10:2a

In this verse Luke began to quote what Jesus told the seventy-two disciples before they left. Be sure that the sequence of events is clear. See the note on 10:1–2.

And: This verse begins with a Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as And, as do some other English versions (English Standard Version, New American Standard Bible). Many other versions do not translate this conjunction. Connect 10:2a to 10:1 in a way that is natural in your language.

He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few…”: Jesus spoke here of a large crop with only a few people to harvest it. This is a metaphor. It means that many people were ready to hear Jesus’ message, but there were only a few people to tell them.

In some languages people may not understand that Jesus was using a metaphor here, or they may not understand its meaning. If that is true in your language, some other ways to translate this metaphor are:

• Keep the entire metaphor, but make explicit in some way that Jesus was using figurative language. For example:

He told them ⌊this illustration/parable:⌋ “The…”
-or-
Jesus told them, “⌊I am sending you out like⌋ workers who will harvest a crop. The harvest…”

• Keep part of the metaphor. Make part of the meaning explicit. For example:

There are a great many people to harvest, but there are only a few workers. (New Century Version)

• Change the metaphor to a simile. Make one or both parts of the topic explicit. For example:

⌊Many people are ready to believe in me,⌋ ⌊but there are not many people to tell them the good news.⌋ ⌊They are like⌋ a big grain field that is ripe, and there are not enough workers to harvest the ripe grain.

• Translate the meaning without the metaphor. For example:

There are many people who are ready to believe in me, but there are not many who can help/invite them.

This option should only be used if the other options are not clear or natural.

Try to keep at least part of the metaphor if possible. If you translate the metaphor literally, you may want to include a footnote with an explanation. For example:

The “harvest” symbolizes people who need to hear Jesus’ message. The “workers” symbolize people who tell them his message.

The harvest is plentiful: The word harvest refers here to a crop that is ready to be gathered. It is a general word that can refer to different types of crops, for example, ripe grain or fruit. See also Matthew 9:37–38. Other ways to translate this clause are:

There is a large crop ready to be harvested
-or-
The fields are full of ripe grain

the workers are few: The clause the workers are few means that not many people were working in the field to harvest the crop.

the workers: In some languages it may be more natural to translate this phrase with a word that refers specifically to harvest workers. For example:

the reapers
-or-
the harvesters

10:2b

Ask: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Ask means to ask urgently or plead. In this context it can also mean to pray. You may use a word that is appropriate for pleading with a literal human owner of the harvest or for praying to God, the figurative owner. For example:

beseech (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
pray to (New Living Translation (2004))

the Lord of the harvest: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the Lord was used in 10:1a to refer to Jesus. Here it has both a literal and a figurative meaning. In the illustration it refers literally to the owner of a field. He is the one who gets workers to come and harvest the crop. Figuratively, it refers to God. It does not refer here to Jesus. The Greek word meaning “owner” or “master” was the same word that the Jews used for God. That is why the Berean Standard Bible translates it as Lord.

In some languages you may be able to use a word that could refer to both a master/owner or to God. For example:

the owner of the harvest (Good News Translation)
-or-
the master who is in charge of the harvest

In other languages it may be more appropriate to refer specifically to God. For example:

⌊God, who is⌋ the Lord of the harvest
-or-
God, who owns the harvest (New Century Version)

therefore: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as therefore introduces 10:2b as the logical conclusion of 10:2a. The Berean Standard Bible has placed this word in the middle of the sentence. In some languages it may be more natural to place it at the beginning of 10:2b. For example:

therefore ask… (New Revised Standard Version)

to send out workers into His harvest: In this context the word workers implies more workers. The disciples were to ask the field owner to send more people to work in his field to harvest the crop. Some other ways to express this request are:

that he will send more workers to help gather his harvest (New Century Version)
-or-
to send more workers into his fields (New Living Translation (2004))

Here His harvest is a metaphor that refers to the many people in the world who had not heard Jesus’ message. In many languages it will be possible to keep this figure of speech. However, if it gives the wrong meaning in your language, you may translate the meaning without using a figure of speech. For example:

So pray to God, ⌊who has been making these people ready to believe⌋. Ask him to send more ⌊disciples⌋ ⌊to help people to come to me⌋.

© 2009, 2010, 2013 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.