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Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)
OET (OET-RV) Yeshua was about thirty when he started his ministry. He was the son (as it was thought) of Yosef, son of Heli,![]()
OET-LV And Yaʸsous himself was beginning about thirty years, being the_son, as was_being_thought, of_Yōsaʸf/(Yōşēf), the son of_Aʸli/(ˊĒlī),![]()
SR-GNT Καὶ αὐτὸς ἦν ˚Ἰησοῦς ἀρχόμενος ὡσεὶ ἐτῶν τριάκοντα, ὢν υἱός, ὡς ἐνομίζετο, Ἰωσὴφ, τοῦ Ἠλὶ, ‡
(Kai autos aʸn ˚Yaʸsous arⱪomenos hōsei etōn triakonta, ōn huios, hōs enomizeto, Yōsaʸf, tou Aʸli,)
Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, pink:genitive/possessor.
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 Jesus himself was beginning about 30 years old, being the son (as it was assumed) of Joseph, of Heli,
UST At that time Jesus began his work for God. He was about 30 years old. This is Jesus’ lineage: People considered Jesus to be the son of Joseph. Joseph was the son of Heli.
BSB Jesus Himself was about thirty years [old] when He began [His ministry].
⇔ He was regarded as [the] son of Joseph,
⇔ the [son] of Heli,
MSB Jesus Himself was about thirty years [old] when He began [His ministry].
⇔ He was regarded as [the] son of Joseph,
⇔ the [son] of Heli,[fn]
3:23 NA, F35, SBL, Stephanus TR, TH Eli
BLB And Jesus beginning, was Himself about thirty years old, being son as was supposed, of Joseph, of Heli,
AICNT And Jesus [himself][fn] was about thirty years old when he began, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph[fn]
¶ [[, of Jacob, of Matthew, of Eleazar, of Eliud, of Iachin, of Sadok, of Azor, of Eliakim, the of Abiud, of Zorobabel, of Shealtiel, of Jehoiakim, of Joakim, of Eliakim, of Joseph, of Amos, of Manasseh, of Hezekiah, of Achaz, of Joathan, of Oziah, of Amasiah, of Joas, of Ochozias, of Joram, of Josaphat, of Asa, of Abiud, of Roboam, of Solomon, of David.]][fn]
¶
¶ [, of {Eli},[fn]
3:23, himself: Absent from D(05).
3:23-38, The genealogy that follows in verses 23c-38 is absent from a some manuscripts. W(032). D(05) is more consistent with the genealogy of Matthew 1:6-16 in an inverted order, and with different spelling for some names starting with of Jacob. The genealogy also exhibits a large number of textual variants, the most notable being verse 33.
3:23, of Jacob...: D(05) includes a genealogy to David starting with Jacob being the father of Joseph, consistent with Matthew 1:16.
3:23, Eli: Other manuscripts read “Heli.” THGNT
OEB When beginning his work, Jesus was about thirty years old. He was regarded as the son of Joseph, whose ancestors were –
⇔ Eli,
WEBBE Jesus himself, when he began to teach, was about thirty years old, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli,
WMBB Yeshua himself, when he began to teach, was about thirty years old, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Eli,
NET So Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years old. He was the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli,
LSV And Jesus Himself was beginning to be about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, Son of Joseph,
FBV Jesus was around thirty when he began his public ministry. People presumed he was the son of Joseph. Joseph was the son of Heli,
TCNT Jesus was about thirty years of age when he began his ministry, being the son (so it was thought) of Joseph, the son of [fn]Heli,
3:23 Heli ¦ Eli NA PCK SBL ST TH
T4T When Jesus began his work for God, he was about 30 years old. It was {People} thought that he was the son of Joseph. Joseph was the son of Heli.
LEB ¶ And Jesus, when he[fn] began his ministry,[fn] was himself about thirty years old, being the son (as it was believed) of Joseph the son of Eli,
3:23 *Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“began”) which is understood as temporal
3:23 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
BBE And Jesus at this time was about thirty years old, being the son (as it seemed) of Joseph, the son of Heli,
Moff At the outset Jesus was about thirty years of age; he was the son, as people supposed, of Joseph, the son of Heli,
Wymth And He—Jesus—when He began His ministry, was about thirty years old. He was the son (it was supposed) of Joseph, son of Heli,
ASV And Jesus himself, when he began to teach, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli,
DRA And Jesus himself was beginning about the age of thirty years; being (as it was supposed) the son of Joseph, who was of Heli, who was of Mathat,
YLT And Jesus himself was beginning to be about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, son of Joseph,
Drby And Jesus himself was beginning to be about thirty years old; being as was supposed son of Joseph; of Eli,
RV And Jesus himself, when he began to teach, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli,
SLT And Jesus himself was beginning about thirty years, being, as was thought, the son of Joseph, of Eli,
Wbstr And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, who was the son of Heli,
KJB-1769 And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,
KJB-1611 And Iesus himselfe began to be about thirty yeeres of age, being (as was supposed) the sonne of Ioseph, which was the sonne of Heli,
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above)
Bshps And Iesus him selfe began to be about thirtie yeres of age, beyng (as he was supposed) the sonne of Ioseph: whiche was the sonne of Heli,
(And Yesus/Yeshua himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as he was supposed) the son of Yoseph: which was the son of Heli,)
Gnva And Iesus himselfe began to bee about thirtie yeere of age, being as men supposed the sonne of Ioseph, which was the sonne of Eli,
(And Yesus/Yeshua himself began to be about thirty year of age, being as men supposed the son of Yoseph, which was the son of Eli, )
Cvdl And Iesus was aboute thirtie yeares whan he beganne. And he was taken for the sonne of Ioseph, which was the sonne of Eli,
(And Yesus/Yeshua was about thirty years when he began. And he was taken for the son of Yoseph, which was the son of Eli,)
TNT And Iesus him silfe was about thirty yere of age when he begane beinge as men supposed the sonne of Ioseph. which Ioseph was the sonne of Heli:
(And Yesus/Yeshua himself was about thirty year of age when he began being as men supposed the son of Yoseph. which Yoseph was the son of Heli: )
Wycl And Jhesu hym silf was bigynninge as of thritti yeer, that he was gessid the sone of Joseph, which was of Heli,
(And Yhesu himself was bigynninge as of thirty year, that he was gessid the son of Yoseph, which was of Heli,)
Luth Und JEsus ging in das dreißigste Jahr und ward gehalten für einen Sohn Josephs, welcher war ein Sohn Elis,
(And Yesus went in the thirtyste year and what/which held for/in_favour_of a son Yosephs, which what/which a son Elis,)
ClVg Et ipse Jesus erat incipiens quasi annorum triginta, ut putabatur, filius Joseph, qui fuit Heli, qui fuit Mathat,[fn]
(And exactly_that/himself Yesus was incipiens as_if of_years thirty, as putabatur, son Yoseph, who/which it_was Heli, who/which it_was Mathat, )
3.23 Annorum triginta. BEDA. Quod tricennalis baptizatur, etc., usque ad ut in Jeremia et Daniele.
3.23 Annorum thirty. BEDA. That tricennalis baptizatur, etc., until to as in/into/on Yeremia and Daniele.
UGNT καὶ αὐτὸς ἦν Ἰησοῦς ἀρχόμενος ὡσεὶ ἐτῶν τριάκοντα, ὢν υἱός, ὡς ἐνομίζετο, Ἰωσὴφ, τοῦ Ἠλεὶ,
(kai autos aʸn Yaʸsous arⱪomenos hōsei etōn triakonta, ōn huios, hōs enomizeto, Yōsaʸf, tou Aʸlei,)
SBL-GNT Καὶ αὐτὸς ⸀ἦν Ἰησοῦς ⸂ἀρχόμενος ὡσεὶ ἐτῶν τριάκοντα⸃, ὢν ⸂υἱός, ὡς ἐνομίζετο⸃, Ἰωσὴφ τοῦ Ἠλὶ
(Kai autos ⸀aʸn Yaʸsous ⸂arⱪomenos hōsei etōn triakonta⸃, ōn ⸂huios, hōs enomizeto⸃, Yōsaʸf tou Aʸli)
RP-GNT Καὶ αὐτὸς ἦν ὁ Ἰησοῦς ὡσεὶ ἐτῶν τριάκοντα ἀρχόμενος, ὢν - ὡς ἐνομίζετο - υἱὸς Ἰωσήφ, τοῦ Ἡλί,
(Kai autos aʸn ho Yaʸsous hōsei etōn triakonta arⱪomenos, ōn - hōs enomizeto - huios Yōsaʸf, tou Haʸli,)
TC-GNT Καὶ αὐτὸς ἦν [fn]ὁ Ἰησοῦς [fn]ὡσεὶ ἐτῶν τριάκοντα ἀρχόμενος, ὢν—[fn]ὡς ἐνομίζετο—υἱὸς Ἰωσήφ, τοῦ [fn]Ἡλί,
(Kai autos aʸn ho Yaʸsous hōsei etōn triakonta arⱪomenos, ōn—hōs enomizeto—huios Yōsaʸf, tou Haʸli, )
3:23 ο ¦ — CT
3:23 ωσει ετων τριακοντα αρχομενος ¦ αρχομενος ωσει ετων τριακοντα CT
3:23 ως ενομιζετο υιος ¦ υιος ως ενομιζετο CT
3:23 ἡλι ¦ ἠλει PCK TH ¦ ἠλι NA SBL TR ¦ ἡλει WH
Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).
3:23 Jesus was about thirty years old: This is the only reference in the New Testament to Jesus’ age during his public ministry, and it is an approximation. Jesus was born 6~4 BC (see study note on 2:2) and began his ministry AD 27~29 (see study note on 3:1), so Jesus was evidently 31~35 years old when he began his public ministry.
• known as the son of Joseph: Jesus was the legal but not the biological son of Joseph.
• Joseph was the son of Heli: If this is actually Mary’s genealogy (see study note on 3:23-38), then Joseph was Heli’s son-in-law, a possible understanding of the Greek sentence.
There are two lists of names of the ancestors of Jesus in the Gospels. One is here in Luke 3, and the other is in Matthew 1. The two lists are different in several ways.For the lists of names in Matthew and Luke, most names from David to Jesus are different in the two lists. Also, Luke has fifty-seven names between Jesus and Abraham, while Matthew has forty-one. Matthew’s list goes back only to Abraham, but Luke also listed the names back to Adam and mentions that Adam was created by God. Matthew’s list counts forward in time—from ancestor to descendant. Luke’s list counts backward in time—from descendant to ancestor. Matthew’s list shows Jesus as a descendant of the kings in David’s line. Luke’s list shows that Jesus relates to all mankind, going back to Adam. These lists do not contradict each other. Bible scholars have many possible ways to explain these differences. There is not enough information to decide which of the different views of the scholars is correct. It is important to translate each list just as it is.There are textual issues concerning some of the names in 3:24–38: In 3:26, it is recommended that you follow the manuscripts that have “Josech” instead of those that have “Joseph.” In 3:26, it is recommended that you follow the manuscripts that have “Joda” instead of those that have “Judah.” In 3:29 it is recommended that you follow the manuscripts that have “Joshua” instead of those that have “Jose.” In 3:32 there is a textual issue that is discussed in the note on 3:32. In 3:33 there is a textual issue that is discussed in the note on 3:33.
Some other possible headings for this section are:
The Ancestors of Jesus (GW)
The Genealogy of Jesus (NET)
This paragraph contains a list of names of the ancestors of Jesus. Consider how you want to present this list in your translation. In some translations the names of each ancestor may be on a separate line. Present the list in a way that is easy to read and understand.
Jesus Himself was about thirty years old when He began His ministry.
¶ When Jesus was about thirty years old, he began his public ministry.
¶ When Jesus started to preach, he was about thirty years old.
¶ Jesus began to teach publicly about God when he was about thirty years old.
This verse begins with a Greek conjunction that is often translated as “and.” It introduces background information about Jesus, and so some versions, such as the NIV, translate this conjunction as “now.” However, it does not refer to time. Some other versions, including the BSB, do not translate this word here. Several English versions begin this verse with an introductory clause. For example:
When Jesus began his work (GNT)
Introduce the information in a natural way in your language.
Jesus Himself was about thirty years old: The phrase about thirty years old indicates here that Jesus was approximately thirty years old. Thirty was an approximate number that represents maturity. According to the time period in 3:1–2, Jesus was between twenty-eight and thirty-two years old at that time. It is not clear whether Jesus was exactly thirty years old when he began he public ministry.
when He began His ministry: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as when He began His ministry is literally “Jesus himself beginning.” The BSB has supplied the words “His ministry.” Commentators agree that the phrase refers to the time when Jesus began publicly teaching about God. Before that time, he had worked as a carpenter. When he was approximately thirty years old, he began preaching and teaching publicly.
Some other ways to translate this are:
when he began his public ministry (NLT)
When Jesus began to preach (CEV)
He was regarded as the son of Joseph,
People thought that Jesus was the son of Joseph.
Jesus was known as the son of Joseph. (NLT)
He was regarded as the son: In this list, the Greek word that the BSB translates as son occurs explicitly only here. In the rest of the list, this word is only implied.
Note that son can mean sonIn this context, the meaning of son, in addition to physically a son, could also include a son by adoption or by levirate marriage, which was a practice among the Israelites for providing an heir for a dead relative. or “grandson” or “descendant.” For some of the relationships in this list, scholars are not sure what the relationship is. It may be literally father and son or it may be ancestor and descendant.Stated another way, scholars don’t know in every case if the relationship spans just one generation or more than one generation.
regarded as the son of Joseph: Luke has already explained that Joseph was not Jesus’ biological father, but that Mary was a virgin when Jesus was born. However, Joseph was the legal father of Jesus. The phrase regarded as, literally “as it was thought,” means that people thought of Jesus as Joseph’s son. Some people who knew the family may have known that Jesus was conceived in Mary by the Holy Spirit. Others who knew them may not have known. Either way, people thought of Joseph as his legal father. Some other ways to say this are:
Jesus was known as the son of Joseph. (NLT)
Everyone thought he was the son of Joseph. (CEV)
People thought that Jesus was Joseph’s son. (NCV)
the son of Heli: The BSB has supplied the phrase the son here and throughout the rest of the list. Consider the natural way to express a list of ancestor’s names in your language.
Scholars have different opinions concerning how Luke ties this genealogy to Jesus. Some think this is Mary’s line, and some think it represents Joseph’s.It is beyond the scope of these Notes to outline the thinking that goes into each interpretation.
In some languages it may be necessary to translate it as one or the other. Mary is not explicitly mentioned here. So if you must choose, it is recommended that you translate this with Joseph as the son of Heli. For example:
was the son of Joseph, son of EliHeli and Eli are the same person. These are different ways of spelling the same name. (GW)
Joseph was the son of Heli. (NCV)
the son of Heli,
Joseph was the son of Heli.
Joseph’s father was Heli.
Joseph had descended from Heli.
Note 1 topic: writing-background
καὶ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί αὐτός ἦν Ἰησοῦς ἀρχόμενος ὡσεί ἐτῶν τριάκοντα ὤν υἱός ὡς ἐνομίζετο Ἰωσήφ τοῦ Ἠλί)
Luke uses the word And to introduce background information about Jesus’ age and ancestors. Alternate translation: [Now]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
αὐτὸς ἦν Ἰησοῦς ἀρχόμενος ὡσεὶ ἐτῶν τριάκοντα
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί αὐτός ἦν Ἰησοῦς ἀρχόμενος ὡσεί ἐτῶν τριάκοντα ὤν υἱός ὡς ἐνομίζετο Ἰωσήφ τοῦ Ἠλί)
This idiomatic expression could mean: (1) the word beginning is a reference to Jesus starting his own ministry. UST follows this interpretation. Alternate translation: [Jesus himself was about 30 years old when he began his ministry] (2) Luke is saying that Jesus had just turned 30 was when he was baptized. Alternate translation: [Jesus himself was just 30 years old at this time]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
ὢν υἱός, ὡς ἐνομίζετο, Ἰωσὴφ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί αὐτός ἦν Ἰησοῦς ἀρχόμενος ὡσεί ἐτῶν τριάκοντα ὤν υἱός ὡς ἐνομίζετο Ἰωσήφ τοῦ Ἠλί)
If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this with an active form, and you could state who did the action. It may be helpful to begin a new sentence here. Alternate translation: [People assumed that he was the son of Joseph]