Paragraph 13:5–8

In this paragraph, Jesus warned his disciples that terrible events would occur sometime after he died and before he returned to earth. He told them to be careful not to let anyone deceive them, because false messiahs would come. There would also be wars, famines, and earthquakes.

13:5

Jesus began by telling them: The Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates as began by telling them is literally “began to say.” Here it may indicate that Jesus was beginning a long speech, and he began with the words in 13:5.

In some languages it may not be natural to use a word like “began.” Several English versions translate the verb simply as said, as the New International Version does. Consider how you would introduce a long speech in your language.

See to it that no one deceives you: The clause See to it that no one deceives you means that the disciples should be careful so that no one would be able to deceive them. It implies that other people would try to deceive them, but that the disciples should not believe them.

See to it: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as See to it is a key word in this chapter. It literally means “See” or “Watch.” It indicates that the disciples should be alert. They should beware of what was happening around them. The same Greek word occurs in 13:9a, 13:23a, and 13:33a where the Berean Standard Bible translates it each time as “Be on your guard.”

deceives: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as deceives means “fools/tricks” or “causes [someone] to believe something that is not true.” The specific way that people might deceive the disciples is mentioned in 13:6. In some languages it may be necessary to make explicit what Jesus did not want his disciples to believe. If that is true in your language, you may want to use a general expression. For example:

deceives you(plur) into believing something that is not true

See the General Comment on 13:5–6 after the note on 13:6c for further discussion.

you: The pronoun you refers back to the four disciples who were talking to Jesus. However, Jesus’ words apply to all of the people who followed him then and in the future.

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