LUKE 24:47 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 24:44–49: Jesus gave final instructions to his followers

In this section Jesus helped his followers to understand the things that were written about him in the Scriptures. He reminded his followers that they had seen these things happen. They had to spread this good news so that people of all countries would repent and believe in him. Then he told his followers that they would receive power to preach those things, as God had promised. He told them that they must wait in Jerusalem until they received this power.

Scholars have different opinions about when Jesus spoke the words in this section. It is likely that he spoke them after some days had passed and he was about to go back to heaven. The words may also be a summary of things that Jesus said to his followers during the forty days when he was with them after his resurrection. Parallel passages show that it is unlikely that Jesus spoke all of these words on the same day that he rose from the dead.For example, the events in John 21 show that the disciples did leave Jerusalem and go to Galilee. If Jesus had told them on his resurrection day that they should not leave Jerusalem (24:49), it is unlikely that they would have gone there.

Some other examples of headings for this section are:

Jesus’ Final Commission (NET)

Jesus’ followers must preach about him to all nations

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 28:16–20, Mark 16:15–18, and Acts 1:6–8.

24:47a

and in His name repentance and forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed

Then/And in his name people will proclaim the message of repentance as the way to be forgiven for sins.
The Scriptures also say that the Messiah’s followers will declare in his name that all people must repent and then they will be forgiven.
With the authority of the Messiah/Christ, his followers must tell people to turn to God and change the way they think and act so that God will forgive the wrong/evil they have done.

and: The Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as and introduces another event that was prophesied in the Scriptures. Other ways to introduce it are:

Then

It is also written that

The Scriptures also say that

Connect 24:47a to the preceding verse in a way that is natural in your language.

in His name repentance and forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed: In Greek this clause is more literally, “to be preached in his name repentance for forgiveness of sins.” This clause is passive. In some languages it may be necessary to translate it in an active way. For example:

In the Messiah’s name, his followers will preach to other people about repentance and forgiveness of sins

In some languages it may be more natural to use direct speech to tell what the Messiah’s followers must preach. For example:

With the Messiah’s authority, they will tell people: “Repent of your sins and God will forgive you.”

in His name: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as in His name means “with/using his authority.” The phrase His name refers to the authority of the Messiah/Christ, who was mentioned in 24:46. The Messiah/Christ will give his followers authority to preach about repentance for forgiveness of sins.Nolland (p. 1219) mentions the possibility that “in his name” might be linked with “forgiveness of sins,” indicating that the forgiveness is offered through Jesus. The fact of forgiveness through Jesus is true, but it is not the point here, and no English version on TW follows that interpretation. They will preach as his representatives. The phrase in His name is emphasized in this clause.

Some other ways to translate in His name here are:

with the Messiah’s authority

by the authority of Christ

repentance and forgiveness of sins: The phrase repentance and forgiveness of sins indicates that people must repent of their sins so that God will forgive them. God’s forgiveness is a result of their repentance, and many English versions make this connection more explicit.There is a textual issue that relates to this connection: (1) Some Greek manuscripts have “repentance for forgiveness of sins.” These manuscripts are followed explicitly by NIV2011, GW, NLT, NLT96, NJB, CEV, NET, NASB, and REB. (2) Other Greek manuscripts have “repentance and forgiveness of sins.” These manuscripts are followed explicitly by BSB, NIV, RSV, ESV, KJV, NCV, and GNT. Option (1) is recommended as the option that has the earliest manuscript support. The UBS 4^th ed. Greek NT gives “repentance unto/for the forgiveness of sins” a B rating. Translators should realize that after deciding on the text, they must translate this semantic connection in a natural way. It is likely that the conjunction “and” implies a result connection in this context, just as a conjunction that expresses result more explicitly. In some languages it may be necessary to translate the actions of repentance and forgiveness as clauses and to indicate who will repent and who will forgive them. For example:

that when people repent of their sins, God will forgive them

repentance: The Greek word that the BSB translates as repentance means for a person “to change his/her mind, heart, or will.” In the Bible, it refers specifically to a person changing his mind and heart about sin and about God. When a person repents, he is sorry for his past sins. He decides to stop sinning and obey God.

Some ways to translate repentance in this context are:

change their thinking/mind/heart

reject their sins

In some languages, you may have an idiom for this type of change. For example:

turn from sin to God

leave their sinning behind

forgiveness: The Greek word that the BSB translates as forgiveness refers to God pardoning or removing the guilt of people’s sins. God cancels their guilt and treats them as though they had never offended him. Some ways to translate this are:

pardoning of sins

canceling sins/guilt

release people from the bad consequence of their sins

In many languages there may be an idiom to refer to forgiving sins. For example:

erase sins/guilt

wiping away people’s sins

sins: The Greek word that English versions translate as sins refers to anything that people do or do not do that is against God’s will. This includes acts, thoughts, and attitudes that break God’s laws or are contrary to what God wants or approves.In Greek, the verb that English versions translate as “sin” is also a term that is used in archery to mean “miss the target.” When a person sins, he “misses” the target, that is, he fails to reach God’s standard. A person also sins when he does not do what God wants him to do.

You should translate sins with a general term that can include any wrongdoing against God or another person. Here are some problems to avoid:

The term should not imply that only serious crimes like murder or stealing are sins. Other offenses like gossip and greed are also sins.
The term should not include accidents or mistakes that are not against God’s will.

Some ways to translate sins are:

wrong acts

evil deeds

In some languages it may be more natural to translate sins with a phrase that includes a verb. For example:

doing evil/wrong

The word sins also occurs in 7:47 and 11:4.

proclaimed: The Greek word that the BSB translates as proclaimed means to publicly tell people something important. The word should not only refer to what a preacher does in church. Some other ways to translate proclaimed are:

announced

proclaimed

tell people

24:47b

to all nations,

This message will/must be proclaimed to every nation,
They must tell this to people of all ethnic/people groups,

to all nations: The Greek word that the BSB translates as nations refers to ethnic groups or people groups rather than to political states or geographic regions.An ethnic group is a group of people who consider themselves a group because they share the same physical appearance, language, religion, culture, and history, or because they share two or more of these things. Jesus was not talking mainly about nations as territories of land with borders around them that one government rules, although this is what a modern person usually thinks of when he hears the word “nation.” In modern times it is very common for borders of countries to pass directly through an area where an ethnic group lives, so that the ethnic group (in the way that Luke was using the Greek word) lives in two “nations” (in the way that a modern person often uses the word). Jesus was sending his disciples to preach the message to all the different groups of people on earth.

24:47c

beginning in Jerusalem.

starting from the city of Jerusalem.
and they must begin in the city of Jerusalem.

beginning in Jerusalem: Here Jesus told his followers that he wanted them to begin preaching this message in the city of Jerusalem. Then they would also go to other places, as Acts 1:8 indicates. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

You must begin to proclaim it in Jerusalem.

Start this preaching in Jerusalem.

General Comment on 24:46–47

In 24:46–47 Jesus summarized some prophecies in the OT Scriptures. At the time Jesus was speaking, some of the events had already happened (24:46b), and some had not yet happened (24:47). In your translation of these verses, it is important to use appropriate verb forms to make this clear. For example:

Jesus told them, “It is written in the Scriptures that the Messiah had to suffer and rise again on the third day. It is also written that repentance and forgiveness will be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem.”

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

κηρυχθῆναι ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ μετάνοιαν εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν εἰς πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, ἀρξάμενοι ἀπὸ Ἰερουσαλήμ

˓to_be˒_proclaimed (Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί κηρυχθῆναι ἐπί τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ μετάνοιαν εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν εἰς παντᾶ τά ἔθνη ἀρξάμενον ἀπό Ἰερουσαλήμ)

If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the idea behind the abstract nouns repentance and forgiveness with an equivalent phrase. Alternate translation: [it would be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem, that God will forgive those who stop sinning]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this with an active form, and you could state who would do the action. Alternate translation: [people would go and preach in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem, that God will forgive those who stop sinning]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί κηρυχθῆναι ἐπί τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ μετάνοιαν εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν εἰς παντᾶ τά ἔθνη ἀρξάμενον ἀπό Ἰερουσαλήμ)

Here the name of the Messiah represents his authority. Alternate translation: [on his authority]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

εἰς πάντα τὰ ἔθνη

for to (Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί κηρυχθῆναι ἐπί τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ μετάνοιαν εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν εἰς παντᾶ τά ἔθνη ἀρξάμενον ἀπό Ἰερουσαλήμ)

The term nations refers to the people who belong to various ethnic groups. Alternate translation: [to all the people in every people group]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

ἀρξάμενοι ἀπὸ Ἰερουσαλήμ

The word beginning is a participle that is plural. In context, it must refer to the disciples. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could show the implications of this in your translation. This is really a command from Jesus. It may be good to make this a sentence of its own. Alternate translation: [You are to do this starting here in Jerusalem]

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

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.