Section 11:27–28
Jesus taught about how to be truly happy
A woman in the crowd was very impressed with the way Jesus had answered his critics in the previous section. So she pronounced a blessing on Jesus’ mother. By doing this, the woman was praising Jesus himself. Jesus replied that the people who were truly happy/blessed were those who listened to the word of God and obeyed it.
Some other possible headings for this section are:
People Who Are Truly Happy (New Century Version)
-or-
True Happiness (Good News Translation)
This story occurs only in Luke.
Paragraph 11:27–28
11:27a
As Jesus was saying these things: At some point during Jesus’ teaching, a woman called out. She probably waited until he paused and then called out. The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as these things is literally “this.” Several English versions, such as the Good News Translation and New Revised Standard Version, translate it that way. It refers in general to what Jesus had been talking about in the previous verses. Some other ways to translate this clause are:
When Jesus had said this (Good News Translation)
-or-
While Jesus was speaking (God’s Word)
a woman in the crowd: The phrase a woman in the crowd introduces a new person into the story. Introduce this unnamed woman in a natural way in your language. For example:
there was a woman in the crowd
-or-
a certain woman in the crowd
raised her voice and said: The Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as raised her voice and said indicates that the woman called out to Jesus. Apparently the woman was not close to Jesus and so she had to speak loudly in order for him to hear her. Some other ways to translate this are:
shouted (God’s Word)
-or-
said loudly
Use an expression in your language that is appropriate for this situation.
11:27b
Blessed is the womb that bore You, and blessed are the breasts that nursed You!: Some English versions translate more literally the Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Blessed is the womb that bore You, and blessed are the breasts that nursed You. For example:
Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked! (Revised Standard Version)
This is a figure of speech. The parts of the body (womb and breasts) that are mentioned here represent the whole person (Jesus’ mother). This is a poetic way of saying:
Blessed is your mother!
The woman who said this was making a statement. She was saying, “Your mother…is blessed.” She was not saying, “May God bless your mother.”
Blessed: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Blessed here refers to being in a good situation. Many English versions translate this as “happy.” In your translation, try to use an expression that refers to a fortunate situation rather than simply to a feeling of happiness. For example:
The woman who bore you and nursed you is truly fortunate/privileged!
-or-
God has really blessed the woman who gave birth to you and nursed you!
This word also occurred in 10:23b. See how you translated it there. See bless, Meaning 3, in the Glossary.
© 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.