Section 14:27–31

Jesus predicted that Peter would deny him

In this section Jesus told his disciples what would happen. He predicted that his disciples would desert him and run away and that Peter would deny him. Jesus told his disciples that he would be killed and then he would rise from death. He assured them that after the resurrection he would meet them in Galilee. Peter insisted that he would never deny Jesus, but in 14:66–72 Peter denied him, just as Jesus had predicted.

The text does not say exactly where Jesus and his disciples had this conversation. In 14:26 Jesus and the disciples “went out to the Mount of Olives.” In 14:32 “they went to a place called Gethsemane.” It is likely that in 14:27–31 Jesus and the disciples were talking as they walked to Gethsemane.

The Berean Standard Bible creates a new paragraph for each speaker. You may follow this style, or you may prefer to have one paragraph for the whole section.

It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

The disciples of Jesus say that they will not leave/abandon him
-or-
Jesus’ prediction that Peter would lie about being his disciple

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 26:31–35; Luke 22:31–34; and John 13:36–38.

Paragraph 14:27–31

14:27a

Then Jesus said to them: The Berean Standard Bible follows the order of the Greek and places the words Jesus said to them after “You will all fall away.” The New International Version reverses the order of these phrases. Place the words Jesus said to them where it is natural in your language.

You will all fall away: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as You will all fall away is an idiom. In this context, it means that the disciples will stop being loyal to Jesus and will abandon him. (The meaning of this Greek verb varies according to the context. In Mark it also occurs in 4:17d, 6:3d and 9:42–47. Here in 14:27a, it means that the disciples will not remain loyal and will want to separate themselves from Jesus to avoid his fate.)

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

you will run away and leave me (Good News Bible)
-or-
all of you will desert me. (New Living Translation)

You will all: The words You…all refer to all of Jesus’ eleven closest disciples. He was speaking to them after the twelfth disciple, Judas, had already left.

14:27b

for: The word for introduces an explanation. This part of the verse explains how Jesus knew that the disciples would abandon him. In some languages it may be necessary to introduce this explanation more explicitly. For example:

I say this because it is written…
-or-
I know this because it is written…

it is written: Jesus often used the expression it is written when he quoted the Old Testament Scriptures. Here he referred to Zechariah 13:7, which records the prophecy that Jesus quoted.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

the Scriptures say (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
it is written in God’s word (Translator’s Reference Translation)
-or-
there is a written word of God that says

This same expression occurs in 14:21b.

14:27c–d

‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered’: This expression is a metaphor. In this metaphor, the topics of both parts are left implicit. God will strike or “kill” the shepherd. The shepherd represents the leader of his people. When that happens, the sheep will scatter. The sheep represent his people.

Zechariah wrote these words hundreds of years before Jesus was born. The words in Zechariah were a prophecy about what would happen to Jesus and his disciples. These words predict that when Jesus was killed, his disciples would run away and stop following him.

In some languages, 14:27a may make it clear that Jesus used the metaphor of the shepherd and the sheep to refer to himself and his disciples.

If the meaning is not clear, here are some other ways to translate this metaphor:

• Make one or more of the implied topics explicit. For example:

I will kill the one who shepherds my people, and they will be scattered.

• Change the metaphor to a simile and make one or more of the implied topics explicit. For example:

I will kill the one who leads my people like a shepherd leads his sheep. Then the people will scatter just like sheep are scattered.
-or-
I will kill the one who takes care of my people like a shepherd, and they will be scattered like sheep.

If your language does not have words for “shepherd” or “sheep,” you may be able to use a descriptive phrase for “shepherd” and use a borrowed word for “sheep.” For example:

I will kill the person who takes care of my sheep animals, and they will be scattered.
-or-
The leader of my people is like someone who cares for animals called sheep. I will kill that leader, and then my people will scatter.

See the note in 6:34c for more details on translating a figure of speech with “shepherd” and “sheep.”

14:27c

I: The pronoun refers to God. In some languages it may be necessary to make this explicit. However, you should not make it explicit in the direct quote. It is often possible to introduce the quote by indicating that God is the speaker. For example:

for it is written, God says, ‘I will kill the shepherd’
-or-
for it is written in God’s Word that he said that he would kill the shepherd

will strike: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as strike is used in this context to mean “kill.” It does not mean “hit.”

the Shepherd: A Shepherd is a person who cares for sheep or goats. In this context the Shepherd is the Messiah who cares for his “sheep,” that is, the people who follow him.

In some areas, shepherds are not known. If that is true in your language, you can use a descriptive phrase. For example:

one who takes care of sheep
-or-
one who watches over sheep

See how you translated Shepherd in 6:34c.

14:27d

and the sheep: The sheep represent the people who follow the Messiah. (There are many places in the Old Testament and the New Testament where the text figuratively describes God (or his Son, the Messiah) as a shepherd and the people who belong to him as sheep. (For example, Ezekiel 34:17, Matthew 25:32.))

will be scattered: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as will be scattered is passive. However, here it is the sheep who scatter themselves.

Here are some other ways to translate this verb:

will scatter (New Century Version)
-or-
will run away

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