Paragraph 12:8–12

12:8–9

In these verses Jesus contrasted the results of acknowledging him to people and of disowning him to people. This connects with his theme in 12:4–7 that his disciples should fear God rather than people.

12:8a

I tell you: Jesus often used the words I tell you to begin a statement that he wanted to emphasize. He was asking people to listen with extra attention. Some ways to show the emphasis in this context could be:

Let me tell you this
-or-
Listen
-or-
I assure you

If you have another way in your language to emphasize a statement or to alert people to listen with special attention, you may be able to use it here.

everyone who confesses Me before men: In this context the Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as everyone who confesses Me before men refers to anyone who publicly tells people that he is a disciple of Jesus. It may refer especially to a person who publicly declares his loyalty to Jesus in a courtroom setting, as in 12:11–12. Some other ways to translate this clause are:

those who declare publicly that they belong to me (Good News Translation)
-or-
all those who stand before others and say they believe in me (New Century Version)
-or-
anyone who affirms in front of other people here on earth that he is my follower

confesses Me: Someone who confesses Jesus declares or affirms that he is a follower of Jesus. He affirms that Jesus is his Master/Lord.

before men: The phrase before men means “in public.” It refers to speaking in front of or in the presence of people, whether men or women.

12:8b

the Son of Man will also confess him before the angels of God: This part of the verse is similar to 12:8a. However, the exact words that Jesus will say to the angels about his disciples may be different from the words that his disciples will say about him to other people. It is good to translate the verb confess here in a similar way as in 12:8a and also in a way that fits the context of 12:8b. Some ways to do that could be:

⌊I,⌋ the Son of Man, will also stand before the angels of God and say that he ⌊is my disciple⌋
-or-

⌊I,⌋ the Son of Man, will affirm to the angels of God that he ⌊belongs to me⌋

Jesus often referred to himself as the Son of Man. In some languages it may be necessary to make it clear that Jesus was referring to himself. For example:

I, the Son of Man

The phrase Son of Man also occurs in 9:22a and 11:30b.

before the angels of God: The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as before the angels of God corresponds to the phrase “before men” in 12:8a. It means “in front of” or “in the presence of” the angels of God. It is implied that God is also present. In some languages it may be necessary to make this information explicit. For example:

in front of ⌊God and⌋ his angels

the angels of God: The phrase the angels of God refers to spirit beings who serve God. See angel, Meaning 1, in the Glossary. Refer to them here in a way that fits the context. One way to do that could be:

the spirit beings who serve God ⌊in heaven⌋

General Comment on 12:8a–b

In some languages it may be awkward or redundant to repeat a descriptive phrase for the term “acknowledge” in both 12:8a and 12:8b. If that is true in your language, you may be able to use a shorter phrase in 12:8b that refers back to the phrase in 12:8a. For example:

8a…those who declare publicly that they belong to me, 8bthe Son of Man will do the same for them before the angels of God. (Good News Translation)

© 2009, 2010, 2013 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.