Paragraph 12:30–32
12:30a
He who is not with Me is against Me: The phrase is not with Me means “is not on my side,” “does not support me,” or “is not my friend/ally.”
This clause indicates that there are two sides in the spiritual conflict: Jesus’ side and Satan’s side. There is no middle or neutral position.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
Anyone who is not helping/supporting me opposes me
-or-
If you are not on my side, you are against me (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
The person who does not join with me is against me.
-or-
The person who does not work with me works against me
12:30b
and he who does not gather with Me scatters: This clause is a figure of speech. This figure of speech means the same thing as 12:30a: anyone who is not helping Jesus in his work is opposing him.
Jesus did not say what he was gathering. Many scholars think he was comparing himself to a shepherd gathering sheep. Other scholars think he was comparing himself to a farmer gathering crops. In either case, he was comparing his action of gathering people into God’s kingdom to a human action.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
• Use the specific example of sheep. For example:
He who does not help me gather ⌊my sheep⌋ is scattering them.
• Use the specific example of crops. For example:
If you don’t gather in the harvest with me, you scatter it. (Contemporary English Version)
• Use a more generic word for gather. For example:
anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me (New Living Translation (2004))
• Translate the meaning without using a figure of speech. Here this means that if someone is not calling people to come to God, like Jesus is, he is actually pushing people away from God. For example:
He who does not help me bring ⌊people to God⌋ scatters them ⌊so that they go away from God⌋.
Translate this figure of speech in a way that is most natural in your language.
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