Paragraph 16:29–30
Jesus’ disciples told him that now they understood and believed him.
16:29
His disciples said: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as disciples refers to learners who were in a special relationship with a teacher. The learners committed themselves to their teacher in order to learn from him and follow his teaching and example. Disciples often lived with their teacher and followed him wherever he went. Translate this as you did in 16:16 and other verses.
See, now You are speaking plainly and without figures of speech: This sentence indicates that the disciples agreed that Jesus was now talking plainly. He used language that they could understand. Refer to your translation of 16:25 and translate this sentence in a way that makes the connection clear. For example:
You are speaking clearly to us now and are not using stories that are hard to understand (New Century Version)
-or-
Now you are speaking plainly to us! You are not using examples. (Contemporary English Version)
See, now: The Greek text emphasizes the word that the Berean Standard Bible has translated as now. Jesus had said that the hour was coming when he would speak plainly. The disciples said that he was speaking plainly now. Also, the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible has translated literally as See emphasizes what follows. Here are other ways to indicate this emphasis:
Look, now (NET Bible)
-or-
Yes, now (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
At last (New Living Translation (2004))
You are speaking plainly: The disciples thought that now they understood what Jesus meant. Avoid implying that Jesus had previously been speaking unclearly so that it was hard to hear what words he used. For example:
now you’re talking in plain words (God’s Word)
without figures of speech: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as figures of speech refers to language that illustrates and compares and is not literal. In some contexts it is translated as “parable” or “metaphor.” It is the same word that Jesus used in the plural form in 16:25. Many of Jesus’ disciples had found his parables hard to understand. The implicit information here is that now they think they can easily understand what he is saying. Use the same or a similar expression to what you used in 16:25. For example:
and not figuratively (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
and not using figurative speech! (English Standard Version)
-or-
not using stories that are hard to understand (New Century Version)
-or-
You are not using examples. (Contemporary English Version)
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