SIL Translator’s Notes on Luke 22:6

22:6a

This verse tells how Judas responded when the Jewish leaders offered him money to betray Jesus. He agreed to their offer. In Greek this verse begins with the common conjunction that is often translated as “and.” Some English versions have “so” here because the verse tells the result of the discussion between Judas and the leaders. Connect this verse to the preceding one in a natural way in your language.

Judas consented: The phrase Judas consented indicates that Judas accepted their offer. He said that he was willing to betray Jesus for the amount of money that the leaders offered him. Some other ways to translate the phrase are:

He agreed… (Revised English Bible)
-or-
So Judas promised to do it. (God’s Word)

and began to look for an opportunity: The phrase and began to look for an opportunity means that Judas began to look for the right time and way to betray Jesus to the leaders, as he promised them. Other ways to translate this are:

and watched for the best time
-or-
and looked for a good/appropriate way

The context implies that Judas left the place where he met with the leaders, and from that time on, he watched for an opportunity. In some languages it may be necessary to include this implied information. For example:

Then ⌊he left, and⌋ began to watch for an opportunity
-or-
and from that time, he searched for a good opportunity

to betray Jesus to them: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as to betray Jesus to them is the same verb that is translated as “betray” in 22:4c. Consider whether in your language it would be more natural to use the same word or a different word with a similar meaning.

22:6b

in the absence of a crowd: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as in the absence of a crowd refers to a time when Jesus was not surrounded by many people. If Jesus was alone or with only a few disciples, the temple guards could arrest him easily. The people who usually listened to Jesus would not know that the guards had arrested him. Some other ways to translate this are:

when he was away from the crowds/people
-or-
when he was not surrounded by many people
-or-
when only a few people were with him

© 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.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted