6:7
In 6:7, the Berean Standard Bible has changed the order of the Greek clauses. The Revised Standard Version keeps the Greek order. Compare the two orders below:
7aLooking for a reason to accuse Jesus, 7bthe scribes and Pharisees 7cwere watching him closely 7dto see if he would heal on the Sabbath. (Berean Standard Bible)
7bAnd the scribes and the Pharisees 7cwatched him, 7dto see whether he would heal on the sabbath, 7aso that they might find an accusation against him. (Revised Standard Version)
Use a natural order in your language.
6:7a
Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus means that the Pharisees and the teachers of the law wanted to observe Jesus doing something wrong. Then they could accuse him of breaking the law.
Some other ways to translate this are:
wanted a reason to accuse Jesus of doing wrong (Good News Translation)
-or-
wanted to accuse Jesus of doing something wrong (Contemporary English Version)
As mentioned above, in Greek this clause occurs at the end of 6:7. It is literally “in order that they might find to accuse him.” The main goal of the Pharisees was to accuse Jesus of doing wrong. If it is more natural in your language to state the main goal at the end, you should follow the Greek order.
accuse: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as accuse is a legal term. It means to bring a legal accusation against someone. In this context the accusation would probably be made to a Jewish council. The Pharisees wanted to accuse Jesus of breaking Jewish religious law.
6:7b
the scribes and Pharisees: The scribes and Pharisees are new people in this story. In some languages, it is natural have a separate sentence to introduce them. This would come at the beginning of the verse. For example:
Some Pharisees and teachers of the Law were there.
-or-
There were also teachers of the religious law and Pharisees there.
the scribes: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the scribes refers to men who studied and taught the law of Moses and Jewish laws and traditions. The term scribes also occurs in 5:21a. See also teacher of the law in the Glossary.
Pharisees: See the note on the Pharisees at 6:2a.
6:7c–d
were watching Him closely to see if He would heal on the Sabbath: This clause tells how the Pharisees planned to find fault with Jesus. They believed that no one should heal a sick person on the Sabbath (unless someone was in danger of dying). So they watched Jesus. They wanted to see if he would break their law and heal the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath day.
If you are using footnotes for background information, you might use one here. For example:
The Pharisees believed that healing or medical treatment was a kind of work. That is why they believed that no one should heal people on the Sabbath day
were watching Him closely: The verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as were watching Him closely means “to spy on” or “to watch carefully.” It does not mean that they got close to Jesus to watch him.
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