LUKE 1:66 Parallel Verse View

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

OET (OET-RV) and those who heard about it were thinking to themselves, “Who’s this young child going to turn out to be?”

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, pink:genitive/possessor, 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).

ULT And all the ones having heard stored in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child become?” For indeed the hand of the Lord was with him.

UST Everyone who heard about these things kept thinking about them. They thought, “Certainly this child will grow up to be someone very special!” They thought this because they could see that the Lord was present in his life in a powerful way.

BSB And all who heard [this] wondered in their hearts [and] asked, “What then {will} this child become?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.

MSB And all who heard [this] wondered in their hearts [and] asked, “What then {will} this child become?” And[fn] the Lord’s hand was with him.

BLB And all those having heard laid them up in their heart, saying, "What then will this child be?" And indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him.

AICNT And all [who heard them][fn] laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” [For][fn] The hand of the Lord was with him.

1:66, who heard them: Absent from some manuscripts. Latin(e)

1:66, For: 𝔓4 ℵ(01) B(03) C(04) D(05) W(032) Latin(latt) ‖ Absent from A(02) Syriac(sy^p).

OEB All who heard it kept it in mind, asking one another – ‘What can this child be destined to become?’ For the Power of the Lord was with him.

WEBBE All who heard them laid them up in their heart, saying, “What then will this child be?” The hand of the Lord was with him.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET All who heard these things kept them in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the Lord’s hand was indeed with him.

LSV and all who heard laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” And the hand of the LORD was with him.

FBV Everyone who heard the news wondered what it meant. “What will the little boy grow up to be?” they asked, for it was clear he was very special to God.[fn]

1:66 Literally, “for the hand of the Lord was with him.”

TCNT All who heard about this laid it up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child become?” [fn]And the hand of the Lord was with him.

1:66 And ¦ For CT

T4T Everyone who heard about it kept thinking about it. They were saying, “We wonder what will this child do for God when he grows up [RHQ]!” They wondered that because from what had happened they were sure that God would be helping that child [SYN] in a powerful way.

LEB And all those who heard kept these things[fn] in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be? For indeed the hand of the Lord was with him!”

1:66 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation

BBE And all who had word of them kept them in their minds and said, What will this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him.

Moff All who heard of it bore it in mind; they said, "Whatever will this child become?" For the hand of the Lord was indeed with him.

Wymth All who heard the story treasured it in their memories. "What then will this child be?" they said. For the Lord's hand was indeed with him.

ASV And all that heard them laid them up in their heart, saying, What then shall this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him.

DRA And all they that had heard them laid them up in their heart, saying: What an one, think ye, shall this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him.

YLT and all who heard did lay them up in their hearts, saying, 'What then shall this child be?' and the hand of the Lord was with him.

Drby And all who heard them laid them up in their heart, saying, What then will this child be? And [the] Lord's hand was with him.

RV And all that heard them laid them up in their heart, saying, What then shall this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him.

SLT And all having heard, set in their heart, saying, What then shall this child be! And the hand of the Lord was with him.

Wbstr And all they that had heard them , laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child will this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him.

KJB-1769 And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him.

KJB-1611 And all they that had heard them, layde them vp in their hearts, saying, What maner of childe shal this be? And the hand of the Lord was with him.
(And all they that had heard them, laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be? And the hand of the Lord was with him.)

Bshps And all they that hearde them, layde them vp in their heartes, saying: What maner of chylde shall this be? And the hande of the Lorde was with hym.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from marking of added words (and possibly capitalisation and punctuation))

Gnva And al they that heard them, laid them vp in their hearts, saying, What maner childe shall this be! and the hand of the Lord was with him.
(And all they that heard them, laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner child shall this be! and the hand of the Lord was with him. )

Cvdl And all they yt herde therof, toke it to hert, and sayde: What maner of man wil this childe be? For the hande of the LORDE was with him.
(And all they it herd/heard thereof, took it to heart, and said: What manner of man will this child be? For the hand of the LORD was with him.)

TNT and all they that herde the layde them vp in their hertes saying: What maner chylde shall this be? And the honde of the lorde was with him.
(and all they that herd/heard the laid them up in their hearts saying: What manner child shall this be? And the hand of the lord was with him. )

Wycl And alle men that herden puttiden in her herte, and seiden, What maner child schal this be? For the hoond of the Lord was with hym.
(And all men that heard put in her heart, and said, What manner child shall this be? For the hand of the Lord was with him.)

Luth Und alle, die es höreten, nahmen‘s zu Herzen und sprachen: Was, meinest du, will aus dem Kindlein werden? Denn die Hand des HErr’s war mit ihm.
(And all, the it heard, tooken‘s to/for heart(s) and said: Was, my you(sg), will out_of to_him little_child become? Because the hand the LORD’s what/which with him.)

ClVg et posuerunt omnes qui audierant in corde suo, dicentes: Quis, putas, puer iste erit? etenim manus Domini erat cum illo.
(and they_put everyone who/which they_had_heard in/into/on heart his_own, saying: Who, you_think, child this will_be? in_fact hands Master was when/with that/there. )

UGNT καὶ ἔθεντο πάντες οἱ ἀκούσαντες, ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτῶν λέγοντες, τί ἄρα τὸ παιδίον τοῦτο ἔσται? καὶ γὰρ χεὶρ Κυρίου ἦν μετ’ αὐτοῦ.
(kai ethento pantes hoi akousantes, en taʸ kardia autōn legontes, ti ara to paidion touto estai? kai gar ⱪeir Kuriou aʸn met’ autou.)

SBL-GNT καὶ ἔθεντο πάντες οἱ ἀκούσαντες ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτῶν, λέγοντες· Τί ἄρα τὸ παιδίον τοῦτο ἔσται; καὶ ⸀γὰρ χεὶρ κυρίου ἦν μετʼ αὐτοῦ.
(kai ethento pantes hoi akousantes en taʸ kardia autōn, legontes; Ti ara to paidion touto estai; kai ⸀gar ⱪeir kuriou aʸn metʼ autou.)

RP-GNT Καὶ ἔθεντο πάντες οἱ ἀκούσαντες ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτῶν, λέγοντες, Τί ἄρα τὸ παιδίον τοῦτο ἔσται; Καὶ χεὶρ κυρίου ἦν μετ' αὐτοῦ.
(Kai ethento pantes hoi akousantes en taʸ kardia autōn, legontes, Ti ara to paidion touto estai; Kai ⱪeir kuriou aʸn met' autou.)

TC-GNT Καὶ ἔθεντο πάντες οἱ ἀκούσαντες ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτῶν, λέγοντες, Τί ἄρα τὸ παιδίον τοῦτο ἔσται; [fn]Καὶ χεὶρ Κυρίου ἦν μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ.
(Kai ethento pantes hoi akousantes en taʸ kardia autōn, legontes, Ti ara to paidion touto estai; Kai ⱪeir Kuriou aʸn meta autou. )

1:66 και ¦ και γαρ CT

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

SOTN SIL Open Translation Notes:

Section 1:57–66: John the Baptizer was born and received his name

In this section, Elizabeth gave birth to a son, and she and his father gave him the name John. John received this name at the time when he was circumcised. He was the one who was later called John the Baptizer.

It was Jewish custom to circumcise a baby boy one week after his birth. The circumcision commonly took place at the family’s home. The father or a man who specialized in doing circumcision would cut off the skin at the end of the baby’s penis. This was a sign in each boy’s body that he was part of Israel and included in the covenant that God had made with Israel. Neighbors and relatives joined in the celebration.

God had shown his power in causing Elizabeth to become pregnant when she was old and had been unable to have children. When the baby was circumcised, God again showed his power by restoring Zechariah’s ability to speak. The unusual events in connection with John’s birth were told throughout the hill country of Judah. As a result, people thought about these things and felt awe and fear to see God working in that powerful way among them.

Some other possible headings for this section are:

Elizabeth gave birth to John

Elizabeth gave birth to a baby who was circumcised and named John

The birth and circumcision of John the Baptizer

1:66a

And all who heard this wondered in their hearts and asked,

Everyone who heard the discussions thought seriously about what had happened and asked:
Everyone who heard about these things/events continued to ponder them. They said/thought,
When people heard about the events, they all considered them and thought

And all who heard this wondered in their hearts: The BSB has used the singular form this to refer back to the plural “these things” in the previous verse. (There is no pronoun in the Greek; it says simply “the ones hearing.”) This could be confusing in some languages. You may need to express the meaning in the plural. For example:

Everyone who heard these things wondered about them.

The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as wondered in their hearts is literally “put/placed them in their hearts.” This is an idiom. In this context it indicates that people thought about these events and wondered what they meant. It implies that the events so impressed the people that they did not stop thinking about them. They continued to ponder them. When you translate this phrase, you can:

Use an idiom in your language that has the same meaning. For example:
People turned the whole matter over in their hearts (JBP)
Translate the meaning. For example:
Everyone who heard of it thought about it (GNT)

and asked: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as asked is literally “saying.” It can refer both to spoken words and to thoughts. In this context it refers to both. It introduces a question that people asked each other and that they asked in their own minds. If you must make explicit whether the people thought or spoke the question, it is probably best to translate it as a thought.

1:66b

“What then will this child become?”

“Considering these things, what kind of great work will this child do when he is a man?”
“What do these things mean about what this child will become?”
that when the child matured, he would become someone great,

What then will this child become?: The people asked this question because they were awed by the unusual events of John’s birth. From these events, they understood that God had a great purpose for John, and they wondered what that might be.

Some ways to translate this question are:

As a question. For example:
What does the future hold for this child? (GW)
What great work will this child do when he is a man?
As indirect speech. For example:
They wondered what the child would become when he matured.

Be careful not to imply that John might become something other than a human being.

then: The Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as then connects the question in 1:66b to the events of John’s birth that the neighbors had heard about. It means “on the basis of what we have heard, what is this child going to be?” Some other ways to translate it are:

So/therefore, what is this child going to be?

Given these circumstances, what is this child going to be?

In some languages it may not be necessary to translate this conjunction.

child: The same Greek word that was used in 1:59b is used again here.

1:66c

For the Lord’s hand was with him.

They said this because it was clear that the Lord was with him.
They asked this because they realized that truly/certainly the power of God was with him.
because the Lord was with him.

In Greek 1:66c begins with a wordThe και of και γαρ cannot be functioning as a simple coordinating conjunction. There is split opinion as to whether it means “also/in addition to these things” (Plummer, Lenski) or it functions as an intensifier (“indeed”). The latter sense is supported by the UBS Handbook on Luke (Reiling), Bock, Fitzmyer, Bruce in Expositor’s Greek Testament, and a number of English versions. that emphasizes that the statement is clear or certain. Some ways to translate this are:

For, indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him. (NRSV)

For the hand of the Lord was certainly with him. (NASB)

For it was plain that the Lord’s power was upon him. (GNT)

For: The Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as For introduces the basis or reason for the question that the people asked in 1:66b. They realized that the baby would be someone special because they could see that the Lord was with him.

the Lord’s hand was with him: The phrase the Lord’s hand was with him is an idiom. It means that God was with John to give him power and guide him in a special way. Some ways to translate this are:

the Lord’s power was upon him (GNT)

the Lord was powerfully working in his life

The Lord was helping him in a powerful way

him: The pronoun him refers to the child John, who was mentioned in 1:66b.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis

ἔθεντο πάντες οἱ ἀκούσαντες, ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτῶν

put all the_‹ones› ˓having˒_heard in the heart ˱of˲_them

Luke is leaving out some of the words that in many languages a sentence would need to be complete. Alternate translation: [all who heard these things stored them in their hearts]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

ἔθεντο & ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτῶν

put & in the heart ˱of˲_them

Luke is speaking of hearts as places where thoughts and memories can be stored safely. His expression describes people thinking things over carefully in order to understand them and retain them. Alternate translation: [thought carefully about these matters]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion

τί ἄρα τὸ παιδίον τοῦτο ἔσται?

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἔθεντο πάντες οἱ ἀκούσαντες ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτῶν λέγοντες Τί ἄρα τό παιδίον τοῦτο ἔσται καί Γάρ χείρ Κυρίου ἦν μετʼ αὐτοῦ)

The people who said this were likely not asking a question, expecting someone to tell them what the child would become. Rather, they were making a statement about what the events of the child’s birth had led them to believe about his destiny. So you could translate this as a statement or as an exclamation. Alternate translation: [What a great man this child will become!]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

χεὶρ Κυρίου ἦν μετ’ αὐτοῦ

In this expression, the hand represents strength and power. Alternate translation: [the Lord’s power was helping him]

Parallel LUKE 1:66

Section 1:57–66: John the Baptizer was born and received his name

1:66a

1:66b

1:66c