19:20a

All these I have kept:
As in 19:17c, the Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as kept means “obeyed” or “followed.” The context implies that the young man felt that he had always followed all these commandments.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

I have obeyed all these commandments (Good News Translation)
-or-
I have ⌊carefully⌋ followed all of those ⌊commands/laws⌋

the young man: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as young man refers to a relatively young man. He was perhaps between the ages of 21 and 28. This is the same person who asked Jesus the question in 19:16a.

19:20b

What do I still lack?: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as lack means “miss something that is to one’s benefit.” The young man asked what more he needed to do have eternal life (19:16).

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

What is still missing in my life? (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
-or-
What more do I need to do? (New Jerusalem Bible)

-or-

What else must I do? (Contemporary English 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.

20:22a

“You do not know what you are asking,” Jesus replied: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as know means “have information about something.” The disciples asked for these positions of authority without fully knowing what it might mean to have them. By asking to have authority with Jesus, they were asking to suffer with him.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

You do not understand what you are asking (Revised English Bible)
-or-
You don’t realize what you’re asking. (God’s Word)

You do not know what you are asking: In Greek, You do not know and you are asking are plural. The mother alone asked Jesus a question, but Jesus responded to the two sons. It is possible that he included the mother in his response. But because the two men answered in 20:22c, it is best to understand Jesus’ response as addressed to the sons. If your language has both plural and dual pronouns, you should use dual pronouns here.

20:22b

Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?:
The expression drink the cup is a complex figure of speech. The cup represents the contents of the cup. The expression drink the cup compares suffering with drinking the contents of a cup. This metaphor was used in the Old Testament to represent suffering.

In this context, Jesus used this figure of speech to refer to the suffering that he would experience. In other words, Jesus asked the disciples if they were able to suffer in the same way that he would suffer.

Here are some other ways to translate this expression:

• Keep the metaphor and clearly show that the word cup represents the contents of the cup. For example:

Are you able to drink from the cup that I must soon drink from? (Contemporary English Version)

• Keep the metaphor but make explicit the meaning of the word cup. For example:

Can you drink the cup of suffering that I am about to drink? (Good News Translation)

• Change the metaphor to a simile and make the meaning of cup explicit. For example:

Can you ⌊suffer with me⌋, as though we drank ⌊suffering⌋ from the same cup?

• State the meaning directly. For example:

Can you endure the suffering that I will experience?

The word “cup” is used as a figure of speech in various places in both the Old and New Testaments. If it is not possible to use this figure of speech in your language, you may want to add a footnote that gives the literal meaning. Here is a sample footnote:

What Jesus literally said was, “Can you drink the cup that I drink?” The phrase “drink the cup” is a metaphor. In the Old Testament it often referred to the experience of suffering or of punishment from God. Here it refers to the suffering that Jesus was about to experience.

Can you: This Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Can you means “Do you have the capacity to do something.”

Here are some other ways to translate this verb:

Is it possible for you
-or-
Are you capable
-or-
Do you have the strength/power

I am going to drink: In Greek, this clause is more literally “that I am about to drink.” The Greek word that means “about to” indicates that this would happen in the near future.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

that I am about to drink (NET Bible)
-or-
that I am soon to drink

20:22c

We can: In some languages, it may be natural to add the word “Yes” here. For example:

Yes, we are able

We: If your language has both inclusive and exclusive pronouns, the pronoun We should be exclusive here. If your language has both plural and dual pronouns, the pronoun We should be dual here.

can: The verb can is the same verb as in 20:22b. You should translate it the same way in both places. For example:

Is it possible
-or-
We are capable

-or-

We have the strength/power

© 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.

22:20

And: In Greek, this conjunction connects two events or things. Here is connects 22:19 and 22:20. Some English versions do not translate it.

Here are some other ways to connect these two verses:

Then (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
So

Jesus said to them: The Greek text here does not have the name Jesus. It only has the 3rd person marking on the verb. However, some English versions supply the name Jesus to be clear. Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

he said to them (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
he asked them (New International Version)

Whose likeness: The Greek word that the English Standard Version translates as likeness refers to anything made to be in the form or appearance of something else. The Roman denarius had a picture of the emperor stamped on one side. Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

Whose picture (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Whose face (God’s Word)

and inscription: The Greek word that the English Standard Version translates as inscription refers to the letters or writing that was on the coin. Around the picture on the coin was written the abbreviation of the emperor’s title. Here are some other ways to translate this word:

title (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
name (Good News Translation)

is this: The word this indicates that Jesus held the coin up and pointed to the image and letters on it. Because there are two things he pointed to, some English versions translate this as a plural. For example:

are these (Good News Translation)

© 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.