6:29a

When John’s disciples heard about this: Here the story shifts to a new set of people, John’s disciples. John the Baptizer also had disciples, just as Jesus did (see 2:18d). The Berean Standard Bible follows the order of the Greek by introducing John’s disciples in 6:29a. Here are some other examples of ways to introduce them:

When John’s disciples heard this
-or-
John’s disciples heard this, so…

disciples: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as disciples means “learners” who are in a relationship with a teacher. The learners commit themselves to their teacher in order to learn from him and live according to his teaching and example. In the New Testament disciples often lived with their teacher and followed him wherever he went.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

students/learners
-or-
apprentices
-or-
followers

See how you translated this term at 2:15b and 6:1c. See also disciple in the Glossary for more information.

this: The word this refers to the fact that John had been killed. You may need to make this explicit in your translation. For example:

When John’s disciples heard that John was dead
-or-
When John’s disciples heard that this had happened

6:29b

they came: John’s disciples probably came to Herod or to Herod’s soldiers and asked for the body. Your translation should not imply that they came and took the body without permission.

6:29c

and took his body: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as body refers specifically to a corpse, that is, a dead body.

6:29d

and placed it in a tomb: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as tomb refers to a cave where people could bury someone who had died. The main idea here is that John’s disciples honored their dead master in the customary way of burial. If people do not put the dead in caves in your culture, you could use a general verb such as “entombed” or “buried” (Good News Bible).

Your language may have an appropriate idiom, such as “laid it to rest” in English.

General Comment on 6:29, 6:7

This verse ends a long section of background information about the death of John the Baptizer. In some languages it may be necessary to indicate that the background information has ended. You may need to repeat what was happening before the background information began. For example:

It was sometime after John the Baptizer was buried that Jesus sent his apostles to different villages.

This example mentions that Jesus sent his apostles to different villages (6:7), because in 6:30, the apostles returned to Jesus.

© 2008 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 7:6–13

In this paragraph, Jesus responded to the rebuke of the Pharisees and teachers of the law. But he did not explain to them directly why his disciples did not follow the tradition of the Jewish ancestors. Instead he told them that they fulfilled a prophecy from Isaiah about people who followed human traditions rather than God’s laws (7:6–8). He then gave a specific example of one of God’s laws that they prevented people from obeying. They did this by insisting that people follow the traditions of the ancestors (7:9–13) instead of God’s law.

7:6a

Jesus answered them: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Jesus answered them is literally “And he said to them” (as in the Revised Standard Version). Jesus was replying to the rhetorical question in 7:5. Because of this, a verb such as “replied” or “answered” may be more natural in some languages.

Isaiah: Isaiah is the name of a prophet. He lived many years before the time of Jesus. See how you translated Isaiah and “prophet” in 1:2a.

prophesied correctly about you: In this context, the verb prophesied means “gave a message from God.” This message (quoted from Isaiah 29:13) originally described the people living in Isaiah’s time. Jesus said that Isaiah prophesied about you (the Pharisees and teachers of the law). He meant that Isaiah’s message described the character of the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ time very accurately.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

make known the words from God about you
-or-
God’s message that Isaiah said about you

See prophet in the Glossary.

hypocrites: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as hypocrites refers literally to actors. Actors are like hypocrites because what they appear to be is not what they really are. Hypocrites often:

(a) acted in a way that did not fit what they said they believed.

(b) believed that they honored God, but they did not truly love and honor him.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

false servants of God (Translator’s Reference Translation)
-or-
people who only say they are righteous

In some languages people may use an idiom for this idea.

7:6b

it is written: Jesus often used the expression it is written when he quoted the Old Testament Scriptures. Some things to consider when you translate this expression are:

• Your language may already have a formula that is used to introduce a quotation from sacred writings. Consider if you could use that formula here, possibly with slight modification.

• In some languages you will need to make explicit that the quotation comes from Scripture. For example:

This is what is written in God’s word.

• If your language would express this using an active verb, you could say something like:

As we/people read in the Scriptures
-or-
This is what God caused him to write

See how you translated this expression in 1:2a.

General Comment on 7:6a–b

In some languages it may be more natural to combine or reorder some of the phrases in these verse parts. For example:

What Isaiah said/prophesied in God’s written words about hypocrites like you is true/correct
-or-
Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites in Scripture (God’s Word)

Notice that the God’s Word has made implicit the phrase “as it is written.” For an English audience, the phrase “in Scripture” implies that the prophecy was written, so both phrases are not necessary. Express this information in a natural way in your language.

7:6c–7b

These words are quoted from Isaiah 29:13.

7:6c–d

These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me: In Greek, the phrase with their lips occurs in a position of emphasis. The word order indicates that the main contrast is between external worship (with their lips) and internal reality (their hearts). In some languages, it may be possible to express this contrast by saying:

These people, it is only with their lips/words that they honor me, but their hearts are far from me.

Express this contrast in a way that is natural in your language.

7:6c

These people: When Isaiah originally spoke these words, the phrase These people referred to the Jewish people who acted like this. Jesus said that the Pharisees were also the people that Isaiah had spoken about.

The people to whom Jesus spoke and to whom Isaiah spoke were all Jewish. So in some languages it may be natural to translate this as:

You(plur) people

honor Me with their lips: The phrase honor Me with their lips is a figure of speech (metonymy) in which their lips stands for “their words.” This means that the Pharisees honored/praised God with their words.

If this figure of speech is not clear or natural in your language, you may:

• Substitute a similar figure of speech. For example:

These people praise me with their mouths/tongues

• Omit the figure of speech and express the meaning directly. For example:

You praise me in what you say
-or-
These people show honor to me with words (New Century Version)

Me: Jesus was quoting from the book of Isaiah, which was quoting the words of God. So the pronoun Me refers to God. In some languages it may be necessary to use indirect speech in order to make this clear. See the General Comment on 7:6b–7b after 7:7b for an example.

7:6d

but their hearts are far from me: This clause contrasts what the people say (7:6c) and their true, inner attitude toward God.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

All of you praise me with your words, but you never really think about me. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
You say that you want to honor me, but you do not care about what truly honors me.

their hearts: In the New Testament, the word heart refers figuratively to the mind, emotions, and will of a person. It refers to the part of a person that he uses to think, feel, and make decisions. In some languages people refer figuratively to this part of a person as his mind, throat, liver, or stomach. They are not referring literally to that physical part of the body. You should use the expression in your language that is natural to refer to this spiritual part of a person.

far from Me: The words far from Me are a figurative expression that means that the people had turned away from God. They had turned away:

(a) with their minds and did not think of God,

(b) with their will and did not obey God,

(c) with their emotions and did not love God.

In your translation, try to find an expression that implies or suggests all of these things.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

but their minds/livers/stomachs are far from me
-or-
but in their hearts/throats/thoughts, they have turned away from me
-or-
but they do not mean what they say

If one term expresses only part of the meaning, you may be able to use a combination of terms. For example:

they do not truly love me or think about me

© 2008 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.

8:2a

I have compassion for this crowd: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as have compassion means “have understanding and pity” or “feel sympathy.” A person with compassion wants to help. Jesus knew that the people would have difficulty returning home because of their hunger, so he felt sympathy and wanted to help them.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

I feel sorry for these people (Good News Bible)
-or-
I sympathize with these people

You may have an idiomatic way to translate this term. The Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English has one example in English:

My heart goes out to this crowd

This same verb occurs in 6:34b.

this crowd: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible literally translates as this crowd refers to the large crowd that was mentioned in 8:1a.

8:2b–c

In 8:2c Jesus told his disciples the reason that he felt compassion for the people: “they…have nothing to eat.” In 8:2b Jesus mentioned that they had been with him for three days. That fact was background information.

As you translate the connection between 8:2a and 8:2b, your translation should not imply that Jesus felt sorry for the people only because they had been with him for three days (8:2b). If a reason connector would imply this in your language, you may decide to use no connector, as the New International Version does:

I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat.

See the General Comment on 8:2a–c at the end of this note for more information on how to translate the connections.

they have already been with Me three days and have nothing to eat: The Greek text does not say how long the people were without food. Some people may have been without food for the whole three days. Others may have brought food with them but eaten it all. Since most English versions are vague about this, it is good to translate 8:2c in a general way. For example:

they don’t have anything to eat (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
they have no food

General Comment on 8:2a–c

In some languages it may be necessary to change the order of these verse parts so that you can express the connections between the clauses in a natural way. Here are some ways to do this in English:

2b
Because these people have already been with me for three days 2cand have nothing to eat, 2aI feel very sorry for them.
-or-
2bThese people have already been with me for three days. 2cThey have nothing to eat, 2aso I feel very sorry for them.

Notice that the reason or result connectors are underlined in the examples. Translate this verse in a way that is natural in your language.

© 2008 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.

Section 8:34–9:1

Jesus spoke about what a person must do to be his disciple

In the preceding section Jesus was speaking to his disciples. In this section Jesus called the crowd of people who were there to come and listen to him also. So in these verses Jesus was speaking to the crowd, as well as to his disciples. This meant that most of the people to whom Jesus spoke were not his followers. Many of them may have been part of the people whom Jesus described in 8:38b as “this adulterous and sinful generation.”

The requirements for being/becoming a disciple are given in 8:34. The next verses (8:35–38) each explain why a person who wants to follow Christ must obey the commands given in 8:34. Each reason involves a choice between the present and the future. A person who chooses to avoid death and shame in the present life will be shamed in the future at the final judgment. He will forfeit true life with God. By contrast, a person who chooses to follow Christ may lose his present life but he will gain true life with God.

It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

Jesus told people how to be his true disciples
-or-
What It Means to Follow Jesus (God’s Word)
-or-
Following Jesus (NET Bible)

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 16:24–28 and Luke 9:23–27. See also Luke 14:27, 17:33; John 12:25.

Paragraph 8:34–9:1

8:34a

Then: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Then and the Revised Standard Version as “And” here introduces the next event in the story. After Jesus spoke to his disciples, he called the crowd to him. Connect 8:34a to 8:33 in a way that is natural in your language.

Jesus called the crowd to Him along with His disciples: Jesus called the crowd of people to come closer to him and join the disciples. He did this so that they could clearly hear what he wanted to tell them. Remember that Jesus’ disciples were already near him in 8:33.

the crowd: This is the first time that the crowd is mentioned in this section. Apparently there was a large group of people nearby who wanted to hear what Jesus said. Introduce the crowd in a natural way for your language.

His disciples: See how you translated disciples in 2:15b and 8:33a. See also disciple in the Glossary.

8:34b–38

In these verses Jesus talked about anyone and everyone who wanted to be his disciple. Indicate this in a natural way in your language. In some languages it may be more natural to use a different subject than the Berean Standard Bible does. Here are examples from 8:34b–c:

If people want to follow me, they must give up the things they want. (New Century Version)
-or-
If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself. (Contemporary English Version)

8:34b

If anyone wants to come after Me: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as If anyone wants to come after Me is literally “If anyone desires after me to follow.” It refers to anyone who wanted to follow Jesus as his disciple.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

If any want to become my followers (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
Anyone who desires/decides to be my disciple

Another form of the word “follow” is used in 8:34d.

wants: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as wants means “desires to,” “wishes to” or “wants to.” In this context, it may imply “truly wants to.”

8:34c–d

he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me: The Greek phrases that the Berean Standard Bible translates as must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me are three indirect commands. A person who desires to be one of Jesus’ disciples must do three things:

(a) He must deny himself,

(b) he must take up his cross, and

(c) he must follow Jesus as a disciple.

Indicate in a natural way in your language that a person must do each of these actions in order to be a follower of Jesus. (There are differences of interpretation here that are not reflected in English versions. For example: 1) The phrase “take up his cross and follow me” can mean “be ready to suffer and follow me to death.” Notice that this view does not interpret the last verb “follow” as an actual action but a readiness for that action. 2) The phrase “and follow me” is a reason for the suffering, e.g. TRT: “willing/ready to suffer and even die for following Me” (page 107)These two views contrast with the view taken in these notes that there are three requirements for discipleship: self-denial, willingness to die, and obedience or continued following (see also Luke 9:23). )

8:34c

he must deny himself: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as deny himself means “reject oneself.” A disciple must do what his master wants him to do, whether or not it is what the disciple himself wants to do. Disciples of Jesus must give up the right to fulfill their own ambitions.

Here are some other ways to translate deny himself:

forget yourself (Good News Bible)
-or-
put aside your selfish ambition (New Living Translation, 1996 edition)
-or-
renounce self (Revised English Bible)
-or-
refuse his own desires

8:34d

take up his cross: The phrase take up his cross refers to the way that Roman soldiers executed criminals. They forced a condemned criminal to pick up a large wooden cross. He had to carry it to the place where he would be put to death. Then the soldiers nailed him on the cross to die.

When Jesus used this phrase, he knew that the Romans would soon force him to carry a literal cross. But in this context, he used the phrase figuratively. Jesus meant that anyone who wanted to become his disciple had to be willing to suffer and die in order to obey him. (This is the predominant view among the commentators. However, in his comment on Luke 9:23, which has “take up his cross daily,” Marshall (page 373) advances another view, which makes a lot of sense in light of Paul’s concept of dying to self. He says that a person who picked up his cross was already condemned to die. He knew he was as good as dead. So what Jesus means is that a disciple must daily reckon himself to be dead and follow/obey his master’s desires, not his own.)

Here are some other ways to translate the phrase take up his cross:

• Translate the figure of speech literally and add a footnote that explains the meaning. Here is a sample footnote:

In the time of Jesus, a person who was condemned to be nailed to a cross was forced to carry the cross. He carried it to the place where he would be nailed to it. So what Jesus means here is that a person who wants to be his follower must be ready to suffer and die in order to follow Jesus.

• Omit the figure of speech and translate the meaning directly. For example, the TRT says:

be willing/ready to suffer and even die

If you follow this option, consider adding a footnote that gives Jesus’ literal words.

cross: A cross refers to two large wooden boards or beams that were attached to each other. Roman soldiers used crosses to kill criminals. They nailed or tied a criminal to these wooden beams, then set them upright. They did this in order to cause the criminal to die slowly and painfully.

The word cross comes from the fact that the beams were crossed and attached. This made the shape of a or (or sometimes a ).

In many languages there may be no word for cross. If that is true in your language, you may need to use a descriptive phrase. For example:

board/wood of death
-or-
crossed-beam(s) of death
-or-
a tree for killing people
-or-
a stake/plank to which they fasten/nail someone to kill him

follow Me: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as follow Me indicates that a person who wants to become a disciple must actually start following Jesus as a disciple. He must continually obey Jesus as his master.

Refer to the note on 8:34d. See also the note on “follow me” in 1:17a.

© 2008 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.

Section 9:30–32

Jesus predicted his death a second time

In 8:31 Jesus told his disciples that his enemies would kill him and that God would cause him to live again. Here in 9:30–32, Jesus told his disciples the same thing again. But they still did not understand what he was talking about.

It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

Jesus again predicted that he would die and come back to life
-or-
Death and resurrection foretold a second time
-or-
Jesus again tells his disciples that he will be killed but then God will raise him from the dead

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 17:22–23 and Luke 9:43–45.

Paragraph 9:30–32

9:30a

The story in 9:30–32 began sometime after the story in 9:14–29 ended. The Greek text does not indicate how much time passed between these two stories. In some languages, it is natural to begin a story with a time word or phrase. If your language is like that, use an expression here that is not too specific. For example:

Then (New Century Version)
-or-
After that

In other languages, a time word or phrase is not necessary. Introduce this story in a natural way in your language.

Going on from there: The phrase Going on from there refers to Jesus and his discplines traveling away from the place where they were in the preceding story. This could be specifically the house where Jesus was (9:28) or the general area at the base of the mountain (9:9, 14). You should translate the words there in a way that refers generally to the preceding story. For example:

where they were
-or-
that region (New Living Translation)

9:30b

they passed through Galilee: The words they passed through Galilee give the setting for the events in 9:30–32. The Greek tense indicates that the events in 9:30–32 happened while they were passing through Galilee, not after they passed through. You should make this clear in your translation. For example:

and began to go through Galilee (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
and were traveling through Galilee

they: The word they refers to Jesus and his disciples. If you started a new section here, you may want to make “Jesus and his disciples” explicit instead of using the pronoun They.

Galilee: Galilee was a region, district, or province in the northern part of the country of Israel. If you need to make clear the kind of place Galilee was, see how you translated the word Galilee in 1:9a.

The word Galilee also occurs in 1:14b, 1:16a, 1:28, 1:39a, 3:7b, 6:21b, and 7:31b. Consider if it is necessary to continue to say explicitly that Galilee was a region or district.

9:30c

But Jesus did not want anyone to know: It might be more natural in your language to have the negative in the know clause instead of in the want clause. For example:

Jesus wanted no one to know where they were.

anyone: The word anyone refers to people other than the disciples. It may be natural to translate this as:

anyone else

to know: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible literally translates as to know means that Jesus wanted no one to know his exact location.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

to know it (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
to know where they were going

© 2008 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.

Section 10:13–16

Jesus blessed little children

Some people brought their children for Jesus to bless them. The disciples probably thought that Jesus was too important to bless children. So they prevented the people from bringing the children. But Jesus wanted to bless them. He allowed the children to come to him.

Jesus used the things that happened with these children to teach that God accepts people who are humble. The people whom God rules should be like little children: they should humbly accept God’s rule in their lives.

It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

Jesus and Little Children (NET Bible)
-or-
Some little children were brought to Jesus

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 19:13–15 and Luke 18:15–17.

Paragraph 10:13–16

10:13a–b

Now: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Now indicates that the story in 10:13–16 began sometime after the story in 10:10–12 ended. The Greek text does not indicate how much time passed between these two stories. In some languages, it is natural to begin a story with a time word or phrase. If your language is like that, use an expression here that is not too specific. For example:

One day (New Living Translation)
-or-
Then (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

In other languages, a time word or phrase is not necessary. Introduce this story in a natural way in your language.

people were bringing the little children to Jesus: The form of the Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as were bringing indicates that parents brought their children to Jesus over a period of time. They did not all come at the same time.

the little children: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as little children is used to refer to children of many different ages. It can refer to children from a newborn baby to a child thirteen years old. The parallel passage in Luke uses a word which refers only to very young children. Translate this expression using a general expression for children that can include babies and young children.

for Him to place His hands on them: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as place His hands on is more literally “touch,” and it refers to giving a blessing. In Jewish culture, parents often brought a young child to a religious leader for him to bless the child. To bless the child, the religious leader would place his hands on the child’s head and pray for him. (For a discussion of the word “bless,” see the note on 10:16b.)

If people in your area will not understand what the phrase place His hands on refers to, you may want to add some implied information. For example:

People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him place his hands on their heads and bless them.
-or-
People were bringing little children to Jesus, wanting him to place his hands on them and ask God to bless them.

10:13c

and: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as and indicates a contrast. The contrast is between 10:13b and 10:13c. The parents were bringing their children to Jesus, but the disciples did not want this to happen.

the disciples rebuked those who brought them: In this context, the word rebuked refers here to telling people that they are wrong for doing a certain action. The disciples thought that the people were wrong because they interrupted Jesus and asked him to bless the children.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

the disciples spoke sternly to them (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
the disciples scolded the people (Good News Bible)
-or-
his disciples told the people to stop bothering him (Contemporary English Version)

See how you translated the word rebuke in 8:32c.

© 2008 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.

10:45a

For: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as For introduces the basis or reason for what Jesus said in 10:43–44. In other words, those who follow Jesus should serve others because even Jesus himself came to serve.

even the Son of Man: In Greek, the phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as even the Son of Man indicates an emphatic contrast with what people normally expected. Jesus as the Son of Man was the greatest leader, and it would be normal for people to serve him. Instead, he came so that he would serve people. The Berean Standard Bible shows this emphatic contrast with the word even. The New Jerusalem Bible shows it as follows:

For the Son of man himself

the Son of Man: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the Son of Man is literally “the Son of the human/person.” It is a title that Jesus often used to refer to himself. It implies that:

(a) he was a true human being, and he represented all people.

(b) he came from God and had authority from God.

Here are some other ways to translate this title:

the Man whom God Sent
-or-
the True Man from God/Heaven
-or-
the Representative of Mankind
-or-
The Older Brother of All People

In some languages it may be necessary to indicate explicitly that Jesus was referring to himself here. For example:

I, the Son of Man

Refer to how you translated this phrase in 10:33b. You should translate it here as you did there.

did not come to be served, but to serve: When the Son of Man (Jesus) came to earth, he did not come as a great king that people should serve. He did not come to lord it over people, like the rulers he described in 10:42b.

When you translate 10:45a, make sure your translation does not imply that the Son of Man did not come. It may be clearer to translate as follows:

came to serve, not to be served
-or-
came to serve others, not so that others would serve him

did not come to…but to…: In this context the expression come to refers to Jesus’ purpose for coming to the world, that is, to his work in the world. In some languages it may be necessary to indicate that in some way. For example:

did not come to this world to…but to…
-or-
(my) work is not to…but to…

10:45b

and to give His life as a ransom for many: The phrase to give His life means “to die willingly for (others), to voluntarily die to benefit (others).” Jesus willingly and freely came to die as a sacrifice for people’s sins. When Jesus died, he freed from sin the people who would trust in him.

ransom: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as ransom refers to something that is given to release or free someone else. For example, someone might give a sum of money as a ransom in order to set a slave or a prisoner free. Similarly, Jesus gave his life in order to set people free from their sin. His death was the ransom that released or redeemed people from their sin.

In some languages it may be natural to translate the noun ransom with a verb. For example:

to redeem many people (Good News Bible)
-or-
to set many others free (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
-or-
to rescue many people (Contemporary English Version)

for many: The phrase for many means “on behalf of many people.” (Because of the prevalence of languages that use a verb phrase for “ransom,” the notes have not said anything about the literal meaning of the Greek word translated here as “for.” The word literally means “opposite,” and in this context means “in place of,” or “as a substitute for” (UBS Handbook page 336, Hendriksen pages 414–415, Lenski page 463, Lane page 383).)

Here are some other ways to translate this:

for the sake of many people
-or-
so that many people may be saved

© 2008 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.

11:30a

John’s baptism—was it from heaven or from men?: This question means, “Who gave John the authority to baptize people? Did God give it to him or did men give it to him?” This question has a similar meaning to the one that the Jewish leaders asked Jesus.

The Berean Standard Bible, like the Greek text, has placed the phrase John’s baptism at the beginning of the question. This gives it emphasis as the new topic. Your language may have a different way to do this. Translate the question in a natural way in your language.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

Did John’s right to baptize come from heaven or from humans? (God’s Word)
-or-
Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men? (Revised Standard Version)

John’s baptism: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as John’s baptism indicates that John baptized people. It does not indicate that someone else baptized John. You may need to express this phrase in a different way. For example:

When John baptized

The verb “baptize” means to purify people with a special ritual that uses water. (In some verses, the verbs “wash” and “clean” are used to translate the Greek verb “baptize.” Luke 11:38 says, “But the Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash (baptize) before the meal, was surprised.” (The Greek verb here is baptizo, but English versions translate it as “wash.” The context refers to a ritual washing, not merely a removal of dirt.). Mark 7:4 and Matthew 23:25 both speak of washing/cleaning cups and other utensils. The verb in Mark is baptizo while the verb in Matthew is katharizo (clean). Again, a ritual cleansing is involved. Mark 7:4 says, “And there are many other traditions for them to observe, including the washing (baptizing) of cups, pitchers, kettles, and couches for dining.” Matthew 23:25 says, “You clean (katharizo) the outside of the cup and dish.” However, the above references do not indicate that “wash/cleanse” is the only meaning of the rite of baptism as practiced by John and by the early Christians. And certainly Jesus’ baptism of people with the Holy Spirit signified more than purification.)

Here are some other ways to translate the word baptism or “baptized” in this context:

• Use a descriptive term. For example:

When John washed people ritually
-or-
John’s purifying initiation

• Use a term for a similar ritual that is already used in your culture. You may need to indicate that in this context it has a special connection with God. For example:

When John purified people with God’s ceremonial bath
-or-
John’s washing people in initiation water

• Use a term that is already accepted by the local churches. This term may have been borrowed from the national language or transliterated from Greek or English.

See the notes on “baptizer” and “baptism” in 1:4a. See also baptize, Meaning 1, in the Glossary. Also see how you translated this term in 1:4c.

from heaven: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as from heaven implies “from God.” The Jews often referred indirectly to God in order to show their great respect for his name. You may need to make it explicit in your translation that the phrase from heaven refers to God. For example:

from God (Good News Bible)

See heaven, Meaning 3, in the Glossary.

from men: The phrase from men is used here as the opposite of the phrase “from heaven.” It means “from human beings” (as in the Good News Bible). In other words, it refers to people in general, not just to males. If John’s authority to baptize came from men, it meant that he was only following a human ritual or practice. It meant that he had not been sent by God to baptize.

11:30b

Answer Me!: The phrase Answer me indicates that Jesus expected a response from the Jewish leaders.

In some languages, a command like this may sound rude or harsh. If this is true in your language, use a form that is not rude. For example:

30bTell me, 30aJohn’s baptism—was it from heaven, or from men?
-or-
30bThis is my question. 30a Who gave John his authority to baptize people? Was it God or people?

In some languages it may not be necessary to explicitly state the phrase Answer Me. This expectation may be implied by the context. For example, the Contemporary English Version says:

Who gave John the right to baptize? Was it God in heaven or merely some human being?

© 2008 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.