7:12a
town gate: The phrase town gate refers here to the entrance to the town, through which people went in and out. Some towns had a wall around them, and the gate to such towns was a door in the wall. However, the village of Nain in modern Israel seems to never have had a wall around it.
Some ways to translate this are:
• Use a word that refers to an entrance. For example:
the gate of the town (Contemporary English Version)
• Use a general expression for the place where people enter a town. For example:
the entrance to the city (God’s Word)
7:12b
In Greek this part of the verse begins with a word that many English versions translate as “behold.” This word indicates that the speaker intends to say something important or surprising, and he wants people to listen carefully to it. Here Luke is probably drawing attention to the whole story that tells about the miracle of raising a dead person back to life.
This word is not easy to translate into English, so many versions, including the Berean Standard Bible, do not translate it. Consider whether you have a natural way to translate it here. For example:
look/listen
-or-
take note of this
-or-
and there they saw
a dead man being carried out: This is a passive clause. Some people were carrying the body of a dead person out of the town to bury him. Some ways to translate this are:
• With a passive verb. For example:
a man/boy who had died was being carried out ⌊by pallbearers⌋
• With an active verb. For example:
some people were carrying out a dead man (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
dead man: In 7:14 Jesus addressed this person who had died as “Young man.” If you need to use a more specific word here, see the note on “Young man” at 7:14c.
Some languages have a special word for a person who has died. Other languages may refer to this as a “body” or “corpse” rather than a man. Use an expression that is natural in your language. Some other ways to translate this are:
a corpse was being carried out
-or-
⌊some people⌋ were carrying out the body of a dead person
carried out: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as carried out means “to carry someone out to be buried.” This should be clear from the context. However, it may be natural in some languages to make this explicit. For example:
a funeral procession was coming out (Good News Translation)
-or-
a dead person was being carried out for burial
7:12c
the only son of his mother: The young man who had died was the only son that this woman had. The text does not say whether she had any daughters.
she was a widow: A widow is a woman whose husband has died. It also implies that she has not married another man.
7:12d
And a large crowd from the town was with her: This clause indicates that the mother was with the people who were carrying her son out to bury him. A large crowd was going with her to comfort her and mourn with her. Other ways to say this are:
His mother was there with a large crowd from the town.
-or-
Many people from the town were going with the widow to the burial.
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