Section 7:32–36

Temple guards went to arrest Jesus

The religious leaders continued to oppose Jesus. They sent temple police to arrest him. Jesus told them that he was leaving and they would not be able to find him. He was talking about returning to his Father in heaven. But people did not understand this.

Here are some other possible section headings:

Jewish leaders sent men to arrest Jesus
-or-
The Jewish leaders were confused by what Jesus said

7:32a

When the Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things about Jesus: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as whispering here means “speaking quietly” or “muttering.” The people in the crowd were not talking to the Pharisees. However, some Pharisees heard them saying these things (things like that) about Jesus. Because this is the beginning of a new paragraph, it is recommended that you mention Jesus’ name. For example:

The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things about Jesus. (Good News Translation)
-or-
Some of the Pharisees heard people in the crowd whispering things like that about Jesus.

the Pharisees: the Pharisees were a Jewish religious group or party. It was very important to them to obey all of the Jewish religious laws very carefully and exactly. Here are some ways to translate this word:

• Transliterate the word Pharisees according to the sounds of your language and indicate that it refers to people. For example:

Farisi members
-or-
men of the Parises

• Transliterate the word Pharisees and indicate that it refers to a group of people with certain beliefs. For example:

people belonging to the Farise religious group
-or-
members of the religious group called the Farasi

See how you translated this term in 1:24. See Pharisee in Key Biblical Terms. You may also want to include an explanation of “Pharisee” in the glossary of your translation.

7:32b

In Greek this clause begins with a conjunction that is often translated as “and.” It introduces what the Pharisees did as a result of what people said in 7:31b–c.

Here are other ways to translate this conjunction:

so (Good News Translation)
-or-
Then (New International Version)

they and the chief priests sent officers to arrest Him: The religious leaders ordered the temple police to make an official arrest. They wanted to arrest Jesus to force him to stop teaching the people. Because the Pharisees were mentioned in the previous clause, it may be natural to not repeat the group’s name. For example:

they and the chief priests sent some guards to arrest him (Good News Translation)
-or-
they got together with the chief priests and sent some temple police to arrest him (Contemporary English Version)

the chief priests: The phrase the chief priests refers to the leading or head priests. These men were important religious authorities, members of the main council of the Jews. Here is another way to translate this phrase:

the leading priests (New Century Version)

officers: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as officers refers to men who served at the temple in various ways, including as guards.

Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

some Temple guards (New Century Version)
-or-
some guards (Good News Translation)
-or-
temple police (New Revised Standard Version)

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