23:29a

Look, the days are coming: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Look, the days are coming is more literally “because look, days are coming.” It introduces the reason the women should cry for themselves and for their children in 23:28c. They should cry because of what will happen at a time in the future. Jesus probably used the word Look here to emphasize that his prediction was certain to happen. Some ways to translate this certain prediction are:

• Indicate certainty at the beginning of the clause. For example:

for indeed, the days are coming (New American Bible)
-or-
For this is certain: The days are coming (NET Bible)

• Indicate certainty within the clause itself. For example:

For look, the days are surely coming (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
because it will certainly happen that

• Do not indicate certainty in an explicit way. For example:

The time is coming when (God’s Word)
-or-
Someday (Contemporary English Version)

Translate the phrase in a natural way in your language. A similar phrase occurs in 17:22 without the word Look.

In this verse Jesus predicted an event that would happen sometime after his death. He probably referred to the time when the Romans would destroy Jerusalem (in A.D. 70). At that time, the Jewish people suffered terribly. For some translations it may be helpful to include this information in a footnote. For example:

Such a time came in A.D. 70. A Roman army besieged and destroyed Jerusalem and killed many Jewish people.

23:29b

people will say: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as people will say is literally “they will say.” The phrase refers to people in general. It probably refers mainly to the people who will be in the city of Jerusalem at the terrible time that Jesus predicted. However, it could refer to anyone who talks about that situation. Use a natural way in your language to introduce what some people will say at that time. In some languages it may be more natural to use indirect speech to tell what the people will say. For example:

people will say that…

23:29c–e

‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore, and breasts that never nursed!’: Here Jesus gave an example of what people will say during the future time of suffering. Normally Jewish people considered a woman who had many children to be Blessed. But in that future time, the children of Jerusalem will suffer in terrible ways. Then the people will think that it is better for people who do not have children. They do not have the grief of seeing their children suffer or die.

In some languages it may be necessary to make the reason for the saying more explicit. For example:

It is good/blessed not to have children ⌊during this terrible time⌋. It is good/blessed never to have had a child or nursed a baby.
-or-

⌊In this time of suffering,⌋ barren women are ⌊more⌋ fortunate/blessed ⌊than mothers⌋! It is better never to have given birth or nursed a baby!

Blessed: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Blessed describes a person who is in a good situation. In the Bible, the good situation usually results from God showing favor/kindness to the person. Some other ways to translate this word are:

How good it is for…
-or-
fortunate

Often, a person who is blessed in this sense will have good feelings like happiness. However, in this context the women did not have good feelings. But the context implies that they did not have as much grief as the women who watched their children suffer.

For more information, see bless, Meaning 3, in the Glossary.

the barren women, the wombs that never bore, and breasts that never nursed: Jesus used three phrases here to refer to women who have never had children. The phrase the barren women has the same meaning as the phrase the wombs that never bore. The phrase breasts that never nursed also has the same general meaning as the other two phrases in this context. These three phrases emphasize that the whole statement in 23:29 is a surprising and terrible warning.

barren women: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as barren literally means “sterile” or “incapable of having children.” However, in this context the focus is on not having children at that time of suffering. Because of that, it may be more natural in some languages to use a more general term. For example:

women who are childless (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
women who never had children (Good News Translation)

the wombs that never bore, and breasts that never nursed: These two phrases are figures of speech that further explain the meaning of “barren women” in 23:29c. In some languages it is not natural or appropriate to speak of wombs and breasts being blessed. If that is true in your language, you can speak of the women who never bore children or nursed them. For example:

the women…who couldn’t give birth, and who couldn’t nurse a child (God’s Word)
-or-
the women who cannot bear children and the women who never gave birth and gave suck

General Comment on 23:29c–e

In some languages it may be more natural to combine one or more of the three phrases in 23:29c–e. For example, it may be helpful to combine the phrases “the barren women” and “the wombs that never bore.” For example:

Happy are the women who cannot have children and who have no babies to nurse. (New Century Version)

In some languages it may be more natural to use only one phrase. For example:

Women who never had children are really fortunate! (Contemporary English Version)

Translate 23:29c–e in a natural way in your language.

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