Paragraph 2:5–6
2:5a
“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as they replied can also be translated as “they answered” (as in the Good News Translation). The Berean Standard Bible places this phrase in the middle of sentence. This is good English style. However, in some languages, this phrase should be in the beginning of the sentence. For example:
They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea…” (English Standard Version)
In Bethlehem in Judea: The phrase In Bethlehem in Judea is the answer to Herod’s question in 2:4b. In some languages, it will be more natural to translate this phrase as a complete sentence. For example:
⌊He will be born⌋ in Bethlehem in Judea
In some languages, it is necessary to address the king in a respectful way. For example:
⌊Our king,⌋ ⌊he will be born⌋ in Bethlehem in Judea.
Bethlehem in Judea: As mentioned in the note on 2:1a, Bethlehem is the name of a town, and Judea is the name of a province.
2:5b
for: The conjunction for introduces the reason that the leaders knew that the Christ would be born in Bethlehem. They knew he would be born in Bethlehem for/because that is what the prophet had said.
Here are some other ways to translate this conjunction:
⌊We know this⌋ because
-or-
⌊He will be born there⌋ because
In some languages, it will be more natural to put the reason clause (in 2:5b) before the result clause (in 2:5a). For example:
5bThe prophets have written that 5a⌊he will be born⌋ in Bethlehem of Judea.
this is what the prophet has written: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as this refers ahead to the words in 2:6a–d.
The clause this is what the prophet has written introduces 2:6. In Greek, this clause is more literally “so it has been written through the prophet” and is passive.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
• As a passive clause. For example:
it is written this way by the prophet (NET Bible)
• As an active clause. For example:
this is what the prophet wrote (Good News Translation)
-or-
here is what the prophet wrote about this issue
-or-
the prophet wrote about this matter as follows
-or-
the words ⌊that God spoke⌋ which the prophet ⌊then⌋ wrote down are these:
These words were written hundreds of years before the time of Jesus. You may want to include some of this implied information. For example:
the words ⌊of God⌋ which the prophet wrote ⌊long ago⌋ are these:
the prophet: The phrase the prophet refers to the prophet Micah. He wrote down God’s words that are quoted in 2:6.
The word prophet first occurs in 1:22. See the note there for help in translating this word. Also see prophet in the Glossary.
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