19:42–44
In these verses Jesus spoke to the city of Jerusalem, using singular forms of “you.” This is a figure of speech. The city represents the people in the city. In some languages it may be necessary to indicate that Jesus spoke to the people. For example:
⌊People of Jerusalem⌋, if you(plur) also had only known…
In other languages the figure may be natural except in certain statements. There you will need to indicate that Jesus spoke of the people. For example:
⌊O Jerusalem,⌋ if only your ⌊people⌋ had known
In some languages it is not natural to speak to people who are not present. In those languages, you may use forms that are natural for talking about a city or its people. For example:
If only Jerusalem too had known the things that would have brought her/it peace…
-or-
If only ⌊the people of⌋ Jerusalem had known what would bring them peace…
Translate these verses in a natural way in your language. See the second meaning lines of the Display for examples of Jesus addressing the people directly.
19:42a–b
If only you had known on this day what would bring you peace: In this lament Jesus expressed his longing for something that did not happen. The lament implies that:
(a) the people of Jerusalem did not know what would bring them peace;
(b) if they had known, they would have recognized Jesus as the Messiah. Then God would have given them peace, and the city would not have been destroyed.
In most languages, this information can be left implied. However, in some languages it may be necessary to make some of it explicit. If that is true in your language, express it in a general way. For example:
then God would have given peace to you/it
19:42a
If only you had known: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as If only you had known is an exclamation of sorrow and regret. It implies “⌊I wish that⌋ you had known” or “⌊it would have been so good⌋ if you had known, ⌊but you did not⌋.”
Jesus knew the terrible things that would happen to the people because they refused to know the truth. The result would be tragedy, destruction, and death. Jesus used this lament to express his sorrow over that. Some other ways to translate it are:
It is so terrible/tragic that you did not know
-or-
How I wish that you had known
-or-
If you only knew (Good News Translation)
-or-
It is such a grief that you did not know
Consider how to express Jesus’ lament in a natural way in your language.
you had known: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as you had known is literally “you, even you, had known.” Scholars differ about the function of the word “even” here. However, it is probably best understood as “you also (in addition to my disciples).” The disciples recognized Jesus as the Messiah, but most people in Jerusalem did not. Here is another way to translate this:
If you too had only recognized on this day the way to peace! (New Jerusalem Bible)
Several English versions, including the Berean Standard Bible, do not translate this word. This is a good option in languages where it may imply a wrong or ambiguous meaning.
on this day: The phrase on this day refers to that day when Jesus came to Jerusalem as their king and Messiah. He came to them, but they did not accept him. It happened as Jesus predicted in the parable in the preceding section.
19:42b
what would bring you peace: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as what would bring you peace is literally: “the for/toward peace things.” It is translated in various ways in English versions:
the things that make for peace (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
what would bring you peace (New International Version)
-or-
what is needed for peace (Good News Translation)
-or-
the way that leads to peace (Revised English Bible)
In all these examples, the idea is that the people of Jerusalem did not recognize what would cause them to have peace. Express this in a way that is natural in your language.
peace: See the note on peace at 19:38b. Here Jesus probably referred to two aspects of peace: harmony with God and absence of war/conflict. In 19:43–44 Jesus implied that if the people had recognized him as the Messiah, God would have given them peace. They would have been in harmony with God, and they would have had freedom from war as well. They would not have been judged and punished by having their city destroyed.
Some ways to translate peace in this context are:
• Choose a term that can imply different types of peace.
• Indicate that two aspects of peace are in focus here. For example:
harmony ⌊with God and people⌋
• Use a term that refers mainly to freedom from conflict, war, or hostility. For example:
save you from hostility/war
-or-
free you from conflict ⌊with God and people⌋
See how you translated peace in 12:51 and 19:38. See also peace, Meanings 1 and peace, Meaning 2, in the Glossary. Remember that some languages have idioms to express this meaning.
19:42c
But now: The phrase But now introduces a contrast between a previous situation and the present situation. Before that time, the people could have realized what would cause them to have peace. But at the present time (as Jesus was speaking), it was already too late for Jerusalem to realize that and change. Some ways to translate this could be:
But as it is
-or-
But as things are now
-or-
But alas, as it is
-or-
But now ⌊it is too late⌋
it is hidden from your eyes: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as it is hidden from your eyes is a figure of speech. Jesus was saying that the people of Jerusalem were not able to understand the things that would have brought them peace.
In some languages, this figure of speech is hard to understand or is not natural. Other ways to translate the meaning are:
• Use a different figure of speech in your language that has the same meaning.
• Substitute “you” for your eyes:
they are hidden from you
• Translate the meaning more directly:
you are not able to understand them
it: The word it probably refers back to the phrase “the things that would bring you peace” instead of to “peace” itself.
© 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.