13:26a

At that time: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as At that time is literally “And then,” as in the Revised Standard Version. This phrase introduces a very important event in Jesus’ prophecy: the Son of Man will appear in power and glory. Introduce it in a natural way in your language.

they will see the Son of Man: The pronoun they refers to people in general, so you could say:

people will see the Son of Man

It is the Son of Man who is in focus, not the people. In some languages it may be natural to translate in a way that does not mention who will see him. For example:

the Son of Man will be seen (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
the Son of Man will appear (Good News Bible)

the Son of Man: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the Son of Man is literally “the Son of the human/person.” Jesus used this title to imply that:

(a) he was a true human being, and he represented all people.

(b) he came from God and had authority from God.

Try to use an expression that implies both meanings.

Here are some other ways to translate this title:

the Man whom God Sent
-or-
the True Man from God/Heaven
-or-
the Representative of Mankind
-or-
The Older Brother of All People

In some cases, an unusual title may correctly suggest a deeper meaning. For example:

the Child of a Person
-or-
the One who was Born as a Human

Translators have also used expressions that are more literal. These more literal expressions may be appropriate where readers are familiar with a literal title in another version.

In some languages it may be necessary to use a form like “I” or “me” to indicate that Jesus was referring to himself. For example:

me, the Son of Man
-or-
who became man/human

See how you translated this term in 2:10a and 9:9c.

13:26b

coming in the clouds with great power and glory: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as coming in the clouds also occurs in Daniel 7:13 and in Mark 14:62. There is another statement about Jesus’ coming in 8:38: “when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

In the Old Testament a cloud often symbolized God’s presence, power, and glory. The verses in Daniel indicate that the clouds were near the throne of God, and Mark 14:62 indicates that Jesus comes on clouds of heaven. (Some scholars believe that the clouds refer to God’s presence in heaven. The phrase “coming in the clouds” then refers to the time when the Son of Man ascended to heaven after his work on earth was finished. Then he was enthroned with God. There is support for this view in the parallel passage in Daniel. However, most scholars believe that the passages in Mark refer to Jesus’ coming back from heaven to earth. )

Here are some other ways to translate this:

as he comes surrounded by clouds and with majestic power and glory
-or-
coming with clouds, showing his power and glory

coming: The word coming can also be translated as “arriving” or “approaching.”

If you need to supply a destination for the verb coming, you may use “toward the earth” or “downward” or a similar expression. For example:

coming downward in clouds
-or-
coming toward the earth

in the clouds: Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

surrounded by clouds
-or-
on the clouds (New Living Translation)

with great power and glory: The word great describes both power and glory. The whole phrase means “with great power and great glory.” In some languages it may be necessary to use a different expression for the word great each time. For example:

his power will be very great and his glory will be very bright

with…power: In this context power refers to both the authority and the ability to judge and to rule over all people.

and glory: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as glory here refers to the shining radiance that often displayed God’s greatness (see Exodus 16:10, 40:34). The light and brightness of the Son of Man show that he is great in the same way that God himself is great. See how you translated the word glory in 10:37. You may need to translate it differently here, since the context is different.

© 2008 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.