23:37
“If You are the King of the Jews,” they said, “save Yourself!”: The Berean Standard Bible places the words they said in the middle of what the soldiers said to Jesus. This is good English style. However, in some languages, it may be necessary to put these words where they are in Greek, in the beginning of 23:37. For example:
and they said, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”
If You are the King of the Jews,…save Yourself!: Here the soldiers mocked Jesus. They challenged him to prove that he was the king of the Jews by saving himself from dying on the cross. They did not believe that he was the king of the Jews, and they felt sure that he could not save himself from death. They challenged him like that to ridicule him. Some other ways to translate it are:
If you are really the king of the Jews, then save yourself
-or-
Since ⌊you say⌋ you are the king of the Jews, ⌊prove it by⌋ saving yourself
In some languages it may be more natural to reverse the order of the phrases in this verse. For example:
Save yourself then if it is true that you are the king of the Jews.
Consider how you would give a challenge like this in your language.
the King of the Jews: The phrase the King of the Jews also occurred in 23:3. You should translate it in the same way here.
save Yourself!: Here the word save refers to saving from physical death. Some other ways to translate it here are:
deliver yourself
-or-
help yourself
-or-
rescue yourself ⌊from dying on this cross⌋
For more information, see save, Meaning 1, in the Glossary.
they said: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as they said is more literally “and saying.” It probably indicates that the soldiers said the words in this verse as they offered Jesus the wine vinegar (23:36b). What the soldiers said and did was all done to mock Jesus. Connect the actions in a natural way in your language.
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