4:22a

All spoke well of Him: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as spoke well indicates here that the people expressed approval of Jesus. They were impressed by what he said. All the people in the synagogue said good things about his teaching. Another way to translate this is:

They were all well impressed with him (Good News Translation)

4:22b

marveled: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as marveled also means “were amazed” or “admired.” Another way to translate this is:

wondered (Revised Standard Version)

This word also occurs at 2:18.

the gracious words that came from His lips: Here are some other ways to translate the phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the gracious words that came from His lips:

the wonderful things he said (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
the eloquent words that he spoke (Good News Translation)

gracious: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as gracious means “appealing, attractive, wonderful, beautiful.”

came from His lips: The phrase came from His lips is literally “coming out from his mouth.” This is an idiom. It simply means “he said/spoke.” Unless you have a similar idiom in your language, you should not use the word for “mouth” or “lips” in your translation.

4:22c

Isn’t this the son of Joseph?: This is a rhetorical question. It expresses surprise and amazement. The people were incredulous. This was Jesus’ hometown, and people there had known him for many years. The rhetorical question reflects their incredulity. He was so familiar to them that they were not willing to accept that he could be the fulfillment of this prophecy. You may want to express this in a footnote in your translation.

The people assumed that the answer to their question was “yes.” The people in the synagogue had seen Jesus grow up in their town. They found it difficult to accept that Jesus, whom they thought they knew well, spoke as well he did.

Some ways to translate this are:

• As a rhetorical question. For example:

Isn’t he Joseph’s son?
-or-
This is Joseph’s son?

• As a statement. For example:

This is ⌊just⌋ Joseph’s son.
-or-
This is Joseph’s son! ⌊We have known him for years⌋.

Use the form that is most natural in your language for this kind of amazement.

they asked: In Greek, the verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as they asked occurs before the rhetorical question. The Berean Standard Bible has placed the words they asked after the question. Place them where it is natural in your language.

asked: In some languages, it may be more natural to use a verb other than asked to introduce a rhetorical question. Do not use a word that only introduces questions that require an answer.

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