7:42a–b

Doesn’t the Scripture say that the Christ will come from the line of David and from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?: This is a rhetorical question. It expects the answer “yes.” The people used it to emphasize that the Messiah would be a descendant of David and come from Bethlehem. The scripture said this would happen, and so it was required. They did not think that these things were true of Jesus.

There are at least three ways to translate this rhetorical question:

• Use a rhetorical question. For example:

Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David’s family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived? (New International Version)

• Use a statement. For example:

The Scripture says that the Christ will come from David’s family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived. (New Century Version)

• Use a rhetorical question and a statement. For example:

The Scriptures say that the Messiah will be a descendant of David, don’t they? And he will come from Bethlehem, where David was born.

Translate this rhetorical question in the way that is most natural in your language.

7:42a

Doesn’t the Scripture say: In this clause, the speakers were saying that something was written in the Hebrew Scriptures, what we now call the Old Testament.

Here are other ways to translate this clause:

Is it not written in scripture
-or-
Does not God’s book declare/prophesy that
-or-
Our (incl.) holy writings state that

the Scripture: The phrase the Scripture here refers to the Hebrew scriptures in general. The content that follows comes from several different Old Testament books, including 2 Samuel, Psalms, and Micah.

the Christ will come from the line of David: This clause means “the Messiah is a descendant of David.” The Scriptures said that the Chosen Savior, the Christ/Messiah, would be a descendant of King David. David was the second king of Israel and ruled about a thousand years before Christ. The Hebrew scriptures tell that one of his descendants would rule over Israel forever. See 2 Samuel 7:12-13 and Psalm 89:3–4.

Here are other ways to translate this clause:

the Messiah will be a descendant of King David (Good News Translation)
-or-
the Messiah is to be of the family of David (Revised English Bible)
-or-
David will be an ancestor of the Messiah

7:42b

and from Bethlehem: This phrase means “the Christ (Messiah) will be born in the town of Bethlehem.” The prophets had predicted that the Messiah would be born in that town. See Micah 5:2 and Matthew 2:5–6.

The people speaking here apparently had a different view of the Messiah from those speaking in 7:27c. (There they said, “no one will know where [the Messiah] is from”). The Jewish people did not all understand the Scriptures in the same way.

the village where David lived: The Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the village where David lived is more literally “the village where David was.” It refers to the small town in Judea where David was born and grew up. See 1 Samuel 17:12.

Here are other ways to translate this expression:

the village where King David was born (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
David’s hometown (Contemporary English Version)

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