LUKE 11:35 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

UST Therefore, be careful not to think that your eye is working right and letting in light if it is actually not working right and not letting in any light.

AICNT {Therefore, be careful that the light within you is not darkness}.[fn]

11:35, Therefore, be careful...: Some manuscripts read “So if the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness.” D(05) Latin(it)

OEB Take care, therefore, that the inner light is not darkness.

WEBBE Therefore see whether the light that is in you isn’t darkness.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET Therefore see to it that the light in you is not darkness.

LSV take heed, then, lest the light that [is] in you is darkness;

FBV So make sure the light you have in you is not actually darkness.

TCNT Therefore make sure that the light within yoʋ is not darkness.

T4T Therefore, you(pl) do not need to see more miracles. You need to think carefully about what I have already told you, so that the things that you have heard from others do not cause you to remain in spiritual darkness [MET].

LEB Therefore pay careful attention that the light in you is not darkness!

BBE So take care that the light which is in you is not dark.

Moff (Look! perhaps your very light is dark.)

Wymth Consider therefore whether the light that is in you is anything but mere darkness.

ASV Look therefore whether the light that is in thee be not darkness.

DRA Take heed therefore, that the light which is in thee, be not darkness.

YLT take heed, then, lest the light that [is] in thee be darkness;

Drby See therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.

RV Look therefore whether the light that is in thee be not darkness.
(Look therefore whether the light that is in thee/you be not darkness. )

SLT Take heed therefore lest the light in thee be darkness.

Wbstr Take heed therefore, that the light which is in thee be not darkness.

KJB-1769 Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.
( Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee/you be not darkness. )

KJB-1611 Take heede therefore, that the light which is in thee, be not darknesse.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps Take heede therefore, that the lyght which is in thee, be not darknes.
(Take heed therefore, that the light which is in thee/you, be not darknes.)

Gnva Take heede therefore, that the light which is in thee, be not darkenesse.
(Take heed therefore, that the light which is in thee/you, be not darkness. )

Cvdl Take hede therfore, that the light which is in the, be not darcknesse.
(Take heed therefore, that the light which is in them, be not darkness.)

TNT Take hede therfore that the light which is in the be not darknes.
(Take heed therefore that the light which is in the be not darknes. )

Wycl Therfor se thou, lest the liyt that is in thee, be derknessis.
(Therefore see thou/you, lest the light that is in thee/you, be darkness.)

Luth So schaue darauf, daß nicht das Licht in dir Finsternis sei!
(So look on_it, that not the light(n) in you/to_you(sg) darkness be!)

ClVg Vide ergo ne lumen quod in te est, tenebræ sint.[fn]
(See therefore not the_light that in/into/on you(sg) it_is, darkness let_them_be. )

11.35 Vide ergo ne, etc. Post institutionem rectæ fidei etiam de bonis operibus et bona intentione instruit, ut non tantum opera, sed etiam cogitationes et cordis intentiones mundentur, quasi dicat: Ego lucernam fidei in vestris sensibus accendo, et in Ecclesiam pono. Vos autem, quantum ex vobis est, lucernas vestras accendite, id est intentiones cordis vestri mundate, ut ex intentione munda placeant etiam opera. Hæc contra hypocrisim Pharisæorum subdole signa quærentium specialiter dicta, nos juxta moralem sensum generaliter instruunt.

11.35 See therefore not, etc. After institutionem rectæ of_faith also from/about good works and good(s) intention instructs, as not/no only works, but also thoughts and of_the_heart intentions mundentur, as_if let_him_say: I lampm of_faith in/into/on yours senses accendo, and in/into/on assembly/church pono. You(pl) however, quantum from to_you(pl) it_is, lamps your accendite, that it_is intentions of_the_heart yours cleanse, as from intention clean placeant also works. This on_the_contrary hypocrisim of_the_Pharisees subdole signs to_the_seekerum specially said/dictated, us next_to moralem sense generally instruunt.

UGNT σκόπει οὖν, μὴ τὸ φῶς τὸ ἐν σοὶ σκότος ἐστίν.
(skopei oun, maʸ to fōs to en soi skotos estin.)

SBL-GNT σκόπει οὖν μὴ τὸ φῶς τὸ ἐν σοὶ σκότος ἐστίν.
(skopei oun maʸ to fōs to en soi skotos estin.)

RP-GNT Σκόπει οὖν μὴ τὸ φῶς τὸ ἐν σοὶ σκότος ἐστίν.
(Skopei oun maʸ to fōs to en soi skotos estin.)

TC-GNT Σκόπει οὖν μὴ τὸ φῶς τὸ ἐν σοὶ σκότος ἐστίν.
(Skopei oun maʸ to fōs to en soi skotos estin. )

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 11:33–36: Jesus taught about light and darkness

In this section, Jesus used the metaphors of a lamp, light, darkness, eye, and body. The lamp and the light are illustrations of Jesus and his teaching. Both Jesus’ life and teaching revealed God to the people. People whose spiritual eyesight was good were able to understand and accept his message. They were like someone whose mind or body was full of light. People who rejected his message were like a person who was full of darkness.

Jesus used these metaphors to tell the people (in 11:29–32) that their spiritual eyes were diseased. They could not receive the light of his message. If they had been willing to accept his message, then their minds would have been full of light. They would not have asked for another miracle to prove that God had sent him.

Some other possible headings for this section are:

Jesus’ message is like a lamp and like light

The light of the body (GNT)

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 5:15 and 6:22–23.

Paragraph 11:33–36

There are two sayings about a lamp in this paragraph: one in 11:33 and another in 11:34–36. In 11:33 Jesus compared himself and his teaching to a lamp. People put a lamp where its light will be seen. In the same way, Jesus taught in public where everyone could hear and see him.

In 11:34 the topic is different. Here a person’s eye (his attitude toward Jesus’ message) is compared to a lamp. This lamp provides him with light (spiritual illumination or understanding).A number of commentators say that in this context the eye represents a person’s attitude toward Jesus, his willingness or unwillingness to accept Jesus’ message. Evans (p. 188) uses the term “moral disposition,” referring to a person’s inclination to receive Jesus’ message or to reject him. Marshall (p. 489) speaks of a person being “single-mindedly receptive to the light of the gospel,” and Liefeld (p. 954) says that the body receives light through the eye “subject to the individual’s will.” Morris (p. 221) also speaks of a person’s attention being focused on good (in the case of a healthy eye) or on evil (in the case of a bad eye). Nolland (p. 657) agrees that the eye here is a metaphor for “moral and spiritual readiness to see.”

11:35

Be careful, then, that the light within you is not darkness.

So make/be sure that what you think is light in you^(sing/plur) is not really darkness.
Therefore you^(sing) should be careful lest you^(sing) think that your mind is illuminated/enlightened but actually it is dark.
Therefore, be careful that what you think is the truth is actually true and not false.

Be careful: The command Be careful functions as a warning. Some other ways to translate this warning are:

See to it (NIV)

Make certain (GNT)

then: The Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as then introduces a command that Jesus made as a logical result of what he had just said. It is not a time word. Other ways to translate this word are:

Therefore (RSV)

So (NCV)

that the light within you is not darkness: There are at least two translation issues in this clause:

Issue 1—Implied Information

This clause is an apparent contradiction, since light cannot be darkness. The implied meaning is probably “that what you think is the light within you is not actually darkness.” In some languages it may be necessary to make this implied information explicit. For example:

that what you consider to be inner light is not really darkness

that the light you think you have is not actually darkness (NLT)

Issue 2—Meaning of the metaphor

This clause contains the metaphors of “light” and “darkness,” but the meaning of the metaphors is not stated explicitly. Here the “light” represents the truth. Jesus was telling the people to be sure that their knowledge or understanding of the truth, especially the truth about himself, was correct. If their understanding was not correct, it was like darkness.

You should try to keep the figures of light and darkness in your translation if possible. One way to do this is to use a simile. For example:

be careful lest you think that you are like a person who has light inside him and understands the truth but actually you are like a person who is dark inside

If it is not possible to keep the figures of light and darkness, one possible way to translate this is:

be careful that what you think is the truth is actually true and not false

Parallel LUKE 11:35

Section 11:33–36: Jesus taught about light and darkness

Paragraph 11:33–36

11:35