1:16

the sons of Israel: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the sons of Israel does not refer only to males but to both male and female descendants of Israel.

Notice that Zechariah himself was a Jew, one of the people of Israel. So in some languages, you may need to say something like:

your(sing) people the Israelites

he will turn back: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as he will turn back means “he will cause to return.” In this context it is used in a spiritual sense: John would persuade many people to repent from their sins and to obey God again. John would cause them to do this by telling them messages from God.

the Lord their God: Since Zechariah was himself an Israelite, in some languages it may be necessary to say:

the Lord your(plur) God

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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.

1:48a

For: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as For introduces the reason for Mary’s praise in 1:46 and 1:47. It is often translated as “because” in English (as in the NET Bible).

He has looked with favor on the humble state of His servant: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as He has looked…on means that God had thought about Mary with concern. He had acted kindly and graciously to her in spite of her humble state. In this context she implied that God had done that by choosing her to be the mother of the Messiah.

Some other ways to translate this are:

he has looked with favour on his servant, lowly as she is (Revised English Bible)
-or-
For he took notice of his lowly servant girl (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
he has shown his concern for his humble servant girl (New Century Version)

the humble state of His servant: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as humble state means “low status.” Mary referred to the fact that she was not an important person. She was just a poor, young girl. Notice that humble here does not refer to humility.

Some other ways to translate this are:

his lowly servant girl
-or-
his servant who is so low in status

His servant: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as servant here literally means “female servant/slave.” It is the same word as in 1:38a.

Here Mary again indirectly referred to herself as the Lord’s servant. In some languages you may need to express more directly that she referred to herself. For example:

me, his servant/slave girl
-or-
me, his lowly work-girl

1:48b

The Greek text connects 1:48b to 1:48a with a conjunction that is often translated as “for.” This conjunction often introduces the reason or basis for something. Sometimes it introduces an explanation or evidence for a statement. Here the exact relationship between 1:48a and 1:48b is not completely clear. As you think about this, it may be helpful to remember the implied way that God had been mindful of Mary:

48aHe has been mindful of the humble state of his servant ⌊by choosing her to be the mother of the Messiah⌋. 48bAs a result, from now on all generations will call me blessed.

God was mindful of Mary, and because of that, all generations would call her blessed.

The Greek text also includes a word that calls attention to what Mary said in 1:48b. It is the same word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as “now” in 1:20, as “Behold” in 1:31, and as “Look” in 1:36. The Berean Standard Bible does not translate the word here, and some other English versions also do not explicitly translate the word or the conjunction. Here are some other ways to translate the connection:

For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed (Revised Standard Version)
-or-

As a result, from now onwards all generations will call me blessed
-or-

Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed (New Revised Standard Version)

Translate the connection between 1:48a and 1:48b in a natural way in your language.

From now on: The phrase From now on means:

starting now and for all future time

all generations: The phrase all generations refers to people of all the ages to come, that is, the people from all generations. The word “generation” refers to people who are born in the same general time period. Parents represent one generation and their children represent the next generation.

Some other ways to translate this are:

people of all generations
-or-
people in every age group in every time period
-or-
generation after generation (New Living Translation (1996))
-or-
people from every age/time

will call me blessed: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as will call me blessed is related to the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as “Blessed” in 1:45a. It means “to call or consider someone to be blessed, to say that he or she is in a good situation.” In this context it implies that people will recognize that God showed favor/kindness to Mary.

Some other ways to translate this are:

will describe my situation as very desirable/joyful
-or-
will consider me blessed/fortunate
-or-
will say, “⌊God greatly⌋ blessed her!”

See the note on “blessed” at 1:45a–b. See also the word bless, Meaning 3, in the Glossary.

© 2009, 2010, 2013 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.

Paragraph 1:80

1:80

In this verse Luke gave a summary statement about John’s childhood and youth. Your translation should indicate clearly that 1:80 returns to Luke’s account of events. It is not something that Zechariah said.

1:80a

And the child grew: The word child refers to John. He grew up and became a man.

became strong in spirit: The phrase became strong in spirit is literally “was being strengthened in spirit.” It means that as John grew, he became confident, courageous, and mature in his thinking and character.

1:80b

he lived in the wilderness until the time of his public appearance to Israel: John lived in the wilderness until the time when he began to preach publicly to the Israelites. He also continued to live in the wilderness while he was preaching to them. Translate in a way that will not imply that John stopped living in the wilderness after he began to preach publicly.

Another way to translate this is:

He lived in uninhabited areas when he grew up. Then he began to preach publicly to the people of Israel.

he lived in the wilderness: The word wilderness refers to a wild, desolate area where few people lived. It was often dry in this area, and so many English versions translate this word as “desert.” However, the focus of the word is that few people lived there, not that it was dry.

Other ways to translate this are:

he lived in an uninhabited area
-or-
he lived in a desolate area
-or-
he lived in an area where few people lived

the time of his public appearance to Israel: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as his public appearance refers to the time when John began to preach to the people of Israel. Great crowds of people then saw him and listened to him.

Some other ways to translate this are:

he began his public ministry to Israel (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
he began to preach publicly to the people of Israel

© 2009, 2010, 2013 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.

Paragraph 3:12–13

3:12a

Even tax collectors: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as tax collectors refers to Jewish men who collected tax money from people for the government. Most people hated tax collectors because:

(a) the tax collectors worked for a government that oppressed the people;

(b) tax collectors often collected more money than the law required, and they kept the extra for themselves.

If you do not have a word in your language for “tax collectors,” you could describe them as:

men who collected tax money for the government

came to be baptized: This indicates the purpose of these tax collectors for coming to where John was. They came out to John in order to be baptized.

This is similar to what Luke said about the crowds in 3:7a. There he said that the crowds came “to be baptized by him.” Here in 3:12a, “by him” is only implied. The phrase to be baptized is passive. If it is more natural in your language to use an active verb here, you may indicate that they came for John to baptize them, as it says in 3:7a. For example:

in order ⌊for John to⌋ baptize them
-or-

⌊for him⌋ to baptize them

The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as to be baptized is a verb form of the Greek noun the Berean Standard Bible translates as “baptism” in 3:3c. See the note there.

3:12b

Teacher: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Teacher was a polite title for a Jewish religious leader. It was a title of respect for a Jewish man who had authority to teach the things about God. Use a title that is an appropriate way to address a religious teacher in your culture. It should not refer only to a school teacher. Some possible titles are:

Sir
-or-
Master

they asked: The Berean Standard Bible has placed the words they asked in the middle of what the tax collectors said. Place these words where it is natural in your language.

what should we do?: This is the same question as in 3:10. However, here it does not include the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates in 3:10 as “then.”

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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.

4:17a

the scroll of the prophet Isaiah: The phrase the scroll of the prophet Isaiah means “the scroll containing the words of the prophet Isaiah.” Isaiah himself had not personally written this particular scroll. This was a copy of the prophecies that he received from God. Isaiah had prophesied about six hundred years earlier.

scroll: In Jesus’ time people used scrolls, not books like the ones people use today. A scroll was a roll of specially prepared animal skins (called parchment) or papyrus paper with writing on it. People wrapped the two ends of the scroll around wooden handles. In order to read from it, a person used these handles to unroll the scroll. People rolled up the scroll and kept it that way when no one was using it. Another way to translate scroll is:

book (Good News Translation)

the prophet Isaiah: The phrase the prophet Isaiah means the same thing as “Isaiah the prophet” in 3:4a. You should translate it the same way in both places.

prophet: A prophet was a person who spoke on behalf of God. He told people what God revealed to him. God gave some prophets power to work miracles. These miracles helped people realize that God sent the prophet. Some ways to translate prophet are:

a spokesman for God
-or-
a person who speaks God’s words
-or-
God’s message-speaker

It is good to use a general term that does not focus only on foretelling the future. Although prophets did foretell the future, they also gave people other messages from God. They especially told them to stop sinning and to obey God.

Be sure that your term for prophet is different from other words which are similar in meaning such as “angel,” “apostle,” and “preacher.”

This word also occurs in 3:4a. See also prophet in the Glossary.

was handed to Him: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as was handed is literally “was given” (as in the Revised Standard Version). This verb is passive. Some ways to translate this verb are:

• As a passive verb. For example:

was given to him (NET Bible)
-or-
was delivered unto him (King James Version)

• As an active verb. In some languages it may be more natural to say who gave the scroll to Jesus. It was probably the same attendant who is mentioned in 4:20b. You may also be able to use a general subject. For example:

⌊Someone⌋ gave him
-or-
The attendant gave him (God’s Word)

4:17b

Unrolling it: The word Unrolling refers to what is done to open a scroll. Jesus opened the scroll in order to read what was written on it. Another way to translate this is:

He opened the book (New Century Version)

4:17c

He found the place: The phrase He found the place indicates that Jesus located a specific Scripture passage that he intended to read. He unrolled the scroll until he came to the correct place. Another way to translate this is:

to the place (New Living Translation (1996))

This place is the Scripture passage that is now known as Isaiah 61:1–2. In Jesus’ time, the books of the Bible were not divided into chapters and verses as they are today.

Luke did not explicitly say that Jesus read that passage aloud. However, that is implied, and it may be necessary to make that explicit. For example:

Jesus found ⌊and read aloud⌋ the passage

where it was written: The phrase where it was written is similar to the phrase “it is written” in 4:4a and 4:8a. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

where it says (New Living Translation (1996))
-or-
where this is written (New Century Version)
-or-
where these words are written (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

In some languages it may be more natural to leave the passive verb “was written” implied. For example:

and found the passage which says (Revised English Bible)
-or-
Jesus found ⌊and read aloud⌋ this writing/prophecy

© 2009, 2010, 2013 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.

5:5a

Simon was a skilled and experienced fisherman. He did not believe that he and the others with him in the boat would catch any fish if they let down the nets at this time. His words to Jesus imply this.

Master: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Master is a word that shows respect. People used this word to address a person who had high position or status. It showed that Simon respected Jesus.

The word Master is similar in meaning to “Lord” at 5:8c. But when someone used the word “Lord,” as Simon did later in 5:8c, he was showing greater respect. Your language may have more than one word to show respect. Use the word that shows lesser respect here. Use the word that shows greater respect in 5:8c.

(See the note on “Lord” at 5:8c, where Simon changed the word that he used to address Jesus.)

Simon replied: Jesus had given Simon a command. Usually a person responds to a command by doing the action. However, Simon responded by protesting to Jesus. Use the most natural way in your language to introduce this protest. For example:

Simon responded
-or-
Simon protested

we have worked hard: The phrase we have worked hard refers to working hard at fishing. Simon and the other fishermen had fished throughout the night. In your language, you may need to say that “fishing” was the work that they had done. For example:

we worked hard…trying to catch fish (New Century Version)
-or-
we have labored at our fishing
-or-
we fished as well/hard as we could

all night: The best time to fish in this lake was at night. This conversation was taking place during the day. Simon and his companions had been fishing during the previous night.

If necessary, use a footnote to provide background information. For example, you could say:

Fishermen on Lake Galilee knew from experience that they would catch more fish at night than during the daytime.

5:5b

without catching anything: The fishermen did not catch anything during the previous night. Therefore they believed that it would be useless to fish during the day. If your readers do not understand this, you may need to make this explicit. For example:

We have caught nothing during the night, ⌊so it is certainly not likely that we will catch anything now⌋.

5:5c

But: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as But here indicates a contrast with what was implied in 5:5b. Simon did not believe that putting his net into the water one more time would help him to catch anything. But he was willing to try it because Jesus had asked him.

Use a conjunction in your language that naturally introduces a contrast. For example:

nevertheless (King James Version)
-or-
However

because You say so: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as because You say so is literally “at Your word” (as in the Revised Standard Version).

Some other ways to say this are:

I will do as You say (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
because you say/command it

I will let down the nets: Simon Peter was in charge of the boat. But he did not let down the nets all by himself. So it may be necessary to translate this as:

I will cause the nets to be let down.
-or-
I will have the men let down the nets
-or-
We(excl) will throw/cast the nets into the water

The text implies here that Simon Peter would first move the boat into deeper water. If your readers think that Simon Peter would let down the nets where he was, you may make this explicit. For example:

because you say so, I will ⌊move the boat out into deeper water⌋ and let down the nets

General Comment on 5:5c

In some languages, it may be more natural to change the order of the two clauses in 5:5c. For example:

But I will let down the nets because you say so.

In other languages, it may be necessary to use a different conjunction. For example:

You said to lower the nets, so I will.

© 2009, 2010, 2013 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.

5:37–38

Jesus’ second parable/illustration teaches the same thing as the first. In this illustration, he compared his teaching to new wine. The traditions were like old animal skins that people used to make containers for storing wine. The Berean Standard Bible calls these containers “wineskins.” If a person put new wine into old wineskins, the skins would burst. Jesus’ new way was too different to fit into the old traditions of the Jewish people.

5:37a

And: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as And introduces another parable/illustration. Jesus gave this illustration to show again that he was teaching new things that did not fit the old traditions. Here are several possible ways to introduce this illustration:

• Connect this illustration to the first one by indicating that it was something further that Jesus said. For example:

⌊Jesus also said,⌋ “Here is a similar example…”

• Use a connector that indicates that this illustration is similar to the one in 5:36. For example:

Likewise
-or-
In a similar way
-or-
Also (New Century Version)

no one: As in 5:36, the word no one introduces a general statement that is true of everyone. See the note at 5:36b.

pours: In the context, the word pours refers to putting wine into a container in order to store it there. People put the wine into wineskins.

new wine into old wineskins: When new wine ferments, it produces gas. This builds up pressure and causes the wineskin to stretch or expand. New wine would be put into new skins because these could stretch. Old wineskins would have been stretched once before. They would no longer be able to stretch any further.

new wine: The term wine describes an alcoholic drink. It is made from the juice of a fruit called grapes. When grape juice ferments, it becomes wine. The phrase new wine refers to wine that has been pressed recently from grapes and is not yet fermented (or is just beginning to ferment).

In some areas, people may not be familiar with grapes or with wine. If that is true in your area, some other ways to translate new wine are:

• Use a general term for an alcoholic drink that is just beginning to ferment.

• Use a specific term for new wine that can also be used to refer to alcoholic drinks in general. For example:

new millet beer
-or-
new palm wine
-or-
something like new palm wine

• Use a descriptive phrase for new wine. For example:

fermenting fruit juice
-or-
fermenting grape juice
-or-
grape juice that is beginning to ferment

wineskins: The Jews used animal skins to make containers for storing their wine. (The most common animal skin they used was goat.)

Since wineskins are not common in many areas of the world, in many languages, you may need to use a descriptive phrase. For example:

wine containers made of goat skin

In some cultures people do not use animal skins to store wine. They may not understand the reason why people did not put new wine in old skins. If that is true in your culture, consider explaining this in a footnote. For example:

Wineskins were made out of whole goat hides that had the neck and feet openings tied shut. New wineskins were able to expand as the wine fermented. Old wineskins had already been stretched and were no longer able to stretch further.

5:37b

If he does: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as If he does was also used in 5:36c. It introduces the consequences of doing what 5:37b indicated that no one normally does. Use a natural connector in your language for this context.

the new wine will burst the skins: The verb will burst means “will break.” It is implied that as the wine ferments, it releases a gas. This gas puts pressure on the skins, with the result that they burst. The skins were fastened shut so that there was no way for the gas to escape.

Some other ways to translate this are:

The new wine would swell and burst the old skins. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
when the new wine bubbles, the old container will break

5:37c

the wine will spill: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the wine will spill means “the wine will come pouring out.” The first undesirable result of putting new wine into old wineskins is that the new wine will be wasted.

and the wineskins will be ruined: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as ruined also means “destroyed” (as in the Revised Standard Version). This is the second undesirable result.

© 2009, 2010, 2013 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.