9:3a

His clothes became radiantly white: Jesus’ clothes also changed in appearance. They became very bright. In Greek, the focus in this part of the verse is on the phrase His clothes.

Here are some other ways to express this emphasis:

Even his clothes changed. They became dazzling white.
-or-
As for his clothes, they became dazzling white.

radiantly white:

There is a textual issue here that concerns the phrase that the King James Version translates as “as snow.” (1) Some Greek texts
do not include this phrase. For example, the NET Bible says: “radiantly white” (Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, NET Bible, New Century Version, God’s Word, New American Standard Bible, Contemporary English Version, Revised English Bible, Good News Bible, English Standard Version, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English). (2) Other Greek texts include this phrase. For example the King James Version says: “exceeding white as snow” (King James Version). It is recommended that you follow option (1) as the majority of English versions do.) The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as radiantly white is literally “shining exceedingly white.” This phrase probably indicates a very bright whiteness that was even shining, almost like a light.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

glistening, intensely white (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
shining white (Good News Bible)
-or-
dazzling white (New International Version)

Your language may have a figure of speech to describe something that is “shining exceedingly white.” If so, you may use it here.

9:3b

brighter than any launderer on earth could bleach them: The expression brighter than any launderer on earth could bleach them indicates that Jesus’ clothes were whiter than anyone on earth could make them. No one could make them so white by washing them, even with the strongest bleach.

Here are some other ways to translate this expression:

exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
whiter than any bleach on earth could make them (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them (New International Version)

bleach: The word bleach refers to a process that removes color and stains and makes clothes more white. It is a process different than washing with soap. The Greek word in this verse that the Berean Standard Bible translates as “launderer” refers to a person who bleaches clothes.

If people in your area are not familiar with the process of bleaching, you may want to use a general expression. For example:

whiter than any person could wash them

© 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.