7:29a

because: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as because introduces the reason why the crowds were amazed at what he taught.

Here are some other ways to translate this conjunction:

for (English Standard Version)
-or-
the reason ⌊they were amazed⌋ is that

He taught as one who had authority: The words had authority refers to having the right and the power to do something. Jesus taught with confidence. He did not quote what other experts had to say about the Bible.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

he taught with real authority (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
he taught as someone with the right to teach
-or-
he taught with power

7:29b

and not as their scribes: The phrase not as their scribes indicates that Jesus did not teach in the same way that the scribes taught. When the scribes explained something, they always quoted other scholars to support their views. But Jesus did not quote other Jewish teachers to support the truth of what he said.

scribes: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as scribes refers to men who studied, interpreted, and taught the law of Moses. These men were called scribes because their original work was to copy the laws of Moses by hand. In New Testament times, this was no longer their main task.

Here are some other ways to translate this term:

teachers of the law (New International Version)
-or-
teachers of the Law of Moses (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
teachers of religious law (New Living Translation (2004))

-or-

experts in the law

This word also occurs in 5:20. You should translate it here as you did there. See also scribe in the Glossary for more information.

© 2023 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.