Section 12:54–59
Jesus told the people to prepare for what was about to happen
In this section Jesus again spoke to the crowd. He first rebuked them because they understood signs that the weather was going to change, but they did not understand what God was about to do. They did not know what to expect from God by the things that they saw Jesus doing. What he taught, the miracles he did, and the things that were happening to him showed that God had sent him. The people should have known and believed that he was the Messiah, and that they needed to listen to him and repent of their sins (12:54–57). Jesus warned them about this by telling them a parable about a legal dispute. The parable showed that they should reconcile with God before the time of judgment arrived (12:58–59).
Other possible headings for this section are:
Understanding the Times (New Century Version)
-or-
Discern What God Wants You to Do in These Days
There is a parallel passage for 12:54–56 in Matthew 16:2–3. There is a parallel passage for 12:57–59 in Matthew 5:25–26.
Paragraph 12:54–57
12:54a–b
Then: This verse begins with a Greek conjunction. The Berean Standard Bible and some other versions (New Century Version, New Living Translation (2004)) translate it as Then in order to show that it introduces the next thing that happened in the story. Some other versions translate this conjunction as “And” (King James Version, New American Standard Bible), while still others do not translate it (Contemporary English Version, English Standard Version, New International Version, New Revised Standard Version). Introduce this next event in a natural way in your language.
Jesus said to the crowds: In the preceding verses, Jesus was speaking mainly to his disciples. Here the Greek text indicates that Jesus began to speak to the whole crowd again. Some ways to indicate this in English are:
Jesus said to all the people (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Jesus turned to the crowd and said (New Living Translation (2004))
Use a natural way in your language to make this clear.
As soon as you see a cloud rising in the west, you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and that is what happens: The rain in Israel comes from the west, from the Mediterranean Sea. So whenever people saw dark rain clouds forming in the west, they would say, “It is going to rain.” And, as they predicted, it would rain. So this verse explains a situation that happened regularly, at various times during the year.
In some languages it may be helpful to make some of this information explicit in the text. For example:
When you see ⌊dark⌋ clouds coming ⌊from the sea⌋ in the west (Translator’s Reference Translation)
Be sure to use expressions that are natural in your language.
In other languages, a footnote may be more appropriate. See the suggested footnote in the General Comment on 12:54–55 at the end of 12:55a–b.
you say, ‘A shower is coming’: In this context the verb say can also apply to a thought that people do not speak out loud. Use a natural verb in your language.
In some languages it may be more natural to translate this quotation as indirect speech. For example:
you predict immediately that it is going to rain
A shower is coming: The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as A shower is coming means that a fairly lengthy, heavy, or violent rain will soon start. If you have a specific term for a rainstorm or thunderstorm in your language, you may use it here. You may also use a general term such as “rain.” For example:
It’s going to rain (New International Version)
Some other ways to translate this expression are:
a strong rain will soon arrive
-or-
it will soon begin to storm
and that is what happens: The clause and that is what happens means “and it happens”; that is, it rains. If the expression you have used for “you say” in the previous phrase implies an accurate prediction, it may not be necessary to translate this clause explicitly.
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