20:19a–d
The Berean Standard Bible here does not follow the order of the Greek but rearranges the words for good English style. The Greek is literally:
19aAnd the scribes and the chief priests 19csought to lay hands on him in that hour and/but 19dthey feared the people, 19bbecause they knew that against them he spoke this parable.
In some languages, it may be necessary to change the order of the sentence, as the Berean Standard Bible does. See General Comment on 20:19a–c for suggestions.
20:19a–b
When the scribes and chief priests realized that Jesus had spoken this parable against them: The Jewish leaders understood that Jesus had told the parable of the vineyard and the metaphor of the stone as a warning to them. They realized that the parable referred to them as the evil farmers who killed the son. They knew that the parable indicated that God would certainly punish them. That was why they wanted to arrest Jesus.
Some other ways to translate this are:
…they realized he was telling the story against them—they were the wicked farmers. (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
…they knew the story was about them. (New Century Version)
-or-
…knew that they were the ones Yesus was aiming-towards with his parable earlier.
20:19a
the scribes and chief priests: These two groups of people were also mentioned in 19:47b–d. See how you referred to them there. See also teacher of the law and priest in the Glossary.
20:19b
The Greek conjunction of 20:19b begins with a conjunction that is often translated as “for” or “because.” For example:
because they knew he had spoken this parable against them (New International Version)
This conjunction introduces the reason why the religious leaders wanted to arrest Jesus at once. If you choose to rearrange the order of 20:19a–d as the Berean Standard Bible does, it may not be necessary to translate this conjunction.
this parable: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as this parable refers to the story that begins in 20:9b. For help in translating the word parable, see the note on 18:1. See also parable in the Glossary.
20:19c
they sought to arrest Him that very hour: The Greek words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as sought to arrest Him that very hour indicate that the leaders wanted to arrest Jesus immediately, and they tried to think of a way to do that. The context implies that they did not want to arrest him in public. They were afraid of the people, as 20:19c says.
See the General Comment on 20:19a–c for a suggestion about changing the order of clauses in 20:19a and 20:19b.
to arrest Him: The Greek idiom that the Berean Standard Bible translates as to arrest Him is literally “to lay their hands on him.” Here it means “to seize ⌊in order to arrest⌋.” It indicates that they wanted to take Jesus away for trial and punishment.
that very hour: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as that very hour is literally “in the same hour.” It means “at that moment/time.” In this context it indicates that the leaders wanted to arrest Jesus immediately without waiting any longer. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
at once (New Century Version)
-or-
that very hour (NET Bible)
-or-
at that moment (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
In some languages there may be an idiom that expresses this meaning. For example:
on the spot (Good News Translation)
General Comment on 20:19a–c
In some languages it may be necessary to reverse the order of these clauses. For example:
19aThe scribes and the chief priests 19ctried to arrest Jesus at once, 19bsince they knew that Jesus had spoken this parable against them.
20:19d
But they were afraid of the people: This clause explains why the religious leaders did not arrest Jesus immediately. They knew that the people respected Jesus. They were afraid that if they tried to arrest him, the people might attack them and cause a riot.
In some languages it may be necessary to make explicit that the leaders did not actually arrest Jesus then. For example:
But ⌊they did not arrest him because⌋ they were afraid of the people.
-or-
But they were afraid of ⌊what⌋ the people ⌊might do to them⌋, ⌊so⌋ ⌊they did not arrest him⌋.
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