2:14a

But: Here the word But introduces Jesus’ criticisms of the believers in Pergamum:

Nevertheless (New International Version)

I have a few things against you: This statement indicates that Jesus did not like some things that the believers in Pergamum did. Other ways to translate this are:

I have a few complaints against you. (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
You do some things that I do not condone.
-or-
I find fault with some things that you do.

2:14b

because some of you hold to the teaching of Balaam: This indicates that some of the people in the church in Pergamum hold to the teaching of Balaam, as explained in 2:14c–e. Other ways to translate this clause are:

there are some among you who follow the teaching of Balaam (Good News Translation)
-or-
some of you are followers of Balaam (New Jerusalem Bible)

the teaching of Balaam: The phrase the teaching of Balaam means “what Balaam taught.”

Balaam: Balaam was a prophet mentioned in the Old Testament (Numbers 22–24; 31:8). He was not an Israelite. He tried to curse the Israelites in order to get money. He also encouraged the Israelites to worship false gods. You may want to:

• Explain who Balaam was in your translation. For example:

⌊the false/evil prophet⌋ Balaam

• Explain who Balaam was in a footnote. For example:

Balaam was a greedy false prophet.

2:14c

who taught Balak: This clause tells the reader more about Balaam. In some languages a literal translation would wrongly indicate that John was thinking of other men named Balaam and only this one taught Balak. If that is true in your language, translate this clause so that it tells more about Balaam. One way to do that is to start a new sentence here. For example:

He taught Balak…

Balak: Balak was the king of Moab during the time when Balaam was a false prophet. At this time, the people of Israel had left Egypt and were traveling to the land that God had promised them. Balak was afraid that the Israelites would destroy him and his people. So he offered Balaam money to go and curse the Israelites. He also tempted the Israelites to worship false gods. You may want to:

• Explain who Balak was in your translation. For example:

Balak ⌊the king of Moab⌋

• Explain who Balak was in a footnote. An example footnote is:

Balak was the king of Moab during the time of Balaam. At this time, the Israelites had left Egypt and were traveling to the land that God had promised them. Balak was afraid that the Israelites would destroy him and his people, so he tried to destroy the Israelites.

to place a stumbling block before the Israelites: The Greek words here are literally “put a trap/snare before the sons of Israel.” This clause indicates that Balak encouraged the people of Israel to sin. Other ways to translate this clause are:

set a trap for the Israelites (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
lead the people of Israel into sin (Good News Translation)
-or-
tempt the people of Israel ⌊into sin⌋

The two ways Balak enticed the Israelites to sin are listed in 2:14d–e.

2:14d

they would eat food sacrificed to idols: This clause refers to attending a feast dedicated to an idol. The food was presented to the idol in order to honor the god represented by that idol. Later the people ate the food. The Israelites attended such a feast, honoring a false god instead of the true God. Other ways to translate this clause are:

eat food that had been offered to idols (Good News Translation)
-or-
join in eating what had been used to honor idols

idols: An idol is a statue or other physical representation of a god. People worship the idol.

2:14e

commit sexual immorality: This clause refers to sexual immorality of all kinds. It refers to having sexual relations with someone who is not your spouse. It does not imply that either person was married.

In your culture, you may use a euphemism for this meaning. For example:

sleep/lie with someone who was not their spouse
-or-
do wrong with someone who was not their spouse

The clause you use should be acceptable for reading aloud in public.

© 2020 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.