LUKE 3:15 Parallel Verse View

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Text critical issues=minor/spelling Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

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 the people were expecting and were all wondering in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ.

UST People had been waiting for a long time for the Messiah to come. But now they were getting very hopeful about John. They thought that he might be the Messiah.

BLB And the people are expecting and all wondering in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ.

AICNT While the people were waiting and all were pondering in their hearts about John, whether he might be the Christ,[fn]

3:15, Christ: See footnote for Luke 2:11.

OEB Then, while the people were in suspense, and were all debating with themselves whether John could be the Christ,

WEBBE As the people were in expectation, and all men reasoned in their hearts concerning John, whether perhaps he was the Christ,

WMBB As the people were in expectation, and all men reasoned in their hearts concerning Yochanan, whether perhaps he was the Messiah,

NET While the people were filled with anticipation and they all wondered whether perhaps John could be the Christ,

LSV And the people are looking forward, and all are reasoning in their hearts concerning John, whether or not he may be the Christ;

FBV The people were waiting expectantly, and wondered whether John himself might be the Messiah.

TCNT Now as the people were waiting in expectation and were all questioning in their hearts whether John might be the Christ,

T4T People were expecting that the Messiah would come soon. Because of that, many of them wondered about John. Some of them asked him if he was the Messiah.

LEB And while[fn] the people were waiting expectantly and all were pondering in their hearts concerning John, whether perhaps he might be the Christ,[fn]

3:15 *Here “while” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“were waiting expectantly”)

3:15 Or “Messiah”

BBE And while the people were waiting, and all men were questioning in their hearts about John, if he was the Christ or not,

Moff Now as people's expectations were roused and as everybody thought to himself about John, "Can he be the Christ,"

Wymth And while the people were in suspense and all were debating in their minds whether John might possibly be the Anointed One,

ASV And as the people were in expectation, and all men reasoned in their hearts concerning John, whether haply he were the Christ;

DRA And as the people were of opinion, and all were thinking in their hearts of John, that perhaps he might be the Christ;

YLT And the people are looking forward, and all are reasoning in their hearts concerning John, whether or not he may be the Christ;

Drby But as the people were in expectation, and all were reasoning in their hearts concerning John whether he might be the Christ,

RV And as the people were in expectation, and all men reasoned in their hearts concerning John, whether haply he were the Christ;
(And as the people were in expectation, and all men reasoned in their hearts concerning John, whether happily he were the Christ; )

SLT And the people awaiting, and all reasoning in their hearts concerning John, whether he may not be the Christ;

Wbstr And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts concerning John, whether he was the Christ, or not;

KJB-1769 And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not;

KJB-1611 And as the people were [fn]in expectation, and all men [fn]mused in their hearts of Iohn, whether he were the Christ or not:
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation and footnotes)

3:15 Or, in suspence.

3:15 Or, reasoned or debated.

Bshps As the people wayted, & all men mused in their heartes of Iohn, whether he were very Christe:
(As the people waited, and all men mused in their hearts of Yohn, whether he were very Christ:)

Gnva As the people waited, and all men mused in their heartes of Iohn, if he were not that Christ,
(As the people waited, and all men mused in their hearts of Yohn, if he were not that Christ, )

Cvdl But whan the people were in a doute, & thought all in their hertes, whether he were Christ,
(But when the people were in a doubt, and thought all in their hearts, whether he were Christ,)

TNT As the people were in a doute and all men disputed in their hertes of Iohn whether he were very Christ:
(As the people were in a doubt and all men disputed in their hearts of Yohn whether he were very Christ: )

Wycl Whanne al the puple gesside, and alle men thouyten in her hertis of Joon, lest perauenture he were Crist,
(When all the people guessed, and all men thought in her hearts of Yohn, lest peradventure/perhaps he were Christ,)

Luth Als aber das Volk im Wahn war und dachten alle in ihren Herzen von Johannes, ob er vielleicht Christus wäre
(As but the people in_the Wahn what/which and thought all in your(pl) heart(s) from Yohannes, if/whether he perhaps Christ were)

ClVg Existimante autem populo, et cogitantibus omnibus in cordibus suis de Joanne, ne forte ipse esset Christus,[fn]
(Go_outstimante however to_the_people, and they_thinkibus to_all in/into/on hearts to_his_own from/about Yoanne, not perhaps exactly_that/himself was Christ/Messiah, )

3.15 Existimante autem. ID. Non solum cogitabant, etc., usque ad per virginem venisse non credunt.

3.15 Go_outstimante however. ID. Not/No only forcesabant, etc., until to through a_virgin came not/no they_believe.

UGNT προσδοκῶντος δὲ τοῦ λαοῦ καὶ διαλογιζομένων πάντων ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις αὐτῶν περὶ τοῦ Ἰωάννου, μήποτε αὐτὸς εἴη ὁ Χριστός,
(prosdokōntos de tou laou kai dialogizomenōn pantōn en tais kardiais autōn peri tou Yōannou, maʸpote autos eiaʸ ho Ⱪristos,)

SBL-GNT Προσδοκῶντος δὲ τοῦ λαοῦ καὶ διαλογιζομένων πάντων ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις αὐτῶν περὶ τοῦ Ἰωάννου, μήποτε αὐτὸς εἴη ὁ χριστός,
(Prosdokōntos de tou laou kai dialogizomenōn pantōn en tais kardiais autōn peri tou Yōannou, maʸpote autos eiaʸ ho ⱪristos,)

RP-GNT Προσδοκῶντος δὲ τοῦ λαοῦ, καὶ διαλογιζομένων πάντων ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις αὐτῶν περὶ τοῦ Ἰωάννου, μήποτε αὐτὸς εἴη ὁ χριστός,
(Prosdokōntos de tou laou, kai dialogizomenōn pantōn en tais kardiais autōn peri tou Yōannou, maʸpote autos eiaʸ ho ⱪristos,)

TC-GNT Προσδοκῶντος δὲ τοῦ λαοῦ, καὶ διαλογιζομένων πάντων ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις αὐτῶν περὶ τοῦ [fn]Ἰωάννου, μήποτε αὐτὸς εἴη ὁ Χριστός,
(Prosdokōntos de tou laou, kai dialogizomenōn pantōn en tais kardiais autōn peri tou Yōannou, maʸpote autos eiaʸ ho Ⱪristos, )

3:15 ιωαννου ¦ ιωανου WH

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

TTN Tyndale Theme Notes:

Hope for the Messiah

In the first century, many Jews eagerly looked for the coming of the Messiah, a deliverer who would defeat Israel’s enemies and usher in an era of peace and prosperity for God’s people.

The Hebrew word Messiah is equivalent to the Greek word Christ—both mean “Anointed One.” The term comes from the practice of anointing Israelite kings with oil at their enthronement to confirm their appointment to rule the nation as God’s representative. Thus the term came to refer to the future king that Israel hoped for. There was widespread hope that a king from David’s line would reestablish David’s dynasty and reign in righteousness and justice on David’s throne in Jerusalem. This hope had its foundation in 2 Sam 7:11-16, where God promised King David that he would raise up descendants after him and establish his throne forever. With the decline and subsequent collapse of Israel as a kingdom, the Old Testament prophets predicted the coming of the Messiah (Isa 9:6-7; 11:1-5; Jer 23:5-6; 33:15-16; Ezek 37:24-25), the king who would deliver God’s people and reign forever on David’s throne.

The Gospel writers take a special interest in showing that Jesus is truly the promised Messiah (see e.g., Matt 1:21-23; Luke 1:32-33, 69-70), but that he has fulfilled the messianic promises in a surprising way. After Peter confessed that Jesus is “the Messiah sent from God,” Jesus immediately began teaching about the Messiah’s suffering (Luke 9:20-22). As Jesus approached Jerusalem for the last time, he was recognized as the King coming in the name of the Lord (Luke 18:36-38; 19:36-38), but then he was rejected (Luke 22:66-71) and crucified, mocked as “king of the Jews” and “God’s Messiah” (Luke 23:35-39).

On the third day, however, Jesus rose victorious from the dead, just as he predicted. During his appearances to the disciples he revealed that the Scriptures predicted all along that “the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory” (24:26). Jesus’ death and resurrection confirm that he is truly the Messiah and that his death brings restoration and forgiveness of sins (24:46-47).

Passages for Further Study

2 Sam 7:11-16; Isa 9:6-7; 11:1-5; Jer 23:5-6; 33:15-16; Ezek 37:24-25; Luke 2:25-32; 3:15

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 3:1–20: John the Baptizer prepared the way for Jesus

The last event in Luke 2 describes Jesus’ trip to Jerusalem when he was twelve years old. This section begins about eighteen years later. At the beginning of chapter 3, both Jesus and John the Baptizer were about thirty years old. Both men were ready to begin public ministry.

It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it. Some other possible headings for this section are:

The Preaching of John (NCV)

John the Baptist and Jesus (REB)

John the Baptizer tells people to prepare themselves for the Messiah

Parts of Luke 3:1–20 are basically the same as verses in Matthew 3:1–12. But Luke 3:1–2, 10–14, and 19–20 are not in Matthew.

Paragraph 3:15–18

The people who listened to John began to think that John himself might be the Christ/Messiah. But John made it clear that the Messiah was a different person who would come after him. The Messiah would have much greater authority and power than John had.

3:15a

The people were waiting expectantly

¶ The people were hopefully expecting the Christ/Messiah.
¶ Many people were anticipating that the Christ was about to come.

The people were waiting expectantly: The Greek word that the BSB translates as waiting expectantly means “to wait for,” “to look for,” or “to expect” something. The things that John had been saying had made the Jewish people excited. They expected that the Messiah would soon make his identity publicly known.

In some languages it may be necessary to say what the people were waiting for. The next part of the verse indicates that they were waiting for the Christ. Here are some ways to translate this:

Everyone was expecting the Messiah to come soon (NLT)

The people were hoping to see the Christ/Messiah

3:15b

and were all wondering in their hearts if John could be the Christ.

They were all wondering whether John himself might be the Christ/Messiah.
They were all asking themselves, “Is John perhaps the Christ/Deliverer whom God promised to send?”

and were all wondering in their hearts if John could be the Christ: In some languages it may be natural to start a new sentence here. It may also be natural to use direct speech. For example:

They were all wondering, “Is John perhaps the Christ?”

wondering in their hearts: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as wondering in their hearts is an idiom. It indicates here that they were “asking themselves” or simply “wondering.” The Jewish people were all thinking about John and trying to decide whether John was the Messiah. Other ways to translate this are:

considering

pondering

thinking about

the Christ: Here the word Christ is used as a title. It is not just one of Jesus’ names. The Jews used this title 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 are:

Use a title or a descriptive phrase in your language that has the same meaning as Christ. For example:
Messiah
Promised Deliverer
the Rescuer-King whom God appointed
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
Transliterate Christ and indicate in some way that it is a title. For example:
the Christ
the Kirisita

If you do not indicate the meaning of Christ in the text, you may want to include a footnote to explain it. Or you may want to explain the meaning in a glossary. For example:

The word/title “Christ” refers to the king and savior whom God had promised to send.

See also Christ in the Glossary. The word Christ was also used in 2:11b.

General Comment on 3:15a–b

In some languages it may be helpful to indicate the connection between the parts of this verse in a more explicit way. For example:

^15aSince the people were hoping for the Christ to come, ^15bthey wondered if John might be the one. (NCV)

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-time-background

προσδοκῶντος δὲ τοῦ λαοῦ

expecting (Some words not found in SR-GNT: προσδοκῶντος Δέ τοῦ λαοῦ καί διαλογιζομένων πάντων ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις αὐτῶν περί τοῦ Ἰωάννου μήποτε αὐτός εἴη ὁ Χριστός)

Luke is providing this background information to help readers understand what happens next. You can introduce his statement with a word that will indicate this. Alternate translation: [Now the people were expecting]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

προσδοκῶντος δὲ τοῦ λαοῦ

The implication is that the people were expecting the Messiah. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state that explicitly. Alternate translation: [Now the people were expecting the Messiah]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

διαλογιζομένων πάντων ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις αὐτῶν

reasoning all in the hearts ˱of˲_them

Here, Luke uses the term hearts to represent the people’s minds. Alternate translation: [all wondering in their minds]

Parallel LUKE 3:15

Section 3:1–20: John the Baptizer prepared the way for Jesus

Paragraph 3:15–18

3:15a

3:15b

General Comment on 3:15a–b