19:4a–5c
Jesus answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?: Verses 19:4–5 are one long rhetorical question. Jesus used this rhetorical question to rebuke/shame the Pharisees. They were proud of their knowledge of Scripture. So Jesus began this rebuke by implying that they had not really read Scripture with understanding.
Here are some other ways to translate this rebuke:
• As a rhetorical question. In some languages, it will be more natural to divide this long, rhetorical question into several sentences. For example:
4aJesus answered, “Haven’t you read the scripture that says 4bthat in the beginning the Creator made people male and female? 5aAnd God said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother 5band unite with his wife, 5cand the two will become one.’ (Good News Translation)
-or-
4a“Haven’t you read the Scriptures?” Jesus replied. 4b“They record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.’ 5aAnd he said, ‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother 5band is joined to his wife, 5cand the two are united into one. (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
4–5Jesus said, “The Scripture says that in the beginning God created humans ‘as male and female.’ It also says ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ Surely you (plur.) have read those words ⌊of Scripture⌋, haven’t you?”
• As a statement that rebukes the Pharisees for not reading this Scripture. For example:
4aJesus answered, “Surely you have read in the Scriptures: 4bWhen God made the world, ‘he made them male and female.’ 5aAnd God said, ‘So a man will leave his father and mother 5band be united with his wife, 5cand the two will become one body.’ (New Century Version)
Translate this rebuke in a way that is natural in your language.
19:4a
Have you not read: Jesus expected his listeners to understand that he meant “Have you not read ⌊the Scriptures⌋?” In some languages, it may be natural to make this explicit. For example:
Haven’t you read the scripture that says (Good News Translation)
-or-
Surely you have read in the Scriptures (New Century Version)
19:4b
from the beginning: This phrase refers to the beginning of the creation of the world, and of people.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
in the beginning
-or-
at the beginning ⌊of the world⌋
In some languages, it will be natural to put this phrase after the phrase “the Creator.” For example:
he who created them from the beginning (English Standard Version)
the Creator: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the Creator is more literally “the creating one.” It is a title for God.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
he who created them (English Standard Version)
-or-
God (New Living Translation (2004))
made them male and female: The pronoun them refers to Adam and Eve, the first man and the first woman.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
made a man and a woman (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
⌊when God⌋ created humans, he created a man and a woman
This clause is a quote from Gen 1:27. You may want to follow the example of some English versions and put the reference in a footnote. You may also want to show it is a quote by putting it in quotation marks. For example:
the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ (New International Version)
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