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OET (OET-LV) The one not being with me is against me, and the one not gathering_together with me is_scattering.
OET (OET-RV) “Anyone who’s not for me is against me, and anyone who isn’t helping me gather others is scattering them.
In this section, Jesus healed a man whom demons had been controlling. The Pharisees said that he did it by the power of Satan. Doing something by the power of Satan is sorcery. Sorcery was punishable by death in the Jewish law. Jesus explained to them why it could not be true that he cast out demons by the power of Satan. He also warned them that they must not look at something he had done by the Holy Spirit’s power and say that Satan gave him the power to do it. This is blaspheming the Holy Spirit (12:31).
Here are some other possible headings for this section:
The Pharisees accuse Jesus of working with Satan
Jesus’ power is greater than Satan’s power
The power of Jesus comes from the Holy Spirit, not from Satan
There are parallel passages for this section in Mark 3:22–30 and Luke 11:14–23.
He who is not with Me is against Me,
¶ The person who does not join/stand with me is against me.
¶ Anyone who is not on my side is against me.
He who is not with Me is against Me: The phrase is not with Me means “is not on my side,” “does not support me,” or “is not my friend/ally.”
This clause indicates that there are two sides in the spiritual conflict: Jesus’ side and Satan’s side. There is no middle or neutral position.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
Anyone who is not helping/supporting me opposes me
If you are not on my side, you are against me (CEV)
The person who does not join with me is against me.
The person who does not work with me works against me
and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
The person who does not gather in the harvest with me, he scatters it.
Anyone who does not gather people into God’s kingdom with me scatters them.
and he who does not gather with Me scatters: This clause is a figure of speech. This figure of speech means the same thing as 12:30a: anyone who is not helping Jesus in his work is opposing him.
Jesus did not say what he was gathering. Many scholars think he was comparing himself to a shepherd gathering sheep. Other scholars think he was comparing himself to a farmer gathering crops. In either case, he was comparing his action of gathering people into God’s kingdom to a human action.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
Use the specific example of sheep. For example:
He who does not help me gather my sheep is scattering them.
Use the specific example of crops. For example:
If you don’t gather in the harvest with me, you scatter it. (CEV)
Use a more generic word for gather. For example:
anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me (NLT)
Translate the meaning without using a figure of speech. Here this means that if someone is not calling people to come to God, like Jesus is, he is actually pushing people away from God. For example:
He who does not help me bring people to God scatters them so that they go away from God.
Translate this figure of speech in a way that is most natural in your language.
ὁ μὴ ὢν μετ’ ἐμοῦ κατ’ ἐμοῦ ἐστιν; καὶ ὁ μὴ συνάγων μετ’ ἐμοῦ σκορπίζει
the_‹one› (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ὁ μή ὤν μετʼ ἐμοῦ κατʼ ἐμοῦ ἐστίν καί ὁ μή συνάγων μετʼ ἐμοῦ σκορπίζει)
Jesus is not referring to a specific individual. Rather, he is making a general statement that applies to any person or group of people. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a form that refers to any person. Alternate translation: [Anyone who is not with me is against me, and anyone who does not gather with me scatters] or [Those who are not with me are against me, and those who do not gather with me scatter]
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
ὁ μὴ ὢν μετ’ ἐμοῦ
the_‹one› (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ὁ μή ὤν μετʼ ἐμοῦ κατʼ ἐμοῦ ἐστίν καί ὁ μή συνάγων μετʼ ἐμοῦ σκορπίζει)
The phrase with me describes people who support or are friendly to Jesus. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a comparable phrase or state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [The one not being my friend] or [The one not helping me]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ὁ μὴ συνάγων μετ’ ἐμοῦ σκορπίζει
the_‹one› (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ὁ μή ὤν μετʼ ἐμοῦ κατʼ ἐμοῦ ἐστίν καί ὁ μή συνάγων μετʼ ἐμοῦ σκορπίζει)
Jesus implies that people are either gathering other people to him as disciples or scattering other people away from Jesus. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could state that explicitly. Alternate translation: [the one not gathering people to be with me scatters people away from me]
OET (OET-LV) The one not being with me is against me, and the one not gathering_together with me is_scattering.
OET (OET-RV) “Anyone who’s not for me is against me, and anyone who isn’t helping me gather others is scattering them.
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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