6:8a
But Jesus knew their thoughts: In Greek the word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Jesus is an emphatic form of the pronoun “he.” This part of the verse changes the focus back to Jesus and indicates that he knew that the Pharisees wanted to accuse him. Express this focus in a natural way in your language. One way to do that is:
As for Jesus, he knew what they were thinking
knew their thoughts: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as knew their thoughts is the same phrase that it translates in 5:22a as “Knowing what they were thinking.” See how you translated it there and decide how to translate it here.
6:8b
and said to the man: Some English versions connect 6:8b to 6:8a with the conjunction and (Berean Standard Bible) or with “so” (Contemporary English Version). Others do not use a conjunction here (Good News Translation). Connect 6:8a and 6:8b in the way that is most natural in your language.
6:8c
Get up: The command Get up implies that the man was sitting down. He could have been sitting on the floor or on a bench. Another way to translate this is:
Stand up (Good News Translation)
stand among us: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as stand among us is literally “stand into the middle.” Jesus wanted the man to move to the center of the synagogue where everyone could see him.
Some other ways to translate this are:
and stand in the center ⌊of the synagogue⌋ (God’s Word)
-or-
and come here to the front (Good News Translation)
General Comment on 6:8b–c
In some languages, it may be natural to translate Jesus’ command as indirect speech. For example:
…he told the man to stand up where everyone could see him (Contemporary English Version)
6:8d
So: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as So is most often translated as “and.” Some English versions translate it as “and” (Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible), and some do not translate it (Good News Translation). This conjunction introduces what the man did when he obeyed Jesus’ command. Connect 6:8c and 6:8d in the way that is most natural in your language.
he got up and stood there: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as he got up and stood there is literally “and rising up, he stood.” You may need to make explicit where he stood. The Berean Standard Bible does this by adding the word there.
Make it clear in your translation that the man did what Jesus told him. For example:
So he rose and stood there. (NET Bible)
-or-
So the man came forward. (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
So the man came and stood in the center ⌊in front of everyone⌋.
In some languages, the phrase got up and stood can be translated as one verb. For example:
And the man stood up. (Contemporary English Version)
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