Paragraph 19:32–34
19:32a
So: This verse begins with a Greek conjunction. The Berean Standard Bible and several other versions (English Standard Version, NET Bible, New Living Translation (2004)) translate it as So in order to show that these two disciples went to the village as a result of the instructions that Jesus gave them. Many other versions do not translate this conjunction. Introduce what the disciples did in a natural way in your language.
those who were sent went out: This clause indicates that the two disciples left and went to the next village, just as Jesus had told them to. Here is another way to translate this:
They went off (Contemporary English Version)
those who were sent: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as those who were sent is literally “those who had been sent.” It refers to the two disciples whom Jesus had just been talking to. Some English versions translate it simply with the pronoun “they.” Other ways to translate this phrase are:
The two disciples
-or-
The messengers (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
The men Jesus sent (God’s Word)
19:32b
and found it just as Jesus had told them: In Greek the verb found has no object here. The Berean Standard Bible supplies the word it because an object is needed in English. In this context the phrase found…just as is used in a special way. It indicates that the disciples saw that everything was exactly as Jesus told them it would be. They did find the colt tied up. However, the emphasis is on the fact that what Jesus told them happened exactly as he said it would. Some ways to translate this are:
and found everything just as he had told them (Revised English Bible)
-or-
and found it as he had told them (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
and all that Jesus had told them came true
-or-
when they arrived there, it was exactly as Jesus said
Translate it in a way that is natural in your language.
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