Paragraph 22:70–71
22:70a
So they all asked: The phrase So they all asked indicates that all the men in the council asked Jesus this question together.
Are You then the Son of God?: The Greek question that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Are You then the Son of God? expects the answer “Yes.” The people asking the question all hoped that Jesus would say “yes.” Then they could say that he was wrongfully claiming to be divine. To the Jews, this would be blasphemy, and the punishment would be death.
Son of God: The Bible uses the title Son of God to express the fact that Jesus has the same nature as God and that he comes from God. God does not have a physical body, and he did not create/produce Jesus the way a human father produces a son. Jesus existed eternally as the Son with his Father.
22:70b
You say that I am: The Berean Standard Bible literally represents the Greek here. The words You and I are both emphatic. Jesus used this emphatic statement to agree that he is the Son of God. Some Bible scholars question whether he agreed directly or indirectly. The context indicates that Jesus agreed directly. He had just said in 22:69 that he would sit at God’s right side.
Some English versions translate the statement in a literal way that is ambiguous. In some languages a literal translation wrongly implies that Jesus denied that he was the Son of God. Be careful to translate Jesus’ statement as agreement, not as a denial.
Some ways to translate this agreement are:
You’re right to say that I am. (God’s Word)
-or-
Yes, you yourselves have correctly said that I am ⌊the Son of God⌋.
-or-
You have understood what I said. ⌊Yes,⌋ I am.
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