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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 ESA 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
Luke C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24
Luke 7 V1 V3 V5 V7 V9 V11 V13 V15 V17 V19 V21 V23 V25 V27 V29 V31 V33 V35 V37 V39 V41 V43 V45 V47 V49
OET (OET-LV) And having_arrived to him, the men said:
Yōannaʸs the immerser sent_ us _out to you saying:
Are you the one coming or may_we_be_waiting for another?
OET (OET-RV) So when they got to Yeshua, the two men told him, “Yohan-the-immerser sent us here to ask you if you’re the promised one, or should we wait for someone else?”
At the time when the events in this section happened, John the Baptizer was in prison (3:20). He sent two of his disciples to Jesus to ask Jesus whether he was the Messiah. He referred to the Messiah as “the coming one” whom he and the people were expecting. Jesus’ answer implied that he was the Messiah.
After John’s messengers had left, Jesus talked about what a great man John was. But he also implied that the coming kingdom would be greater. It would be so great that people who would experience it and its benefits would have even greater privileges and blessings than John had. Finally, Jesus showed that the Jewish religious leaders rejected the plan of God, since they rejected both John and Jesus.
It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it. Some other possible headings for this section are:
Jesus responds to the messengers of John the Baptizer and speaks about John to the crowd
Jesus speaks to the people about John the Baptizer
Jesus teaches about John the Baptizer
There is a parallel passage for this section in Matthew 11:3–19.
When the men came to Jesus,
When the two disciples of John came to Jesus,
When they arrived where Jesus was,
the men: The phrase the men refers to the two disciples whom John had sent to Jesus. Another way to translate this is:
they (GNT)
they said, “John the Baptist sent us to ask,
they said, “John the Baptizer sent us(excl) to you(sing) to ask,
they said to him, “John, the one who baptizes people, asked us(excl) to come to you(sing) to ask you(sing)
John the Baptist: John had baptized many people. As a result, he became known as John the Baptist or “John the Baptizer.”
If you use a verbal expression, such as “John the Baptizer” or “John who baptizes people,” be sure that you do not imply that John was still baptizing people at this time. He was in prison. (See the note about John at 7:18a.) For example, you could say:
John who had baptized people
John who had been baptizing people
In many parts of the world, there are churches that are called Baptist Churches. If possible, translate the Baptist in a way that means that John baptized people and not that he was the member of a Baptist church.
See also baptize, Meaning 1, in the Glossary.
the Baptist: The word Baptist has the same meaning here as the word “baptizer.” It refers to a person who baptizes people. The verb “baptize” means to purify people with a special ritual that uses water. In this context the ritual involved purification from sin. It did not mean that the person was cleaned to remove dirt. Baptism was an initiation that marked the beginning of a person’s life as one of God’s pure people.
You will probably need to decide how to translate the verb “baptize” before you translate the title “John the Baptizer.” Here are some ways to translate “baptize”:
Use a descriptive term. For example:
ritually wash
initiate people in/with water
immerse people in water for God
sprinkle/shower people with God’s initiation water
Use a term for a similar ritual that is already used in your culture. You may need to indicate that in this context it has a special connection with God. For example:
purify people with God’s ceremonial bath
wash people in initiation water for God
Use a term that is already accepted by the local churches. In some areas this term may have been borrowed from the national language or transliterated from Greek or English.
Churches use different ways to baptize people. Choose a term that is acceptable to the different churches in your area.
Some other ways to translate the title “John the Baptist” are:
John who cleansed people for God
John the Ritual Purifier
John who initiated people with God’s washing
‘Are You the One who was to come,
‘Are you(sing) the Coming One,
‘Are you(sing) the One who the prophets said would come,
if you(sing) are the Christ/Savior, who God promised would come,
The words in this part of the verse are exactly the same as in 7:19b. See the notes there.
or should we look for someone else?’”
or must we wait for someone else?'"
or if we should wait/look for a different man to come as Christ/Savior.”
The words in this part of the verse are exactly the same as in 7:19c. See the notes there.
In 7:20c–d the words in 7:19b–c are repeated as a quotation within another quotation. In some languages it may not be natural to have a quotation within another quotation like this. You may need to use indirect speech for one of the quotations. For example:
…they said, “John the Baptist sent us to you to ask if you are the one who was to come, or if we should expect someone else.”
…they said that John the Baptist had sent them to ask him, “Are you the one who was to come or should we expect someone else?”
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / quotesinquotes
οἱ ἄνδρες εἶπαν, Ἰωάννης ὁ Βαπτιστὴς ἀπέστειλεν ἡμᾶς πρὸς σὲ λέγων, σὺ εἶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἢ ἄλλον προσδοκῶμεν
the men said John the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: παραγενόμενοι Δέ πρός αὐτόν οἱ ἄνδρες εἶπαν Ἰωάννης ὁ Βαπτιστής ἀπέστειλεν ἡμάς πρός σέ λέγων σύ Εἶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἤ ἄλλον προσδοκῶμεν)
If it would be helpful in your language, you could translate this so that there is not a quotation within a quotation. Alternate translation: [the men told Jesus that John the Baptist had sent them to him to ask, “Are you the one who is coming, or should we expect someone else] or [the men said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask if you are the one who is coming, or whether we should expect someone else.”]
λέγων
saying
Alternate translation: [to ask]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / you
σὺ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: παραγενόμενοι Δέ πρός αὐτόν οἱ ἄνδρες εἶπαν Ἰωάννης ὁ Βαπτιστής ἀπέστειλεν ἡμάς πρός σέ λέγων σύ Εἶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἤ ἄλλον προσδοκῶμεν)
Since this question is for Jesus alone, you is singular.
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ὁ ἐρχόμενος
the the_‹one› coming
This expression means “the Messiah.” If it would be helpful to your readers, you could state that explicitly. Alternate translation: [the Messiah]
OET (OET-LV) And having_arrived to him, the men said:
Yōannaʸs the immerser sent_ us _out to you saying:
Are you the one coming or may_we_be_waiting for another?
OET (OET-RV) So when they got to Yeshua, the two men told him, “Yohan-the-immerser sent us here to ask you if you’re the promised one, or should we wait for someone else?”
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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