InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL 2 PS WIS TOB MAN BAR DNG GES LES ESG JDT 3 MAC SIR 1 MAC 2 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL LAO PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
InterlinearVerse Yhn C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21
Yhn 6 V1 V4 V7 V10 V13 V16 V22 V25 V28 V31 V34 V37 V40 V43 V46 V49 V52 V55 V58 V61 V64 V67 V70
◄ ← YHN (JHN) 6:19 ↓ → ► ║ ≡ ©
People tagged in the matching LV passage: Jesus Christ
Dictionary: Jesus
OET-LV Therefore having_rowed about twenty five or thirty stadiums, they_are_observing the Yaʸsous/(Yəhōshūˊa) walking on the sea, and becoming near the boat, and they_were_afraid.
OET (OET-RV) When they had rowed about five kilometres, they saw Yeshua walking on top of the lake and approaching the boat, and they were very scared.
In this brief section the disciples saw Jesus walking on the surface of Lake Galilee. See the parallel passages in Matthew 14:22–27 and Mark 6:45–52.
Here are other possible titles for this section:
Jesus walked on water
Jesus walked to his disciples on the water
In this paragraph Jesus showed his authority over the natural world. He was able to do what no mere human can do, walk on the surface of water.
When they had rowed about three or four miles,
¶ After they had traveled about five or six kilometers on the water,
¶ After the disciples took the boat five or six kilometers,
When they had rowed about three or four miles: It is also possible to translate this as a separate sentence. For example:
Jesus’ disciples rowed for three or four miles.
rowed: The Greek word that the BSB translates as rowed means to “cause an object to move by a strong force.” In this context it refers to pushing the boat through the water with wooden oars/paddles. Use the expression that is most natural in your language.
about three or four miles: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as about three or four miles is more literally “twenty-five (25) or thirty (30) stadia.” Here is another way to translate this phrase:
five or six kilometers
they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the sea—
they saw Jesus walking on the water, approaching their boat.
they noticed the figure of Jesus coming toward them. He was walking on top of the lake/water,
they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the sea: It may be natural to translate this clause as two sentences. For example:
they saw Jesus walking on the sea. He was coming near the boat. (GW)
In some languages it may be natural to reverse the order of the two actions that they saw. For example:
They saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water of the lake.
The disciples saw a person without recognizing that it was Jesus. In some languages a literal translation may indicate that they recognized it was Jesus. It may be natural to say instead:
They saw the figure of Jesus walking on the sea and approaching their boat.
They saw someone walking on the sea and approaching the boat. It was actually Jesus.
walking on the sea: Jesus was walking on the surface of the lake water. For example:
walking over the sea/lake
walking on the surface/top of the lake
walking on the water (NCV)
and they were terrified.
They were afraid.
and they were afraid of him.
and they were terrified: John records that the disciples were terrified (afraid) without giving a reason. Mark 9:49 explains that the disciples were afraid because they thought that they were seeing a ghost or spirit. If you must indicate what caused their fear, here you should supply a general reason. For example:
they were terrified at the sight
this frightened them greatly
Here are other ways to translate this clause:
they became terrified (GW)
they were frightened (NET)
Note 1 topic: translate-unknown
ἐληλακότες
˓having˒_rowed
The boats used on the Sea of Galilee usually had positions for two, four, or six people who sat together and rowed with oars on each side of the boat. If your readers would not be familiar with rowed boats, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: [having propelled the boat through the water by using oars]
Note 2 topic: translate-bdistance
ὡς σταδίους εἴκοσι πέντε ἢ τριάκοντα
about stadiums twenty five (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐληλακότες Οὖν ὡς σταδίους εἴκοσι πέντε ἤ τριάκοντα θεωροῦσιν τόν Ἰησοῦν περιπατοῦντα ἐπί τῆς θαλάσσης καί ἐγγύς τοῦ πλοίου γινόμενον καί ἐφοβήθησαν)
The word stadia is the plural of “stadium,” which is a Roman measurement of distance equivalent to about 185 meters or a little over 600 feet. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could express this in terms of modern measurements, either in the text or a footnote. Alternate translation: [about four and a half or five and a half kilometers] or [about three or three and a half miles]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / pastforfuture
θεωροῦσιν
˱they˲_˓are˒_observing
Here John uses the present tense in past narration in order to call attention to a development in the story.
OET-LV Therefore having_rowed about twenty five or thirty stadiums, they_are_observing the Yaʸsous/(Yəhōshūˊa) walking on the sea, and becoming near the boat, and they_were_afraid.
OET (OET-RV) When they had rowed about five kilometres, they saw Yeshua walking on top of the lake and approaching the boat, and they were very scared.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.
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