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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 LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL 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
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OET (OET-LV) And also the_soldiering ones were_asking him saying:
What may_ we _do also?
And he_said to_them:
You_all_may_accost no_one nor you_all_may_falsely_accuse, and be_being_sufficed for_the wages of_you_all.
OET (OET-RV) “And what about us too,” some soldiers inquired.
¶ “Don’t bully people or falsely accuse anyone,” Yohan answered, “and be content with your wages.”
The last event in Luke 2 describes Jesus’ trip to Jerusalem when he was twelve years old. This section begins about eighteen years later. At the beginning of chapter 3, both Jesus and John the Baptizer were about thirty years old. Both men were ready to begin public ministry.
It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it. Some other possible headings for this section are:
The Preaching of John (NCV)
John the Baptist and Jesus (REB)
John the Baptizer tells people to prepare themselves for the Messiah
Parts of Luke 3:1–20 are basically the same as verses in Matthew 3:1–12. But Luke 3:1–2, 10–14, and 19–20 are not in Matthew.
In 3:10–14, three groups of people asked John the same question. They asked him what they should do. The three groups are:
the crowd (3:10);
tax collectors (3:12);
soldiers (3:14).
Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”
¶ Some soldiers also asked him, “And us?(excl) What kinds of things must we(excl) do?”
¶ Then some of the soldiers asked John, “And what should/must we(excl) do to show that we have repented?”
¶ Then some soldiers asked him what they should do.
soldiers: It is not clear whether these soldiers were Jewish or Roman or Samaritan. But they were able to take money from people wrongly.
And what should we do?: In the Greek text this question emphasizes the pronoun we. One way to show this in translation might be to say:
And us—what should we do?
“Do not take money by force or false accusation,” he said.
John answered, “Do not take(plur) anyone’s money by force or by lying about him.
John said, “Do not force a person to give you money, and do not try to get money by charging someone with a crime that he did not commit.
John told them not to intimidate people or accuse them falsely to get their money.
Do not take money by force or false accusation: This part of the verse indicates that the soldiers should not get money from people by violence or by accusing them falsely.Some English versions do not indicate that the soldiers falsely accused people in order to get money from them. However, it is better to indicate that relationship between the actions. Some ways to translate this are:
Take money from no one by violence or by false accusation (NET)
Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation (NRSV)
Do not take money by force: The Greek clause that the BSB translates as Do not take money by force is literally “Do not shake violently.” John was telling the soldiers that they should not use violence or intimidate people in order to get money from them. Some ways to translate this are:
Do not intimidate people to give you their money.
Do not threaten people with violence so that they will give you money not to harm them.
Don’t take money from anyone by force (GNT)
or false accusation: In this context the phrase or false accusation refers to trying to get money from someone by saying that he committed a crime that he did not commit. When the court charged the innocent person money for that crime, the soldier who accused him would get part of the money.
Some ways to translate this are:
and you must not try to get money by charging any person with a crime he did not commit
Do not try to get money by lying about people
In some translations it may be helpful to include a footnote about this. For example, the NET has this note:
…someone could bring charges against an individual and be paid a part of the fine imposed by the court. Soldiers could do this to supplement their pay, and would thus be tempted to make false accusations.
he said: The BSB has placed the words he said in the middle of what John told the soldiers. Place these words where it is natural in your language.
“Be content with your wages.”
Instead, be satisfied with your pay/wages.”
Rather, be content with the money that the government pays you.(plur)”
He told them that instead, they should be content with their wages.
In this part of the verse John told soldiers what they should do, after telling them what not to do in 3:14b. Some versions start a new sentence or clause here, including the BSB. Other versions, such as the NIV, connect 3:14c to 3:14b with a dash. Do what is natural in your language for this context.
Be content with your wages: The phrase Be content with your wages means “be satisfied with what you are paid.” The word wages refers to money that the government gave to a soldier to buy food and other necessities. Soldiers were not paid very much money. John told them to be content with that amount.
Some other ways to translate this are:
Be satisfied with your pay (GW)
Consider your wages to be adequate
Do not desire to be paid more than the government pays you
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / exclusive
τί ποιήσωμεν καὶ ἡμεῖς?
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐπηρώτων Δέ αὐτόν καί στρατευόμενοι λέγοντες Τί ποιήσωμεν καί ἡμεῖς Καί εἶπεν αὐτοῖς μηδένα Διασείσητε μηδέ συκοφαντήσητε καί ἀρκεῖσθε τοῖς ὀψωνίοις ὑμῶν)
The soliders are speaking about themselves, as opposed to others, so if your language distinguishes between exclusive and inclusive we and “us,” use the exclusive form here. You could make this two sentences. Alternate translation: [How about us soldiers? What must we do?]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
μηδὲ συκοφαντήσητε
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐπηρώτων Δέ αὐτόν καί στρατευόμενοι λέγοντες Τί ποιήσωμεν καί ἡμεῖς Καί εἶπεν αὐτοῖς μηδένα Διασείσητε μηδέ συκοφαντήσητε καί ἀρκεῖσθε τοῖς ὀψωνίοις ὑμῶν)
The implication is that soldiers were making false charges against people in order to extort money from them. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could state that explicitly. Alternate translation: [do not accuse anyone falsely in order to get money from them]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
καὶ ἀρκεῖσθε τοῖς ὀψωνίοις ὑμῶν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐπηρώτων Δέ αὐτόν καί στρατευόμενοι λέγοντες Τί ποιήσωμεν καί ἡμεῖς Καί εἶπεν αὐτοῖς μηδένα Διασείσητε μηδέ συκοφαντήσητε καί ἀρκεῖσθε τοῖς ὀψωνίοις ὑμῶν)
If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this with an active form. Alternate translation: [instead, let the amount you are paid satisfy you]
Note 4 topic: grammar-connect-logic-contrast
(Occurrence 4) καὶ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἐπηρώτων Δέ αὐτόν καί στρατευόμενοι λέγοντες Τί ποιήσωμεν καί ἡμεῖς Καί εἶπεν αὐτοῖς μηδένα Διασείσητε μηδέ συκοφαντήσητε καί ἀρκεῖσθε τοῖς ὀψωνίοις ὑμῶν)
The word and introduces draws a contrast between what the soldiers had been doing and what they should have been doing. It may be helpful to begin a new sentence here. Alternate translation: [Instead]
OET (OET-LV) And also the_soldiering ones were_asking him saying:
What may_ we _do also?
And he_said to_them:
You_all_may_accost no_one nor you_all_may_falsely_accuse, and be_being_sufficed for_the wages of_you_all.
OET (OET-RV) “And what about us too,” some soldiers inquired.
¶ “Don’t bully people or falsely accuse anyone,” Yohan answered, “and be content with your wages.”
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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