Luke 3:4 – Page 2

Lord

The Hebrew adonai in the Old Testament typically refers to God. The shorter adon (and in two cases in the book of Daniel the Aramaic mare [מָרֵא]) is also used to refer to God but more often for concepts like “master,” “owner,” etc. In English Bible translations all of those are translated with “Lord” if they refer to God.

In English Old Testament translations, as in Old Testament translations in many other languages, the use of Lord (or an equivalent term in other languages) is not to be confused with Lord (or the equivalent term with a different typographical display for other languages). While the former translates adonai, adon and mare, the latter is a translation for the tetragrammaton (YHWH) or the Name of God. See tetragrammaton (YHWH) and the article by Andy Warren-Rothlin in Noss / Houser, p. 618ff. for more information.

In the New Testament, the Greek term kurios has at least four different kinds of use:

referring to “God,” especially in Old Testament quotations,
meaning “master” or “owner,” especially in parables, etc.,
as a form of address (see for instance John 4:11: “Sir, you have no bucket”),
or, most often, referring to Jesus

In the first and fourth case, it is also translated as “Lord” in English.

Most languages naturally don’t have one word that covers all these meanings. According to Bratcher / Nida, “the alternatives are usually (1) a term which is an honorific title of respect for a high-ranking person and (2) a word meaning ‘boss’, ‘master’, or ‘chief.’ (…) and on the whole it has generally seemed better to employ a word of the second category, in order to emphasize the immediate personal relationship, and then by context to build into the word the prestigeful character, since its very association with Jesus Christ will tend to accomplish this purpose.”

When looking at the following list of back-translations of the terms that translators in the different languages have used for both kurios and adonai to refer to God and Jesus respectively, it might be helpful for English readers to recall the etymology of the English “Lord.” While this term might have gained an exalted meaning in the understanding of many, it actually comes from hlaford or “loaf-ward,” referring to the lord of the castle who was the keeper of the bread (source: Rosin 1956, p. 121).

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Following are some of the solutions that don’t rely on a different typographical display (see above):

Navajo (Dinė): “the one who has charge”
Mossi: “the one who has the head” (the leader)
Uduk: “chief”
Guerrero Amuzgo: “the one who commands”
Kpelle: “person-owner” (a term which may be applied to a chief)
Central Pame: “the one who owns us” (or “commands us”)
Piro: “the big one” (used commonly of one in authority)
San Blas Kuna: “the great one over all” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
Guhu-Samane: Soopara (“our Supervisor”) (source: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation July, 1967, p. 5ff.)
Balinese: “Venerated-one” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
Yanesha’: “the one who carries us” (source: Nida 1952, p. 159)
Northern Emberá: Dadjirã Boro (“our Head”)
Rarotongan: Atu (“master or owner of a property”)
Gilbertese: Uea (“a person of high status invested with authority to rule the people”)
Rotuman: Gagaja (“village chief”)
Samoan: Ali’i (“an important word in the native culture, it derives from the Samoan understanding of lordship based on the local traditions”)
Tahitian: Fatu (“owner,” “master”)
Tuvalu: Te Aliki (“chief”)
Fijian: Liuliu (“leader”) (source for this and six above: Joseph Hong in The Bible Translator 1994, p. 329ff. )
Bacama: Həmə miye: “owner of people” (source: David Frank in this blog post )
Hopi: “Controller” (source: Walls 2000, p. 139)
Iyansi: Mwol. Mwol is traditionally used for the “chief of a group of communities and villages” with legal, temporal, and spiritual authority (versus the “mfum [the term used in other Bantu languages] which is used for the chief of one community of people in one village”). Mwol is also used for twins who are “treated as special children, highly honored, and taken care of like kings and queens.” (Source: Kividi Kikama in Greed / Kruger, p. 396ff.)
Ghomala’: Cyəpɔ (“he who is above everyone,” consisting of the verb cyə — to surpass or go beyond — and pɔ — referring to people. No human can claim this attribute, no matter what his or her social status or prestige.” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn )
Binumarien: Karaambaia: “fight-leader” (Source: Oates 1995, p. 255)
Warlpiri: Warlaljamarri (owner or possessor of something — for more information tap or click here)

We have come to rely on another term which emphasizes God’s essential nature as YHWH, namely jukurrarnu (see tetragrammaton (YHWH)). This word is built on the same root jukurr– as is jukurrpa, ‘dreaming.’ Its basic meaning is ‘timelessness’ and it is used to describe physical features of the land which are viewed as always being there. Some speakers view jukurrarnu in terms of ‘history.’ In all Genesis references to YHWH we have used Kaatu Jukurrarnu. In all Mark passages where kurios refers to God and not specifically to Christ we have also used Kaatu Jukurrarnu.

New Testament references to Christ as kurios are handled differently. At one stage we experimented with the term Watirirririrri which refers to a ceremonial boss of highest rank who has the authority to instigate ceremonies. While adequately conveying the sense of Christ’s authority, there remained potential negative connotations relating to Warlpiri ceremonial life of which we might be unaware.

Here it is that the Holy Spirit led us to make a chance discovery. Transcribing the personal testimony of the local Warlpiri pastor, I noticed that he described how ‘my Warlaljamarri called and embraced me (to the faith)’. Warlaljamarri is based on the root warlalja which means variously ‘family, possessions, belongingness’. A warlaljamarri is the ‘owner’ or ‘possessor’ of something. While previously being aware of the ‘ownership’ aspect of warlaljamarri, this was the first time I had heard it applied spontaneously and naturally in a fashion which did justice to the entire concept of ‘Lordship’. Thus references to Christ as kurios are now being handled by Warlaljamarri.” (Source: Stephen Swartz, The Bible Translator 1985, p. 415ff. )
Mairasi: Onggoao Nem (“Throated One” — “Leader,” “Elder”) or Enggavot Nan (“Above-One”) (source: Enggavoter 2004)
Obolo: Okaan̄-ene (“Owner of person(s)”) (source: Enene Enene)
Angami Naga: Niepu (“master,” “owner”)
Lotha Naga: Opvui (“owner of house / field / cattle”) — since both “Lord” and YHWH are translated as Opvui there is an understanding that “Opvui Jesus is the same as the Opvui of the Old Testament”
Ao Naga: Kibuba (“human master,” “teacher,” “owner of property,” etc.) (source for this and two above: Nitoy Achumi in The Bible Translator 1992 p. 438ff. )
Seediq: Tholang, loan word from Min Nan Chinese (the majority language in Taiwan) thâu-lâng (頭儂): “Master” (source: Covell 1998, p. 248)
Thai: p^hra’ p^hu pen cao (พระผู้เป็นเจ้า) (divine person who is lord) or ong(kh) cao nay (องค์เจ้านาย) (<divine classifier>-lord-boss) (source: Stephen Pattemore)
Arabic often uses different terms for adonai or kurios referring to God (al-rabb الرب) and kurios referring to Jesus (al-sayyid الـسـيـد). Al-rabb is also the term traditionally used in Arabic Christian-idiom translations for YHWH, and al-sayyid is an honorary term, similar to English “lord” or “sir” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin).
Tamil also uses different terms for adonai/kurios when referring to God and kurios when referring to Jesus. The former is Karttar கர்த்தர், a Sanskrit-derived term with the original meaning of “creator,” and the latter in Āṇṭavar ஆண்டவர், a Tamil term originally meaning “govern” or “reign” (source: Natarajan Subramani).
Burunge: Looimoo: “owner who owns everything” (in the Burunge Bible translation, this term is only used as a reference to Jesus and was originally used to refer to the traditional highest deity — source: Michael Endl in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 48)
Yagaria: Souve, originally “war lord” (source: Renck, p. 94)
Aguacateco: Ajcaw ske’j: “the one to whom we belong and who is above us” (source: Rita Peterson in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 49)
Konkomba: Tidindaan: “He who is the owner of the land and reigns over the people” (source: Lidorio 2007, p. 66)
Chichewa: Ambuye Ambuye comes from the singular form Mbuye which is used to refer to: (1) someone who is a guardian or protector of someone or group of people — a grandparent who has founded a community or village; (2) someone who is a boss or master over a group of people or servants and has absolute control over them; (3) owner of something, be it a property, animals and people who are bound under his/her rule — for people this was mostly commonly used in the context of slaves and their owner. In short, Mbuye is someone who has some authorities over those who call him/her their “Mbuye.” Now, when the form Ambuye is used it will either be for honorific when used for singular or plural when referring to more than one person. When this term is used in reference to God, it is for respect to God as he is acknowledged as a guardian, protector, and ruler of everything. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation).
Hdi uses rveri (“lion”) as a title of respect and as such it regularly translates adon in the Old Testament. As an address, it’s most often with a possessive pronoun as in rvera ɗa (“my lion” = “my lord” or “sir”). So, for example, Genesis 15:2 (“O Lord God”) is Rvera ɗa Yawe (“My lion Yahweh”) or Ruth to Boaz in Ruth 2:13: “May I find your grace [lit. good-stomach] my lion.” This ties in nicely with the imagery of the Lord roaring like a lion (Hosea 11:10; Amos 3:8; Joel 3:16). Better still, this makes passages like Revelation 5:5 even richer when we read about rveri ma taba məndəra la Yuda, “the Lion of the tribe of Judah”. In Revelation 19:16, Jesus is rveri ta ghəŋa rveriha “the lion above lions” (“lord of lords”). (Source: Drew Maust)

Law (2013, p. 97) writes about how the Ancient Greek Septuagint‘s translation of the Hebrew adonai was used by the New Testament writers as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments: “Another case is the use of kurios referring to Jesus. For Yahweh (in English Bibles: ‘the Lord‘), the Septuagint uses kurios. Although the term kurios usually has to do with one’s authority over others, when the New Testament authors use this word from the Septuagint to refer to Jesus, they are making an extraordinary claim: Jesus of Nazareth is to be identified with Yahweh.”

Honorary "rare" construct denoting God ("pass")

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, tō-rare-ru (通られる) or “pass” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

pronoun for "God"

God transcends gender, but most languages are limited to grammatical gender expressed in pronouns. In the case of English, this is traditionally confined to “he” (or in the forms “his,” “him,” and “himself”), “she” (and “her,” “hers,” and “herself”), and “it” (and “its” and “itself”).

Modern Mandarin Chinese, however, offers another possibility. Here, the third-person singular pronoun is always pronounced the same (tā), but it is written differently according to its gender (他 is “he,” 她 is “she,” and 它/牠 is “it” and their respective derivative forms). In each of these characters, the first (or upper) part defines the gender (man, woman, or thing/animal), while the second element gives the clue to its pronunciation.

In 1930, after a full century with dozens of Chinese translations, Bible translator Wang Yuande (王元德) coined a new “godly” pronoun: 祂. Chinese readers immediately knew how to pronounce it: tā. But they also recognized that the first part of that character, signifying something spiritual, clarified that each person of the Trinity has no gender aside from being God.

While the most important Protestant and Catholic Chinese versions respectively have opted not to use 祂, some Bible translations do and it is widely used in hymnals and other Christian materials. Among the translations that use 祂 to refer to “God” were early versions of Lü Zhenzhong’s (呂振中) version (New Testament: 1946, complete Bible: 1970). R.P. Kramers (in The Bible Translator 1956, p. 152ff. ) explains why later versions of Lü’s translation did not continue with this practice: “This new way of writing ‘He,’ however, has created a minor problem of its own: must this polite form be used whenever Jesus is referred to? Lü follows the rule that, wherever Jesus is referred to as a human being, the normal tā (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential tā (祂) is used.”

In Kouya, Godié, Northern Grebo, Eastern Krahn, Western Krahn, and Guiberoua Béte, all languages of the Kru family in Western Africa, a different kind of system of pronouns is used (click or tap here to read more):

In that system, one kind of pronoun is used for humans (male and female alike) and others for natural elements, non-liquid masses, and some spiritual entities (one other is used for large animals and another one for miscellaneous items). While in these languages the pronoun for spiritual entities used to be employed when referring to God, this has changed into the use of the human pronoun.

Lynell Zogbo (in The Bible Translator 1989, p. 401ff. ) explains: “From informal discussions with young Christians especially, it would appear that, at least for some people, the experience and/or concepts of Christianity are affecting the choice of pronoun for God. Some people explain that God is no longer ‘far away,’ but is somehow tangible and personal. For these speakers God has shifted over into the human category.”

In Kouya, God (the Father) and Jesus are referred to with the human pronoun ɔ, whereas the Holy Spirit is referred to with a non-human pronoun. (Northern Grebo and Western Krahn make a similar distinction.)

Eddie Arthur, a former Kouya Bible translation consultant, says the following: “We tried to insist that this shouldn’t happen, but the Kouya team members were insistent that the human pronoun for the Spirit would not work.”

In Burmese, the pronoun ko taw (ကိုယ်တော်) is used either as 2nd person (you) or 3rd person (he, him, his) reference. “This term clearly has its root in the religious language in Burmese. No ordinary persons are addressed or known by this pronoun because it is reserved for Buddhist monks, famous religious teachers, and in the case of Christianity, the Trinity.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae in The Bible Translator 2002, p. 202ff. )

In Thai, the pronoun phra`ong (พระองค์) is used, a gender-neutral pronoun which must refer to a previously introduced royal or divine being. Similarly, in Northern Khmer, which is spoken in Thailand, “an honorific divine pronoun” is used for the pronoun referring to the persons of the Trinity (source: David Thomas in The Bible Translator 1993, p. 445 ). In Urak Lawoi’, another language spoken in Thailand, the translation often uses tuhat (ตูฮัด) — “God” — ”as a divine pronoun where Thai has phra’ong even though it’s actually a noun.” (Source for Thai and Urak Lawoi’: Stephen Pattemore)

The English “Contemporary Torah” addresses the question of God and gendered pronouns by mostly avoiding pronouns in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (unless God is referred to as “lord,” “father,” “king,” or “warrior”). It does that by either using passive constructs (“He gave us” vs. “we were given”), by using the adjective “divine” or by using “God” rather than a pronoun.

Some Protestant and Orthodox English Bibles use a referential capitalized spelling when referring to the persons of the Trinity with “He,” “His,” “Him,” or “Himself.” This includes for instance the New American Standard Bible or The Orthodox New Testament, but most translations do not. Other languages where this is also done (in most Bible translations) are Twents as well as Indonesian and Malay. In the latter two languages this follows the language usage according to the Qur’an, which in turn predicts that usage (see Soesilo in The Bible Translator 1991, p. 442ff. and The Bible Translator 1997, p. 433ff. ).

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Gender of God .

Translation: Chinese

在现代汉语中，第三人称单数代词的读音都是一样的（tā），但是写法并不一样，取决于性别以及是否有生命，即男性为“他”，女性为“她”，动物、植物和无生命事物为“它”（在香港和台湾的汉语使用，动物则为“牠”）。这些字的部首偏旁表明了性别（男人、女人、动物、无生命事物），而另一偏旁通常旁提示发音。

到1930年为止，基督教新教《圣经》经过整整一百年的翻译已经拥有了十几个译本，当时的一位圣经翻译者王元德新造了一个“神圣的”代词“祂”，偏旁“礻”表示神明。一般汉语读者会立即知道这字的发音是tā，而这个偏旁表示属灵的事物，因此他们明白这个字指出，三位一体的所有位格都没有性别之分，而单单是上帝。

然而，最重要的新教圣经译本（1919年的《和合本》）和天主教圣经译本（1968年的《思高圣经》）都没有采用“祂”；虽然如此，许多其他的圣经译本采用了这个字，另外还广泛出现在赞美诗和其他基督信仰的书刊中。（资料来源：Zetzsche）

《吕振中译本》的几个早期版本也使用“祂”来指称“上帝”；这个译本的《新约》于1946年译成，整部《圣经》于1970年完成。克拉默斯（Kramers）指出：“‘他’的这种新写法（即‘祂’）产生了一个小问题，就是在指称耶稣的时候，是否一律使用这个敬语代词？《吕振中译本》遵循的原则是，在称呼耶稣这个人的时候，用一般的‘他’，而在称呼耶稣神性的时候，特别是升天之后的耶稣，则用尊称‘祂’。”

Translator: Simon Wong

Translation commentary on Luke 3:4

Exegesis:

hōs gegraptai ‘as it is written,’ the usual formula for the introduction of a quotation from the Old Testament. The subsequent quotation, here related to what precedes by the connective hōs ‘as,’ serves to qualify John’s ministry in a general way as the announcing of the promised salvation and has no direct bearing upon the baptism he proclaims.

en biblō logōn Ēsaiou tou prophētou ‘in the book of sayings of Isaiah the prophet.’

biblos (also 20.24) ‘book,’ in both places followed by a genitive which indicates the content of the book. As the synonymous biblion it is to be thought of as a scroll (cf. Plummer on 4.20).

phōnē boōntos ‘(the) voice of one shouting,’ the genitive boōntos makes phōnē, which is without article, definite. The phrase serves to draw the attention strongly to what follows, cf. Phillips‘ “Hark! Someone is shouting”.

boaō ‘to shout,’ ‘to cry out,’ here of solemn proclamation.

en tē erēmō ‘in the desert,’ goes with boōntos, not with what follows, as in the Hebrew text of Is. 40.3.

hetoimasate tēn hodon kuriou ‘prepare the road of the Lord.’ The underlying picture is that of preparations for an approaching visit of a king (cf. Moulton-Milligan 258): the road over which the Lord shall come must be made ready. The plural shows that the order is directed to a group but this group is not subsequently identified. The picture is that of an existing road which must be made ready.

eutheias poieite tas tribous autou ‘make his paths straight.’ The reference is to the elimination of curves, rather than to making the road smooth, as shown by the use of euthus ‘straight’ elsewhere and by the fact that in v. 5 the same word eutheias is used in contrast with skolios ‘bent,’ ‘curved,’ and distinguished from leios ‘smooth.’

eutheia (†, from masc, euthus) ‘straight.’ In v. 5 it is used as a substantive with hodon ‘way’ understood, and meaning ‘straight way.’

tribos ‘a beaten track,’ ‘path.’

Translation:

This verse, in the Greek subordinated to v. 3, may better become a new sentence, e.g. ‘This happened just as it was written in…’ (Marathi), ‘This is according to what…’ (cf. Manobo). A more radical shift of order is required in Telugu, which first quotes the prophecy, and concludes this quotation with the statement that these occurrences were predicted by Isaiah.

As it is written in … For this formula to introduce quotations from the Old Testament see above on 2.23. The pronoun it refers to the details of John’s ministry as described in v. 3, cf. “all in accordance with” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation); if necessary, one may shift to a personal reference, e.g. ‘About him it has been written in…,’ or, ‘He was like the man mentioned in….’

The book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, i.e. the book containing the words of the prophet Isaiah, or, the book recording what the prophet Isaiah has said. Idiom may necessitate some adjustments, e.g. ‘the words recorded in the book (of prophecies) of the prophet Is.’ (Chinese Union Version) or the ‘words of the prophet Is., (as) recorded/contained in his book.’ If idiom, style, or decodability require a simpler wording, the rendering may be modelled on the synonymous phrase “the book of the prophet Is.” (4.17) as done in Marathi, Balinese, or it may become, ‘in the (book of the) prophecies of (Prophet) Is.’ (cf. Malay and Bahasa Indonesia RC). Still further simplification will be necessary where passive constructions and subordination have to be avoided; then the whole clause “it is written … Isaiah” may be rendered, “as the prophet Is. had written in his book” (Good News Translation). For book see also on 4.17.

The voice of one crying in the wilderness. One (or, a person) crying has been rendered by the more specific ‘a proclaimer’ (Marathi, which also changes the phrase in a full sentence by adding a verb, ‘happened’). In Manobo culture ‘crying/shouting’ implies anger and accordingly has to be avoided. In such a case one may shift to ‘the voice of a person was widely heard.’

For prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. — Prepare the way of. One of the renderings possible in Sranan Tongo is ‘clear the overgrown tracks for (lit. wake up the lines for).’ Way and paths, or ‘road(s)’ and ‘little roads,’ ‘path(s)’ and ‘by-paths/side-alleys’; or, not to overtranslate the difference, ‘passage (or, place to walk)’ and ‘ways/paths,’ or a noun and a pronominal reference, e.g. ‘prepare the way…, and make it straight.’

Lord, see above on 1.6, sub (c).

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 3:4

Paragraph 3:4–6

About seven hundred years before John the Baptizer was born, the prophet Isaiah wrote about him. He wrote that someone would announce to people that the Lord was coming and that they should get ready for him (Isaiah 40:3–5). John the Baptizer fulfilled this prophecy.

Isaiah wrote that people should prepare the way/road for the Lord. This is a metaphor. When the Jewish people expected a king to come through their village, they prepared the road for him. John was telling the people to prepare themselves to receive the Lord by repenting. The Lord was coming to them as the Messiah (Jesus). (See Christ in the Glossary.)

3:4a

as it is written: The phrase as it is written connects the facts about John in 3:3 to the prophecy about him in the book of Isaiah. The things that John did and said fulfilled what the prophet Isaiah foretold in the Scriptures.

Some other ways to say this are:

⌊John did these things just⌋ as the Bible had said ⌊he would⌋.
-or-
This was foretold in the ⌊Holy⌋ Writings.

in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: The phrase in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet refers to the book of Isaiah in the Old Testament. This is the book where Isaiah the prophet wrote the messages that God gave him. Some ways to say this are:

in the book of the prophecies of Isaiah (Revised English Bible)
-or-
in the book of Isaiah’s messages

In some languages it may be more natural to translate 3:4a as a clause or sentence. For example:

Isaiah wrote these things in his book. He said….
-or-
Isaiah the prophet wrote about John when he said…. (Contemporary English Version)

prophet: A prophet was a person who spoke on behalf of God. He told people what God revealed to him.

Sometimes God told prophets about events that had not yet happened so that the prophets could tell people before the events happened. However, God gave the prophets many other messages that did not involve foretelling the future. Try to translate the word prophet with a term that refers to a person who brings any type of message from God. For example:

a spokesman for God
-or-
a person who speaks God’s words
-or-
God’s message-speaker

When you choose a term for prophet, you will need to distinguish prophet from other words with similar meaning such as “angel,” “apostle,” and “preacher.”

This word also occurs in 1:76b. See also prophet in the Glossary.

3:4b

Luke 3:4b–6 is a quote from Isaiah 40:3–5. You will probably want to include this information in a cross-reference or footnote in your translation.

A voice of one calling in the wilderness: Isaiah was writing about something that would happen seven hundred years later. Use a verb form that is natural for a prophecy about the future. In English it is possible to use either the present or the future tense:

A voice calls in the desert.
-or-
A voice will call in the desert.

A voice of one calling: The voice is the voice of a person proclaiming a message. In some languages it may be natural to translate this as:

A man is calling
-or-
Someone will proclaim

calling: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as calling means to shout or to speak loudly. Some ways to translate calling in this context include:

announce/announcing
-or-
shout/shouting
-or-
speaking/saying loudly

wilderness: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as wilderness here was also used in 3:2. See the note on 3:2b.

3:4c–3:6

In these verses Isaiah used a metaphor. The “voice” was not literally talking about making roads better. It was talking about people, implying that they needed to repent to prepare for the coming of the Lord. In some cultures, readers may not understand the meaning of this metaphor. If that is true for your culture, you may wish to include a footnote. For example:

When Jewish people knew a king would come through their village, they would make the road good for him. Isaiah compared this action to John telling the people to prepare themselves for the coming of Jesus, the Messiah, by repenting from their sins.

These verses are quotations of Hebrew poetry. You may wish to print them in a special way to distinguish them from other verses.

3:4c

Prepare the way for the Lord: Here Isaiah used the metaphor of preparing a road to urge people to prepare themselves morally for the Lord to come.

In some cultures, readers may not understand the meaning of this metaphor. If that is true for your culture, you will have to indicate the meaning more explicitly. The note for 3:4c–6 has examples of using footnotes to do this. Some other ways to do this are:

• Use a simile. For example:

⌊As you would⌋ prepare a road ⌊for a king⌋, ⌊prepare your hearts/minds/lives⌋ for the Lord

• Express the meaning without the metaphor. For example:

Prepare ⌊yourselves⌋ to ⌊receive⌋ the Lord ⌊with integrity/honesty⌋

This verse refers to people preparing themselves in a moral and spiritual way. Your translation should not imply that they should prepare themselves only in a physical way, such as by cleaning their houses.

way: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as way refers to a “road” or a “path.”

Lord: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Lord means “master, one who has authority over others.” The Jews used this word as one way to refer to God. Here it substitutes for God’s personal name that was used in the Hebrew Old Testament. In this context, the word Lord indicates that God was coming to people as the Messiah.

If speakers of your language do not understand that your word for “Lord” refers to God in this context, here are other ways to translate it:

• Use your word for God.

• Use your word for God and indicate that he is the Lord. For example:

God the Lord
-or-
Master God

If you include the word for God in your translation of Lord, you may want to include a footnote to give the literal Greek meaning. For example:

Here the Greek text is literally “Lord.”

See Lord, Context 2, in the Glossary.

3:4d

This part of the verse is parallel to 3:5c and has a similar meaning. The difference is that 3:5c is slightly more specific. In Hebrew poetry, the same meaning was often repeated in different words.

make straight paths for Him: The clause make straight paths for Him may be expressed more fully as “make the paths straight for the Lord ⌊to travel on⌋.”

paths: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as paths has a similar meaning as the word “roads.” In some languages the same word may be used to translate both “road” and “path.” If that is true in your language, you may be able to translate paths as “small/little roads,” or you may be able to use a pronoun such as “it.” For example:

4cPrepare the road for the Lord, 4dmake it straight for him.

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Verse: Luke 3:4