SIL Translator’s Notes on John 2:4

2:4a

Woman: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as Woman does not imply lack of affection or of respect. Use an expression that is a natural and polite way for a grown man to address an older woman. For example:

Ma’am
-or-
Dear woman (New International Version)

why does this concern us?: This is a rhetorical question. There are two ways of understanding it:

(1) Jesus used it mainly as a soft command. Jesus was telling his mother she should not ask him to help with this problem. For example:

You must not tell me what to do. (Good News Translation)

(New International Version, Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version, Revised English Bible, NET Bible, God’s Word, Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version, King James Version)

(2) Jesus used it mainly as a statement. Jesus was saying that the problem with the wine should not be important to either him or his mother. For example:

that’s not our problem (New Living Translation (2004))

(New Living Translation (2004), New American Standard Bible, New Revised Standard Version)

In both interpretations, a mild rebuke is implied. It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), as most English translations do. Here are other ways to translate this rhetorical question:

why are you saying this to me? (NET Bible)
-or-
Why are you trying to get me to help with this?
-or-
Is this a problem you need to bring to me? ⌊No.

Jesus replied: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Jesus replied comes before the question Jesus asked Mary. Place the speech introducer where it is natural in your language. For example:

Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
Jesus said to her, “Why did you come to me? My time has not yet come.” (God’s Word)

2:4b

My hour has not yet come: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as My hour refers to the right time or occasion for Jesus to do something. The text does not say what he might do. It could refer to the time for Jesus to die, or the time to show that he was the Messiah. It is better not to make this explicit. Mary would not have known what hour Jesus was referring to. She may have assumed that he referred to the time for doing something about the lack of wine.

Here are other ways to translate this clause:

My time has not yet come. (New International Version)
-or-
The right time for me has not arrived yet.

In some languages time or hours are not spoken of as “coming.” In those languages it may be natural to say:

This is not yet the right hour for me ⌊to act⌋ .
-or-
This is not my time.

© 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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