1:66a
And all who heard this wondered in their hearts: The Berean Standard Bible 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 Berean Standard Bible 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 (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
• Translate the meaning. For example:
Everyone who heard of it thought about it (Good News Translation)
and asked: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible 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?: 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? (God’s Word)
-or-
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 Berean Standard Bible 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?
-or-
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
In Greek 1:66c begins with a word 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. (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
For the hand of the Lord was certainly with him. (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
For it was plain that the Lord’s power was upon him. (Good News Translation)
For: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible 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 (Good News Translation)
-or-
the Lord was powerfully working in his life
-or-
The Lord was helping him in a powerful way
him: The pronoun him refers to the child John, who was mentioned in 1:66b.
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