6:32

So: The Berean Standard Bible uses the word So to introduce the result of what Jesus had said.

they went away in a boat by themselves to a solitary place: Jesus and the twelve apostles used a boat to cross part of Lake Galilee in order to leave the crowds behind. The “many” mentioned in 6:33a saw them before they arrived at the solitary place. So it may be clearer to translate this as the Good News Bible has done:

they started out in a boat

they: The pronoun they refers to Jesus and the twelve apostles.

a boat: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as a boat is literally “the boat” (as in the Revised Standard Version). This may imply that it was the same boat they had used before (see 5:21a). But it is probably best to follow the example of the Berean Standard Bible and many other English versions and say a boat. You could also say that they went “by boat.”

boat: The boats used on Lake Galilee were small boats used for fishing and travel across the lake. They could hold from about four to fifteen people. People used sails or oars (long paddles) to cause the boats to move across the water. If you do not have a word for boat in your language, here are some translation options:

• Use a phrase that describes the function of a boat. For example:

a vehicle for crossing water
-or-
something for carrying people on top of water

• Use the word for a specific kind of boat in your culture. For example:

canoe

a solitary place: The phrase a solitary place is the same Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as “a solitary place” in 6:31c. It refers to a desolate area where few people lived.

In some languages, it may sound unnatural to repeat this phrase since it is also in 6:31c. If that is true in your language, you can leave this phrase implicit. For example:

So they got in a boat and started to go there.

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