Scriptures Plain & Simple (Luke 22:66-71)

Barclay Newman, a translator on the teams for both the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version, translated passages of the New Testament into English and published them in 2014, “in a publication brief enough to be non-threatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and un-believers alike.” The following is the translation of Luke 22:66-71:

At dawn the politicians, priests, and professors of religion
called a meeting and had Jesus brought in for questioning.
       “Are you God’s Chosen One?” they demanded.

“If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me,” replied Jesus.
       “And if I asked you a question, you wouldn’t answer.
Soon, however, you’ll see me
       at the right side of God All-Powerful.”

“Are you the Son of God?” was their next question.

“You say I am,” answered Jesus.

“He’s said enough to hang himself!” they judged.

Translation commentary on Luke 22:70

Exegesis:

eipan de pantes ‘all said,’ i.e. all members of the Sanhedrin.

su oun ei ho huios tou theou ‘so you are the Son of God?,’ drawing the inference from v. 69, and implying that the concept of the Son of man and that of the Son of God are here virtually identical.

humeis legete hoti egō eimi ‘you say that I am,’ with emphasis on humeis, ‘you, not I,’ but not implying a denial.

Translation:

You say that I am, or ‘you yourselves say that I am he’ (Nieuwe Vertaling). By changing the question just uttered by his opponents Jesus represents them as having said that he is the Son of God (which actually is his opinion not theirs). A too literal rendering may easily suggest that Jesus has another, or no opinion on the matter. To avoid this some versions give slightly adjusted renderings such as, ‘you say rightly, I am he’ (Bible de Jérusalem), ‘as you say: I am He’ (Balinese), ‘as you said to me, I am that’ (Ekari).

Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Luke 22:70

Paragraph 22:70–71

22:70a

So they all asked: The phrase So they all asked indicates that all the men in the council asked Jesus this question together.

Are You then the Son of God?: The Greek question that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Are You then the Son of God? expects the answer “Yes.” The people asking the question all hoped that Jesus would say “yes.” Then they could say that he was wrongfully claiming to be divine. To the Jews, this would be blasphemy, and the punishment would be death.

Son of God: The Bible uses the title Son of God to express the fact that Jesus has the same nature as God and that he comes from God. God does not have a physical body, and he did not create/produce Jesus the way a human father produces a son. Jesus existed eternally as the Son with his Father.

22:70b

You say that I am: The Berean Standard Bible literally represents the Greek here. The words You and I are both emphatic. Jesus used this emphatic statement to agree that he is the Son of God. Some Bible scholars question whether he agreed directly or indirectly. The context indicates that Jesus agreed directly. He had just said in 22:69 that he would sit at God’s right side.

Some English versions translate the statement in a literal way that is ambiguous. In some languages a literal translation wrongly implies that Jesus denied that he was the Son of God. Be careful to translate Jesus’ statement as agreement, not as a denial.

Some ways to translate this agreement are:

You’re right to say that I am. (God’s Word)
-or-
Yes, you yourselves have correctly said that I am ⌊the Son of God⌋.
-or-
You have understood what I said. ⌊Yes,⌋ I am.

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