14:61a

But Jesus remained silent and made no reply: In this context the Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as But introduces a contrast. Jesus behaved in a way that the high priest did not expect. He expected Jesus to defend himself. But Jesus said nothing, even though he was innocent. Jesus knew that what the men said against him was not valid evidence. Therefore he did not need to defend himself against them.

In some cultures people may think that Jesus did not defend himself because he was guilty or afraid. If this is true in your culture, you may want to indicate explicitly that Jesus was innocent. For example:

But even though he was not guilty, Jesus did not say anything.

remained silent and made no reply: The phrases remained silent and made no reply have almost the same meaning. In some languages it may be more natural to use one expression rather than two. For example:

But Jesus said nothing at all to the high priest.
-or-
But Jesus gave no answer to defend himself.

14:61b

Again the high priest questioned Him: The phrase Again the high priest questioned Him here indicates that the high priest asked Jesus another question. The words do not imply that the high priest asked Jesus the same question again. The Contemporary English Version says:

The high priest asked him another question (Contemporary English Version)

14:61c

Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?: Here the high priest asked Jesus to tell him and the rest of the council whether he was the Messiah, the Son of God.

Christ: The Jews used the title Christ to refer to the special person whom God had appointed and promised to send as king and savior. The title Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word “Messiah,” and the two words have the same meaning.

Here are some other ways to translate Christ:

• Transliterate it according to the sounds of your language. For example:

Krais
-or-
Karisiti

• Transliterate it and indicate in some way that it is a title. For example:

the Christ
-or-
the Kirisita

• Transliterate Christ and include a phrase that explains the meaning. For example:

Christ, the appointed one
-or-
Cristo, the savior God promised
-or-
the Christ who comes from God

If you do not indicate the meaning of Christ in the text, you may want to include the information in a footnote. For example:

The word/title “Christ” refers to the King and Savior whom God had promised to send.

See how you translated Christ in 1:1 and 12:35c. See also Christ in the Glossary.

Son of the Blessed One: The expression Son of the Blessed One was another way to refer to the Messiah. This person was sometimes referred to as a “son of God.”

the Blessed One: The Jews often did not use God’s name when they referred to him. The expression the Blessed One is one way to refer to God without using his name.

The word Blessed here means “praised,” “honored,” or “worshiped.” For example you could say:

Are you the Messiah, the son of the One whom we honor/worship?

If it is not clear in your language that Blessed One refers to God, you may need to refer to him explicitly. For example:

Are you the Messiah, the son of God whom we praise?

If you follow a model like this, be sure that the phrase “whom we praise” refers to God and not to the Messiah. See bless, Meaning 3, in the Glossary.

© 2008 by SIL International®

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
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