Paragraph 22:17–18

22:17a

After taking the cup: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as After taking the cup is literally “and having taken a cup.” This cup was full of wine. In some languages it may be necessary to make this explicit. For example:

Then he took a cup of wine (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
And then Jesus got a cup filled with wine
-or-
Then Jesus took a cup in which was put grape juice

taking: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as taking indicates here that Jesus took the cup in his hands. He probably lifted the cup from the table, rather than receiving it from someone. In some languages it may be helpful to make this explicit. For example:

Jesus took a cup of wine in his hands (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Jesus took a cup of wine ⌊from the table⌋

cup: The word cup refers here to a cup or bowl probably made from clay. In your translation you may use the name of a container that people normally drink from.

In this context the word cup includes what was in the cup. As mentioned above, the cup contained wine. Wine is an alcoholic drink. It is made from the juice of a fruit called grapes. When grape juice ferments, it becomes wine.

In some areas, people may not be familiar with wine. If that is true in your language, some other ways to translate “wine” are:

• Use a general term for an alcoholic drink.

• Use a more specific term that can also be used to refer to alcoholic drinks in general.

• Use a descriptive phrase. For example:

fruit juice/water
-or-
grape juice
-or-
fermented grape juice

Jesus also gave wine to his apostles in 22:20, when he established Communion. Consider how the churches in your area refer to the drink that is used for Communion. The word “wine” occurs in 1:15, 5:37–39, 7:33, and 10:34. See how you translated it there, and consider whether you should use the same word here. Use an appropriate option for your language.

22:17b

He gave thanks and said: The phrase He gave thanks indicates that Jesus thanked God for the wine. After he thanked God, he spoke to the apostles, saying the words in 22:17c. Be sure that this is clear in your translation. Some other ways to translate He gave thanks and said are:

after giving thanks to God for it, he said to the apostles
-or-
he said thank you to God, and he said to his disciples

22:17c

Take this and divide it among yourselves: Jesus handed the cup to one of his apostles, but he was giving it to all of them. He wanted his apostles to pass the cup from one apostle to another. Each apostle would then either drink from the same cup or pour some of the wine into his own cup. Consider whether in your own language both commands should be plural, as they are in the Greek text. Other ways to translate it are:

Take this ⌊wine⌋ and share it among yourselves.
-or-
Each of you drink from this cup.
-or-
All of you, drink some of this.

divide it: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as divide means “to distribute.” Here it refers to sharing the wine that was in the cup. Refer to this action in a natural way in your language. In some languages a separate word for divide may not be necessary. See the final two examples in the preceding note.

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