LUKE 23:2 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, orange:accusative/object, 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 they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this one perverting our nation and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.”

UST They accused him in front of Pilate. They said, “We have seen this man causing trouble by misleading our people. He has been telling them to not pay the taxes that Caesar, the Roman emperor, has imposed. Also, he has been saying that he is the Messiah, a king!”

BSB And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this [man] subverting our nation, forbidding payment of taxes to Caesar, and proclaiming Himself to be Christ, a King.”

MSB And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this [man] subverting the nation,[fn] forbidding payment of taxes to Caesar, and proclaiming Himself to be Christ, a King.”

BLB And they began to accuse Him, saying, "We found this man misleading our nation, and forbidding tribute to be given to Caesar, and declaring Himself to be Christ, a king."

AICNT They began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man [perverting {our}[fn] nation,][fn] forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.”

23:2, our: 𝔓75 ℵ(01) B(03) D(05) Syriac(sy) NA28 SBLGNT THGNT ‖ Some manuscripts read “the.” A(02) W(032) Latin(a) BYZ TR

23:2, perverting our nation: Absent from Latin(a).

OEB And they began to accuse him, ‘This is a man whom we found misleading our people, preventing them from paying taxes to the Emperor, and giving out that he himself is “Christ, a king.” ’

WEBBE They began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man perverting the nation, forbidding paying taxes to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.”

WMBB They began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man perverting the nation, forbidding paying taxes to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Messiah, a king.”

NET They began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man subverting our nation, forbidding us to pay the tribute tax to Caesar and claiming that he himself is Christ, a king.”

LSV and began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this One perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying Himself to be Christ, a king.”

FBV There they started to accuse him. “We found this man deceiving our nation, telling people not to pay taxes to Caesar, and claiming he is Messiah, a king,” they said.

TCNT They began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man perverting [fn]the nation and forbidding us to pay taxes to Caesar, declaring himself to be Christ, a king.”

23:2 the ¦ our CT

T4T They began to accuse Jesus, saying, “We (exc) have determined that this fellow has caused political trouble in our country. He has been telling people that they should not pay taxes to the Roman government [MTY]. Also, he says that he is the Messiah, a king!”

LEB And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us[fn] to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying he himself is Christ, a king!”

23:2 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation

BBE And they made statements against him, saying, This man has to our knowledge been teaching our nation to do wrong, and not to make payment of taxes to Caesar, even saying that he himself is Christ, a king.

Moff They proceeded to accuse him, saying, "We have discovered this fellow perverting our nation, forbidding tribute being paid to Caesar, and alleging he is king messiah."

Wymth "We have found this man," they said, "an agitator among our nation, forbidding the payment of tribute to Caesar, and claiming to be himself an anointed king."

ASV And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this man perverting our nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Cæsar, and saying that he himself is Christ a king.

DRA And they began to accuse him, saying: We have found this man perverting our nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he is Christ the king.

YLT and began to accuse him, saying, 'This one we found perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying himself to be Christ a king.'

Drby And they began to accuse him, saying, We have found this [man] perverting our nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ, a king.

RV And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this man perverting our nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ a king.

SLT And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying himself to be Christ a King.

Wbstr And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this man perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Cesar, saying, that he himself is Christ a king.

KJB-1769 And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Cæsar, saying that he himself is Christ a King.
(And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a King. )

KJB-1611 And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow peruerting the nation, and forbidding to giue tribute to Cesar, saying, that he himselfe is Christ a king.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation and punctuation)

Bshps And they began to accuse hym, saying: We founde this felow peruerting the people, and forbyddyng to paye tribute to Ceasar, saying that he is Christe, a kyng.
(And they began to accuse him, saying: We found this fellow perverting the people, and forbydding to pay tribute to Ceasar, saying that he is Christ, a king.)

Gnva And they began to accuse him, saying, We haue found this man peruerting the nation, and forbidding to pay tribute to Cesar, saying, That he is Christ a King.
(And they began to accuse him, saying, We have found this man perverting the nation, and forbidding to pay tribute to Caesar, saying, That he is Christ a King. )

Cvdl and begane to accuse him, and sayde: We haue founde this felowe peruertinge the people, and forbyddinge to geue trybute vnto the Emperoure, and sayeth, that he is Christ a kynge.
(and began to accuse him, and said: We have found this fellow pervertinge the people, and forbyddinge to give tribute unto the Emperor, and saith/says, that he is Christ a king.)

TNT And they beganne to accuse him sayinge: We have founde this felowe pervertynge the people and forbiddynge to paye tribute to Cesar: sayinge that he is Christ a kynge.
(And they began to accuse him saying: We have found this fellow perverting the people and forbidding to pay tribute to Caesar: saying that he is Christ a king. )

Wycl And thei bigunnen to accuse hym, and seiden, We han foundun this turnynge vpsodoun oure folk, and forbedynge tributis to be youun to the emperour, and seiynge that hym silf is Crist and kyng.
(And they began to accuse him, and said, We have found this turning upsodoun our folk/people, and forbeding tributis to be given to the emperor, and saying that himself is Christ and king.)

Luth und fingen an, ihn zu verklagen, und sprachen: Diesen finden wir, daß er das Volk abwendet und verbietet, den Schoß dem Kaiser zu geben, und spricht, er sei Christus, ein König.
(and started an, him/it to/for sue, and said: This/Thesen find we/us, that he the people averts and verbietet, the lap(n) to_him Kaiser to/for give, and speaks/says, he be Christ, a king.)

ClVg Cœperunt autem illum accusare, dicentes: Hunc invenimus subvertentem gentem nostram, et prohibentem tributa dare Cæsari, et dicentem se Christum regem esse.
(Cœperunt however him accusare, saying: This_one we_found subvertentem nation ours, and prohibentem tributa dare Cæsari, and saying himself Christ/Messiah the_king to_be. )

UGNT ἤρξαντο δὲ κατηγορεῖν αὐτοῦ λέγοντες, τοῦτον εὕρομεν διαστρέφοντα τὸ ἔθνος ἡμῶν, καὶ κωλύοντα φόρους Καίσαρι διδόναι, καὶ λέγοντα ἑαυτὸν Χριστὸν, βασιλέα εἶναι.
(aʸrxanto de kataʸgorein autou legontes, touton heuromen diastrefonta to ethnos haʸmōn, kai kōluonta forous Kaisari didonai, kai legonta heauton Ⱪriston, basilea einai.)

SBL-GNT ἤρξαντο δὲ κατηγορεῖν αὐτοῦ λέγοντες· Τοῦτον εὕραμεν διαστρέφοντα τὸ ἔθνος ⸀ἡμῶν καὶ κωλύοντα ⸂φόρους Καίσαρι⸃ διδόναι ⸀καὶ λέγοντα ⸀αὑτὸν χριστὸν βασιλέα εἶναι.
(aʸrxanto de kataʸgorein autou legontes; Touton heuramen diastrefonta to ethnos ⸀haʸmōn kai kōluonta ⸂forous Kaisari⸃ didonai ⸀kai legonta ⸀hauton ⱪriston basilea einai.)

RP-GNT Ἤρξαντο δὲ κατηγορεῖν αὐτοῦ, λέγοντες, Τοῦτον εὕρομεν διαστρέφοντα τὸ ἔθνος, καὶ κωλύοντα Καίσαρι φόρους διδόναι, λέγοντα ἑαυτὸν χριστὸν βασιλέα εἶναι.
(Aʸrxanto de kataʸgorein autou, legontes, Touton heuromen diastrefonta to ethnos, kai kōluonta Kaisari forous didonai, legonta heauton ⱪriston basilea einai.)

TC-GNT Ἤρξαντο δὲ κατηγορεῖν αὐτοῦ, λέγοντες, Τοῦτον [fn]εὕρομεν διαστρέφοντα τὸ [fn]ἔθνος, καὶ κωλύοντα [fn]Καίσαρι φόρους διδόναι, [fn]λέγοντα [fn]ἑαυτὸν Χριστὸν βασιλέα εἶναι.
(Aʸrxanto de kataʸgorein autou, legontes, Touton heuromen diastrefonta to ethnos, kai kōluonta Kaisari forous didonai, legonta heauton Ⱪriston basilea einai. )

23:2 ευρομεν ¦ ευραμεν CT

23:2 εθνος ¦ εθνος ημων CT

23:2 καισαρι φορους ¦ φορους καισαρι CT

23:2 λεγοντα ¦ και λεγοντα CT

23:2 ἑαυτὸν ¦ αὑτὸν SBL WH

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

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 22:66–23:25: Leaders put Jesus on trial and condemned him to die

Luke indicates that Jesus had several trials. These trials can also be considered to be several parts of the same trial. Luke recorded the details of four of these trials. The chart here lists them according to who was leading at each trial:

22:66–71	the Jewish council
23:1–5	Pilate
23:6–12	Herod
23:13–25	Pilate again

In all of Jesus’ trials, there was no one who could prove that Jesus had broken any law of God or man. However, even though he had not done anything wrong, the Roman governor Pilate sentenced him to die on a cross.

The Notes suggest a section heading for each of the trials in the chart. However, you may decide to have one heading for Section Group 22:66–23:25 like the one suggested in the Section Group box above. Another example of a heading for this section group is:

The leaders tried and condemned Jesus

23:2a

And they began to accuse Him, saying,

Then/There they started telling Pilate their accusations against Jesus, saying,
When they arrived there, they told Pilate why they had brought Jesus to him to be judged. They said,

And: This verse begins with a common Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as And. It introduces what the council members did when they reached the place where Pilate was. In some languages it may be necessary to indicate that they arrived there. For example:

When they arrived at Pilate’s court

There

they began to accuse Him: The clause they began to accuse Him indicates that the council members started to accuse Jesus of doing wrong. They brought formal charges against him. They told Pilate some untrue things about Jesus because they wanted Pilate to condemn him and execute him. Some other ways to translate the clause are:

they started to tell Pilate their accusations against Jesus

they accused Jesus

In some languages there are special ways to introduce formal charges against someone. For example:

They filed-charges-against-himKankanaey back translation on TW.

They opened the case against him (REB)

Translate this clause in a natural way in your language. If you have a special way to refer to bringing legal charges against someone, you may be able to use it here.

saying: The verb saying introduces the specific things that the council members said to accuse Jesus. These were formal accusations that they told Governor Pilate. Introduce this accusations in a natural way in your language Some other ways to introduce them in English are:

They said to Governor Pilate

They declared

The three statements in 23:2b–d are connected with the common Greek conjunction that is often translated as “and.” They can be translated as three separate accusations or as three accusations separated by commas (as in the BSB).Some commentators consider the statements in 23:2c and 23:2d to be specific examples of how Jesus was misleading the people (23:2b), but many commentators consider the statements in 23:2b–d to be three separate charges.

23:2b

“We found this man subverting our nation,

“We^(excl) discovered that this person is causing trouble among our^(excl) people.
“Governor Pilate, we^(excl) heard this Jesus telling/influencing our^(excl) people to oppose the government.

In this part of the verse the Jewish leaders made their first formal charge against Jesus. They were speaking respectfully to an important government leader. In some languages there may be a special way to address Pilate respectfully or to introduce their speech. For example:

We greet you, Governor Pilate.

Begin the speech in a respectful way in your language.

We found this man subverting our nation: Here the Jewish leaders told Pilate that they had discovered Jesus subverting their people. The word subverting implies that Jesus was influencing the people to oppose the Roman government. This was a serious charge against Jesus, but it was not true.

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

We found this man inciting our people to revolt (NJB)

We have investigated this person, and we know that he’s causing trouble in our townWestern Bukidnon Manobo back translation on TW.

We caught this person in the act of persuading our countrymen the Jews to riot/revolt.Kankanaey back translation on TW.

We heard/discovered this man telling our people to be rebelliousThe phrase “We found” probably implies that the leaders heard Jesus say the rebellious things, but it may also imply that they investigated by asking other people. Plummer (p. 520) says, “Whether heuramen [‘we found’] refers to ‘catching in the act’ or to ‘discovering by investigation’ is not certain.” In the Gospel of Luke there are many examples of the Jewish leaders listening to Jesus and asking him questions.

Translate the leaders’ false accusation in a way that is natural in your language.

We: The pronoun We refers here to the Jewish council members. It does not include Pilate or anyone else who was present.

found: In this context the verb found means “have discovered.” It probably implies that the leaders heard and saw what Jesus did. It may also imply that they investigated by asking other people.

this man: The Greek word that the BSB translates as this man means “this one.” It was a disrespectful way to refer to Jesus, and it is emphasized in the sentence.For more information, see Levinsohn, Discourse Features of New Testament Greek, p. 37. Another way to translate this disrespect in English is:

this fellow

Use a natural way in your language to express the disrespect.

subverting: The Greek word that the BSB translates as subverting means “misleading, perverting.”See diastrephō, senses 2 and 3, BDAG, p. 237. It implies that Jesus was telling the Jewish people to oppose the Roman government. That was not true. If your language has an idiom that expresses the meaning of subverting, you may be able to use it here. Here is another way to translate this:

stirs up trouble (GW)

our nation: The council members used the phrase our nation to refer to the Jewish people. They were Jews, but Pilate was not a Jew. Use an appropriate form to translate the phrase in your language. For example:

our^(excl) people

23:2c

forbidding payment of taxes to Caesar,

He says that it is wrong to pay taxes to the emperor,
He tells us^(excl) not to pay taxes to the Roman high king/ruler,

forbidding payment of taxes to Caesar: Here the council members lied to Pilate. They said that Jesus told people that they should not pay taxes to Caesar. This statement was false, as 20:25 shows.

Some other ways to translate this false statement are:

He has been saying that we^(excl) should not pay taxes to Caesar

telling them not to pay taxes to the Emperor (GNT)

he stops/hinders people from paying taxes to Caesar

Caesar: Caesar was the title given to all the Roman emperors. For more information, see the note at 20:22.

23:2d

and proclaiming Himself to be Christ, a King.”

and he falsely says that he is the Messiah, a king!”
and he declares that he is the Christ, the one whom God sent to be our^(excl) king.”

proclaiming Himself to be Christ: The Greek word that the BSB translates as proclaiming is more literally “saying.” The Jewish leaders were telling Pilate what Jesus said about himself. They told Pilate that Jesus called himself Christ. The Jewish leaders did not believe that Jesus was the Christ. In some languages it may be helpful to make this clear by saying:

he falsely says that he is Christ

Christ, a King: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as Christ, a King is literally “Christ king.” The Jewish leaders added the word King to explain or emphasize the meaning of the title Christ to Pilate. They may have thought that because Pilate was not Jewish, he might not know the meaning that Jewish people gave to the word Christ.

In some languages it is necessary to make the connection between Christ and King more explicit. For example:

Christ, meaning “king”

Since the Jews referred to a specifically Jewish king, you may need to indicate that here. It also provides the implied connection with Pilate’s question in 23:3a, “Are you the king of the Jews?” For example:

Messiah, our king (CEV)

Christ: The Jews used the title Christ to refer to the person whom God had appointed and promised to send as king and savior. The title Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word “Messiah,” and the two words have the same meaning.

Some ways to translate Christ in this context are:

Use a title or a descriptive phrase in your language that has the same meaning as Christ. For example:
Messiah
Promised Deliverer
Transliterate Christ and include a phrase that explains the meaning. For example:
Christ, the appointed one
Cristo, the Savior whom God promised to send
the Christ who comes from God If you usually use this option to translate Christ, you may want to shorten the phrase that explains the meaning. Or you may want to substitute the word “king” for the usual phrase.
Transliterate Christ and indicate in some way that it is a title. For example:
the Christ
the Kirisita

The title Christ also occurred in 20:41. Most of the information in the note at 20:41b is repeated here. For more information, see Christ, in the Glossary.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

κατηγορεῖν αὐτοῦ

˓to_be˒_accusing ˱against˲_him

The chief priests and scribes accused Jesus of doing wrong things because they wanted Pilate to kill Jesus. But they were accusing him falsely, because Jesus had never done what they accused him of doing. For example, in [20:25](../20/25.md), Jesus had specifically said that the Jews could pay taxes to the Roman government. To make sure that your readers are not confused, you could state explicitly that these accusations were false. Alternate translation: [to accuse him falsely]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / exclusive

εὕρομεν & τὸ ἔθνος ἡμῶν

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἤρξαντο Δέ κατηγορεῖν αὐτοῦ λέγοντες τοῦτον Εὕρομεν διαστρέφοντα τό ἔθνος ἡμῶν καί κωλύοντα φόρους Καίσαρι διδόναι καί λέγοντα ἑαυτόν Χριστόν βασιλέα εἶναι)

The terms We and our refer only the members of the Jewish ruling council who are speaking, not to Pilate or any of the other people nearby. So in your translation, use the exclusive forms of these words, if your language marks that distinction.

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

διαστρέφοντα τὸ ἔθνος ἡμῶν

perverting (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἤρξαντο Δέ κατηγορεῖν αὐτοῦ λέγοντες τοῦτον Εὕρομεν διαστρέφοντα τό ἔθνος ἡμῶν καί κωλύοντα φόρους Καίσαρι διδόναι καί λέγοντα ἑαυτόν Χριστόν βασιλέα εἶναι)

The Jewish leaders speak of Jesus as if he were a guide who was leading someone in the wrong direction. Alternate translation: [encouraging our people to do things that are wrong]

κωλύοντα φόρους & διδόναι

forbidding taxes & ˓to_be˒_giving

Alternate translation: [telling them not to pay taxes]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

Καίσαρι

˱to˲_Caesar

See how you translated Caesar in [20:22](../20/22.md). The Jewish leaders are referring to the Roman government by Caesar’s name, since he was its ruler. Alternate translation: [to the Roman government]

Parallel LUKE 23:2

Section 22:66–23:25: Leaders put Jesus on trial and condemned him to die

23:2a

23:2b

23:2c

23:2d

Jesus’ Arrest, Trial, Crucifixion, and Burial