15:5a
But you say: There is a contrast here. The contrast is between what God said/commanded (15:4a) and what you (the Pharisees and scribes) say/teach. The Berean Standard Bible indicates this contrast with the conjunction But.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
But you teach (Good News Translation)
-or-
However, you say
if anyone says to his father or mother: The Berean Standard Bible translates this clause as direct speech. It is Jesus quoting the Pharisees and scribes. It is a quote within a quote and begins with a single quote mark.
It is also possible to translate this clause as indirect speech. For example:
But you say that if a man says to his father or mother (New International Version)
-or-
But you say that whoever tells his father or mother (New Revised Standard Version)
15:5b
Whatever you would have received from me is a gift devoted to God: This clause refers to the following issues:
(a) Adult children were supposed to give money or goods to their aging parents to help them.
(b) Some Jews made vows dedicating their property, food, or money to God. The item in the vow was given to God in the sense that it was given to the temple when the person died.
(c) While the person was alive, he could not use the vowed money or goods for other purposes. That meant that he could not even help his parents.
(d) So, by making such a vow, a person could avoid helping his parents. This would not honor his parents.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
The thing that you would have received/gotten from me, I have already given to God.
-or-
Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
My parents, I do not have anything to help you with, because I have already vowed to give it to God.
Whatever you would have received from me: This clause refers to the money, property, or goods that someone should give to his parents to help them.
The verb received can also be translated as “gained” or “gotten.”
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
The help that you might otherwise have received from me
-or-
The money that I would have given to you
is a gift devoted to God: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as is a gift devoted to God is more literally “⌊It is a⌋ gift” (as in the King James Version). This word indicates that the person has made a vow. He has vowed to give his money/goods as a gift to God.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
has been offered to God (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
I have given to God (God’s Word)
-or-
I have vowed to give to God (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
This belongs to God (Good News Translation)
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