13:33a
Nevertheless: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Nevertheless introduces a contrast with the statement that Jesus would soon complete his work (13:32c). Some other ways to introduce this contrast are:
Yet (Good News Translation)
-or-
However (Revised English Bible)
-or-
But (God’s Word)
However, 13:33a does not contrast with 13:32b. Instead, it repeats the information there. So in some languages it may be more natural to indicate that in 13:33a Jesus was restating for emphasis what he had said in 13:32b. Here is another way to begin this verse:
Yes (New Living Translation (2004))
I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day: In Greek, this clause is literally “it-is-necessary for-me to travel/go today and tomorrow and the following.” The verb “it is necessary” implies here that it was necessary for Jesus to keep going for a time ⌊to fulfill God’s plan⌋.
keep going: The verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as keep going refers not only to Jesus’ literal travel toward Jerusalem but also to his progress in accomplishing all his purposes. Both aspects of the meaning should be clear in your translation if possible.
today and tomorrow and the next day: These three terms are used figuratively. They probably refer to the same period of time as the three terms in 13:32b–c. The New International Version uses a dash at the end of this verse part. Most English versions do not.
13:33b
for: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as for introduces the reason for what Jesus had said in 13:33a.
it is not admissible for a prophet to perish outside of Jerusalem: Here Jesus was using a figure of speech called irony. Jerusalem was the city that God had chosen for his temple. It was supposed to be the holy city, so it would be reasonable to think that the people of Jerusalem would welcome God’s prophets. However, the people of Jerusalem had killed so many prophets that Jerusalem had developed a reputation as a place where prophets were murdered. Jesus was stating this in an exaggerated, sarcastic way. He did not mean literally that every prophet died in Jerusalem.
It can be very difficult to translate irony and sarcasm meaningfully. Some ways to translate this statement in English are:
After all, Jerusalem is the place where prophets are killed. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Surely it cannot be right for a prophet to be killed anywhere except in Jerusalem. (New Century Version)
-or-
it would never do for a prophet to meet his death outside Jerusalem! (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
By saying this, Jesus implied that he also was a prophet, and that people would kill him in Jerusalem. In some languages it may be necessary to make some of this information explicit. See the last two meaning lines in the Display for 13:33b.
prophet: This is the same word as in 13:28b and 13:34b. See also prophet 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.