9:36a
After the voice had spoken: As in 9:35a, it may be necessary to say that it was God who had spoken. There may also be other ways to express this idea. For example:
When ⌊God⌋ had spoken
-or-
When the voice stopped (Good News Translation)
only Jesus was present with them: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as only Jesus was present with them is literally “Jesus was found alone.” This is a passive phrase. In this context, the word “found” indicates that Jesus was alone and that the disciples saw or recognized that. The disciples saw that Moses and Elijah had gone. Of the three, only Jesus was left. Other ways to translate this clause are:
they saw that Jesus was alone (God’s Word)
-or-
Peter, John, and James saw only Jesus
9:36b
The disciples kept this to themselves: The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as kept this to themselves is literally “kept silent” in Greek. It does not mean that they did not speak at all. It means that the three disciples kept quiet about what had happened. They did not talk to anyone else about the amazing things they had seen. Your language may have an expression that describes not speaking about something specific. For example:
they held their peace
9:36c
in those days they did not tell anyone what they had seen: The phrase did not tell anyone what they had seen is literally “reported to no one…anything of what they had seen.” This statement repeats the same meaning as 9:36b. The repetition emphasizes the meaning that the disciples said absolutely nothing about this event.
This part of the verse adds the phrase in those days. This implies that later the disciples did tell others about what they had seen.
in those days: The phrase in those days refers to the remaining time of Jesus’ ministry on this earth. In the parallel verses in Matthew 17:9 and Mark 9:9, Jesus specifically ordered his disciples not to tell anyone about this until after he had risen from the dead. If it would be helpful to your readers, you may want to put this information in a footnote.
what they had seen: The phrase what they had seen includes all that the disciples had seen, heard, and experienced on the mountain. In some languages it may be necessary to make some of this information explicit. For example:
what they had seen ⌊and heard⌋
General Comment on 9:36b–c
Some other ways to translate 9:36b–c are:
Peter, John, and James said nothing and told no one at that time what they had seen. (New Century Version)
-or-
The disciples kept quiet about all this and told no one at that time anything they had seen. (Good News Translation)
-or-
The disciples kept these things that they had seen a secret. They did not say anything to anyone else.
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