Paragraph 9:41–43a
9:41a
O unbelieving and perverse generation!: The words unbelieving and perverse generation are similar to the expressions that Moses used in Deuteronomy 32:5 and Deuteronomy 32:20, when he described the people of Israel. Jesus may have been implying that the people who were listening to him were just like their ancestors. You may want to add a footnote with this information.
The word O indicates here that Jesus was speaking directly to the people. It also indicates that they had frustrated and disappointed him.
In some languages it may not be natural to address people directly with a phrase such as this. If that is true in your language, you may need to make this phrase a separate sentence. For example:
You people have no faith and your lives are all wrong. (New Century Version)
unbelieving: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as unbelieving here describes people who did not believe or trust God as they should have. In this context, they specifically lacked faith in God’s power to heal and do other miraculous things through Jesus. In some languages it may be necessary to make some of this information explicit. For example:
You people have no faith ⌊in God⌋
-or-
You people truly do not trust ⌊God⌋
See believe, Meaning 2, in the Glossary.
perverse: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as perverse sometimes refers to things that are twisted or crooked. Here it refers to people who do not think and act in right ways. Instead, they change the standards of right and wrong in their minds, and they follow ways that are morally wrong. Other ways to translate this include:
How…wrong you people are! (Good News Translation)
-or-
you have strayed from the right path
generation: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as generation probably refers here to the majority of Israelites who were alive at that time. It indicates that they were a group of people who shared the same character.
Other ways to translate the phrase “O unbelieving and perverse generation” are:
What faithless and evil people you are!
-or-
You people are all alike! You lack trust/faith in God. You have turned away from the right path.
Jesus replied: Jesus replied to the man’s statement about the disciples, but he was probably not speaking directly to the boy’s father. So it may be better to translate as the Berean Standard Bible has done and not specify to whom Jesus replied.
The Berean Standard Bible has placed the clause Jesus replied in the middle of what Jesus was saying. In the Greek text the clause comes before the speech begins. Place it where it is most natural in your language.
9:41b
How long must I remain with you and put up with you?: This is a rhetorical question. It expresses the frustration that Jesus felt because these people did not trust God. It is also a rebuke to the people because they did not trust him. In some languages it may be necessary to make this explicit. For example:
How long must I stay with you and endure your ⌊unbelief⌋?
Some other ways to translate this part of the verse are:
• As a rhetorical question or questions. For example:
How much longer must I be with you? Why do I have to put up with you? (Contemporary English Version)
• As an exclamation. For example:
I do not wish to stay with you and endure your ⌊unbelief⌋ for much longer!
-or-
⌊I am weary/frustrated⌋ that you still ⌊do not believe⌋ even after/though I have been with you for so long!
Use whichever form is most natural for expressing this kind of frustration and rebuke in your language.
you and put up with you: The forms of the word you in this part of the verse are plural.
9:41c
Bring your son here: The text uses a singular form of the verb Bring here. This indicates that now Jesus was speaking to the boy’s father instead of to the whole crowd. In some languages it may be necessary to make this explicit, for example:
Then he said to the man (Good News Translation)
-or-
Then Jesus said to the man (Contemporary English Version)
© 2009, 2010, 2013 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.