23:30
This verse has parallel parts. Parts a–b and c–d have the same meaning:
aAt that time they will say to the mountains,
b“Fall on us!”
cand to the hills,
d“Cover us!”
In some languages it may be more natural to combine the parallel parts so that the introductions and the two quotations are combined. For example:
a,cThen they will say to the mountains and hills, b,d“Fall on us and cover us!”
-or-
At that time, people will speak to the hills like this: “Fall on us, hills! Cover us, stones!”
23:30a–b
At that time ‘they will say…’: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as At that time ‘they will say is literally “Then they will begin to say.” Scholars are not sure what the word “begin” adds to the meaning of the verb say here. It probably emphasizes the coming time to which the phrase At that time refers. For example:
That will be the time when people will say (Good News Translation)
-or-
At that time everyone will say (Contemporary English Version)
Some English versions do not translate the word “begin.” Do what is natural here in your language.
At that time: The phrase At that time introduces a quotation from Hosea 10:8 in the Old Testament. In some languages it may be helpful to introduce this quotation more explicitly. For example:
At that time, ⌊as the Scripture says/prophecies⌋
-or-
Then ⌊it will happen as a prophet wrote in God’s Word⌋
The Berean Standard Bible marks this quotation with single quote marks (‘…’) beginning in 23:30a and ending in 20:30d. You should mark this quotation in the same way as you mark other quotations from the Old Testament in your translation. You may also include a footnote or cross reference.
they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”: Here Jesus predicted what the people will wish for in the future time of trouble. They will wish that the mountains and hills will fall on them. Some ways to translate the wish are:
• As direct speech:
they will beg the mountains, “Fall on us!”
-or-
they will call out to the mountains, “Fall on us!”
• As indirect speech:
they will beg the mountains to fall on them
• As a wish or hope:
they will wish/hope that the mountains would fall on them
Translate the wish in a natural way in your language.
they: The word they is used in the same way as the word “people” in 23:29b. It refers to people in general, especially the people in Jerusalem. You can translate it here in the same way or a similar way as you translated “people” in 23:29b.
23:30b
Fall on us!: The clause Fall on us! probably indicates that people will wish that the dirt or stones of the mountains would come down on them and kill them. It implies that people will suffer so terribly that they will wish that they could die. If the mountains fell on them, they would die quickly. They would not have to endure the terrible sufferings of that time.
In some languages people do not speak of mountains “falling.” If that is true in your language, describe it in natural way in your language. Some ways to do this are:
will plead that the mountains will landslide in order to bury/cover them
-or-
will say, “Why doesn’t this mountain cover me?”
23:30c–d
and to the hills, “Cover us!”: There is an ellipsis here. The full form is, “and they will say to the hills, ‘Cover us.’” It has almost the same meaning as the wish in 23:30a–b. The difference between hills and “mountains” is only that hills are smaller than mountains. If the hills covered the people, they would be buried alive and die. Another way to translate 23:30c–d is:
And they will say also to the hill, “Cover us up.”
As in 23:30a–b, Jesus predicted what the people will wish in the future. You may translate this part of the verse in a similar way as you did there. See the note on “they will say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’” at 23:30a–b for translation suggestions.
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