19:14a

But Jesus said: There is a contrast here. The contrast is between the desire of the disciples to keep the children away (19:13c), and the desire of Jesus to bless the children (19:14). The Berean Standard Bible indicates this contrast with the conjunction But.

Let the little children come to Me: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Let means “allow” or “permit.” Jesus instructed the disciples to allow the children to come to him.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

Allow the little children to come to me
-or-
You should permit the little children to come to me

the little children: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible here translates as little children also occurs in 19:13a. You should translate it the same way in both places.

19:14b

do not hinder them: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as hinder also means “prevent” or “forbid.” This also is an instruction to the disciples. They were not to do anything to prevent the children from coming to Jesus.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

do not stop them (Good News Translation)
-or-
do not forbid their ⌊coming to me⌋

them: This pronoun refers to the children.

19:14c

For: This conjunction introduces the reason for Jesus’ command not to hinder the children from coming to him.

Here is another way to translate this word:

because

In some languages, it will be more natural to begin a new sentence without translating this word. For example:

People who are like these children belong to God’s kingdom. (Contemporary English Version)

the kingdom of heaven belongs: Jesus was saying that people like those children are the ones who are a part of the kingdom. They belong in it, and it belongs to them. These people are those who let God rule over them.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

are part of the kingdom of God (God’s Word)
-or-
belong to God’s kingdom (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
God accepts them into his kingdom
-or-
are citizens of the kingdom of God

This same Greek phrase occurs in 5:3b and 5:10b.

to such as these: This phrase refers to people who are like the children who wanted to come to him.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

to people who are like these children (New Century Version)

-or-

to people like this

© 2023 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.

20:16a

The words in 20:16 are not part of Jesus’ parable. In some languages, it may be necessary to make this clear. Some ways to do this are to add some words of introduction. For example:

And Jesus concluded (Good News Translation)
-or-
Jesus then said (Contemporary English Version)

So: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as So indicates that 20:16 is the conclusion that Jesus made from the parable.

Here are some other ways to translate it:

Therefore
-or-
In this way (God’s Word)

the last will be first: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the last is more literally “the last ones.” It refers to people who are last. They are last in the sense of importance now. As the owner paid the last workers first, God will take those in the world who are lowest in status and make them great in his kingdom.

These words are similar to 19:30b. You should translate it in a similar way here. For example:

people who are last will be first
-or-
people who are low/humble now will become high/great
-or-
those who have the last place now will have the first place in the future (New Century Version)

The Greek does not necessarily imply that all who are last will be first. You should avoid words like “all” or “everyone” or even “many” here. In 19:30, the Greek has the word translated “many,” but here it does not. However, if translating without a word like “many” implies “all,” then you may want to use the word “many” from 19:30.

20:16b

and the first will be last:
The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the first is more literally “the first ones.” It refers to people who are first. They are first in the sense of most importance now. But in the future, they will be last in importance.

These words are similar to 19:30a. You should translate it in a similar way here. For example:

and people who are first will be last
-or-
and people who are high/great now will become low/humble

-or-

and those who have the first place now will have the last place in the future (New Century Version)

© 2023 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.

22:46a

And: This is the ordinary Greek connector of two events. Many English versions do not translate it and instead allow the context to suggest the connection. Follow the style most appropriate for your language.

no one was able to answer him a word: This clause indicates that no one knew how to answer Jesus’ question. He had won all the arguments that his opponents had brought as well as the one he posed to them. Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

Nobody was able to give him an answer (Revised English Bible)
-or-
None of the Pharisees knew how to answer Jesus’ question

22:46b

nor from that day: The connector that the English Standard Version translates as nor indicates that this is something that is also true. Here is another way to translate this phrase:

and after that day (New Century Version)

did anyone dare: The Greek word that the English Standard Version translates as dare means “be brave enough” or “have the courage.” Here is another way to translate this word:

no one was brave enough (New Century Version)

to ask him any more questions: This marks the end of the challenges that started at 22:15. [RG1]”conclusion” doesn’t sound right to me.