16:30a
No: The word No in this context implies “No, that is not enough/sufficient.” The rich man believed that hearing or reading the words of Moses and the Prophets would not cause his brothers to repent. He thought that they needed something more. In some languages it may be helpful to make this information explicit, with or without the word No. For example:
No, that’s not enough! (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
That is not enough (Good News Translation)
he said: The Berean Standard Bible has placed the phrase he said in the middle of what the rich man was saying. Place it where it is most natural in your language.
16:30b–c
but if someone is sent to them from the dead, they will repent: The rich man was thinking that if someone from the place of the dead visited his brothers, that would cause them to repent. Some other ways to translate this are:
There must be a dead person who lives again to go talk to them, and only then will they repent from their sins!
-or-
If there were someone who went from the place of the dead to go to them, they would repent of their sins.
someone is sent to them from the dead: It is possible that the phrase someone is sent to them from the dead refers to someone who comes back to life. For example:
if someone were to rise from death (Good News Translation)
Although the next verse clearly refers to someone rising from the dead, this phrase (16:30b) is more ambiguous. It could refer to a messenger from the dead or to a spirit who took the form of a person who had died. It could also refer to a dream about a dead person. If possible, you should translate in a general way that would allow for these different possibilities.
is sent to them: It is implied but not stated explicitly that the visitor from the dead would go to speak to the brothers and warn them to repent. In some languages it will be necessary to make this explicit. For example:
goes ⌊and speaks⌋ to them
The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as is sent to them is literally “goes to them.” While the idea of sending is not explicit in the Greek text, it is present implicitly, since the rich man is requesting Abraham to send Lazarus (16:27). If you wish to express this idea in your translation, it may be natural to use an active form. For example:
but if you send someone from the dead
16:30c
they will repent: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as repent means that a person will “change his mind, heart, or will.” In the Bible, it refers specifically to a person’s changing his mind and heart about sin and about God. When a person repents, he is sorry for his past sins. He decides to stop sinning and obey God.
Some ways to translate repent in this context are:
they will change their thinking/mind/heart
-or-
they will reject their sins
-or-
they would turn from their sins (Good News Translation)
-or-
they will turn to God and change the way they think and act (God’s Word)
This word also occurs in 15:7b.
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