Paragraph 18:18
This paragraph explains what the people in the courtyard were doing while Annas was questioning Jesus.
18:18a
The Greek text begins this verse with a word that indicates the beginning of some parenthetical information. Some English versions translate it as “Now.” The NET Bible puts this verse in parentheses. Indicate that this verse is parenthetical information in a way that is natural in your language.
Because it was cold: This clause refers to the weather. The air was cold. Refer to the weather here using an expression that is natural in your language. For example:
Because of the cold
-or-
Because of the cool/chilly weather
-or-
Because ⌊the night⌋ was cold
18:18b
the servants and officers were standing around a charcoal fire they had made: This verse gives some parenthetical background information that tells the setting of the event in 18:25–27.
the servants: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as servants refers to people who worked for Annas in his house. They were domestic workers/servants who were not paid wages. It is the same word that is used in 4:51b. See the note there and how you translated the word in that verse. For example:
the slaves (New Revised Standard Version)
officers: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as officers refers to people who worked for Annas outside his house. It probably refers to the temple guards or those giving protection. They were not employed by the local government as modern police are. It is good to use a general word referring to armed men who give protection. See the note and how you translated this word in 18:3b. For example:
guards (Good News Translation)
-or-
temple police (Contemporary English Version)
were standing around a charcoal fire they had made: This phrase indicates that these servants and guards had built and lit a fire using charcoal (coal). For example:
the servants and guards had built a fire (New Century Version)
were standing around a charcoal fire: This phrase refers to standing close to the fire to make themselves warm.
18:18c
to keep warm: This phrase explains why the men were standing around the fire. It was cold and so they wanted to get warm.
General Comment on 18:18a–c
In some languages it may be natural to rearrange 18:18a–c and put the reason for the people’s actions last. For example:
18a The servants and guards had built a fire 18c and were standing around it warming themselves, 18b because it was cold.
-or-
Now the slaves and the guards were standing around a charcoal fire they had made, warming themselves because it was cold. (NET Bible)
18:18d
And Peter was also standing with them, warming himself: This is additional information that sets the scene and prepares the reader for a later part of the story.
them: This pronoun refers to the servants and guards mentioned in 18:18a.
warming himself: This phrase tells why Peter was standing with the servants and guards. See how you translated the similar phrase “warming themselves” in 18:18c.
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