7:2a

There: The Berean Standard Bible supplies the word There, which is not in the Greek text. This word makes explicit that the events in this story happened in Capernaum. In English this is a natural way to link 7:1b and 7:2a. The Greek text uses a conjunction. Use a natural way in your language to connect these verses. Some other ways to do this are:

In that town (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
At that time (New Living Translation (2004))

a highly valued servant of a centurion: Here Luke introduced the centurion and his servant into the story. The centurion is more important in the story than his servant. The Greek text mentions him first. Consider how to introduce the centurion and his servant in a natural way in your language. In some languages, there may be a special way to indicate that the centurion is more important in the story than the servant. For example:

A certain centurion lived there. He had a slave
-or-
A centurion there had a servant (Revised English Bible)

a highly valued servant: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as highly valued is literally “who was dear to him.” The pronoun “him” refers to the centurion. Some versions, like the Berean Standard Bible, clarify this by referring to the centurion again, using a different term such as “master” or “officer.” Here are some other ways to translate this:

whom his master valued highly (New International Version)
-or-
The officer liked this servant very much. (Contemporary English Version)

highly valued: The Greek term that the Berean Standard Bible translates as highly valued has different meanings, including “valuable, precious, honored, respected.” In this context, it means that the officer loved his servant and considered him to be important. It does not indicate only that the servant was useful to the officer. Some ways to translate this in English are:

dear (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
highly regarded (New American Standard Bible)

servant: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as servant means a “slave,” and several English versions translate it that way. It refers to someone who was owned by another person. A slave had no rights of his own and worked for his owner without receiving pay.

If the idea of slaves or servants is not known in your area, you could say:

a man/person who belonged to a centurion
-or-
a centurion owned a man/person

See “Slavery in Bible Times” in the Appendix.

a centurion: A centurion was a Roman army officer who was the leader of about one hundred soldiers. The word centurion literally means “officer of one hundred.” Some ways to translate this are:

• Translate the literal meaning of the Greek word. For example:

officer of one hundred men

• Use a term for such an officer in the army in your country. For example:

captain

• Use a general word for an officer or commander.

You may also need to supply the information that this was a Roman officer. This is implied by the term centurion, which was used only by the Roman army.

7:2b

was sick and about to die: The Greek text that the Berean Standard Bible translates as was sick and about to die means that the servant was seriously ill and near death. Other ways to say this are:

was so sick he was nearly dead (New Century Version)
-or-
was ill and close to death (New Revised Standard Version)

General Comment on 7:2a–b

This verse first introduces the centurion and then introduces his slave. The verse gives two pieces of information about the slave:

(1) He was sick and at the point of death.

(2) He was dear to the centurion.

Consider in your language what order would be most natural to present this information. An example that follows the Greek word order is:

2aThere was a slave of a Roman centurion 2bwho was ill and about to die. 2aThis slave was dear to the centurion.

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