Paragraph 13:34–35

13:34a

Jesus spoke all these things to the crowds in parables: The phrase all these things refers to the teachings about God’s kingdom. He used the parables in 13:1–33 to teach these things.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

Jesus used parables to tell all these things to the crowds (Good News Translation)
-or-
Jesus spoke all those things ⌊about God’s kingdom⌋ in/using parables.

13:34b

Verse 13:34b says the same thing as 13:34a, but in a negative way. This is a way to emphasize 13:34a. Some English versions introduce this emphatic statement with the word “indeed.”

Here is another way to introduce this emphatic statement:

In fact (New Living Translation (2004))

In some languages, it will be natural to simply begin a new sentence here, as the Berean Standard Bible does. For example:

34aJesus used illustrations to tell the crowds all these things. 34bHe did not tell them anything without illustrating it with a story. (God’s Word)

He did not tell them anything without using a parable: This clause means the same thing as 13:34a, but it says it in a negative way. It means that Jesus did not talk to the people about the kingdom of God unless he used a parable. On later occasions, Jesus did not use parables. But during this part of his ministry, every time he taught about the kingdom of God, he used parables.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

he said nothing to them when/if it was not with/in parables

-or-

he did not say anything ⌊about the kingdom of heaven⌋ to them unless he used a parable

In some languages, it may be necessary to translate this clause as a positive statement. In this case, this clause will be very similar to 13:34a. For example:

34aJesus used stories to tell all these things to the people; 34bhe always used stories to teach them. (New Century Version)

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