’ disciples. In some languages it may be natural to make this explicit. For example:

by killing you (plur.) he is offering

a service to God: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as service here means “worship,” or “service,” or “religious rites.” These people would think that by killing the disciples they were worshiping or serving God. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

they are worshiping God
-or-
he is serving God (Good News Translation)
-or-
they are honoring God

General Comment on 16:2b

In some languages it may be natural to translate what the people thought as a direct quotation. For example:

Those who kill you will think, “If we do this we will be offering worship to God.”
-or-
They will say to themselves, “By killing ⌊Jesus’ disciples⌋ we will honor/serve God.”

© 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.

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