Scriptures Plain & Simple (Luke 22:1-6)

Barclay Newman, a translator on the teams for both the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version, translated passages of the New Testament into English and published them in 2014, “in a publication brief enough to be non-threatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and un-believers alike.” The following is the translation of Luke 22:1-6:

Passover was near, and the religious authorities
were looking for a way to get rid of Jesus,
       but they were afraid of what the people might do.

About this time, Satan influenced Judas
to approach the religious authorities
       with an offer to betray Jesus.
They were very glad and agreed
       to pay Judas some money.
Right away he began looking
for a chance to betray Jesus
       when the crowds were not around, of course.

Translation commentary on Luke 22:2

Exegesis:

kai ezētoun … to pōs anelōsin auton ‘and (they) investigated as to how they might do away with him.’ Here it is followed by an indirect question denoting the purpose of the investigation (pōs anelōsin auton). This indirect question has been made into a substantive by prefixing the article to (cf. on 1.62).

anaireō (also 23.32) ‘to do away with,’ ‘to get rid of,’ ‘to destroy,’ generally implying the use of violence.

hoi archiereis ‘the chief priests,’ cf. on 9.22.

hoi grammateis ‘the experts of the law,’ cf. on 5.21.

ephobounto gar ton laon ‘for they were afraid of the people,’ implying that they looked for a way to do away with Jesus without attracting the attention of the people (cf. ater ochlou in v. 6).

Translation:

For chief priests see on “high-priesthood” in 3.2.

Were seeking how, or, ‘were trying to find some way to,’ and cf. on 5.18.

To put him to death, or, since the priests and scribes are probably not to be the direct agents, ‘to have him put to death,’ ‘to cause people to kill him.’

For the people see on 7.29.

Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Luke 22:2

22:2a–c

In this verse, the clause in 22:2c is the reason for 22:2a–b. In some language it may be more natural to reverse the order of clauses so that the reason comes before the resulting action. See the General Comment on 22:2a–c at the end of 22:2c for examples.
SIL Translator’s Notes on Luke 22:2
22:2a

the chief priests and scribes: The terms chief priests and scribes refer to the Jewish religious leaders who were mentioned in 9:22, 19:47, 20:1, and 20:19. Translate the terms in the same way here. See the notes on chief priests and scribes at 19:47b–d for translation advice. See also priest and teacher of the law in the Glossary for more information.

22:2b

were looking for a way to put Jesus to death: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as were looking for a way to put Jesus to death is more literally “were seeking how they could destroy/kill him.” It implies that they wanted to cause Jesus to be arrested and executed. Other ways to translate this are:

were seeking how they might put Him to death (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
were trying to find some way to execute Jesus (NET Bible)

The next clause (22:2c) implies that they wanted to get rid of Jesus privately and secretly without causing trouble for themselves. The Jewish leaders could not execute Jesus, but they wanted to cause the Roman authorities to do that. In some languages it may be necessary to add this implied information here in 22:2b. For example:

were looking for a ⌊private⌋ way to cause Jesus to be executed
-or-
were trying to find a way of putting Jesus to death secretly (Good News Translation)
-or-
wanted to discover how to cause ⌊the rulers⌋ to execute Jesus

It may be helpful to refer to the notes on the similar phrases “were intent on killing him” and “killing him” in 19:47b–d.

22:2c

for they feared the people: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as for introduces the reason that the Jewish leaders tried to find a private way to kill Jesus. They feared that the people who usually listened to him might fight for him if they knew that he was in danger.

In some languages it may be necessary to make the connection with 22:2a–b more explicit. For example:

⌊They did not want to arrest him publicly,⌋ for they were afraid of what the people would do to them.

Here is a different way to make the connection explicit:

…they wanted to kill him without starting a riot, a possibility they greatly feared. (New Living Translation (1996))

See the note on 20:19d for a similar example.

General Comment on 22:2a–c

In some languages it may be necessary to change the order of clauses in this verse and place the reason before the result. For example:

2aThe chief priests and the scribes 2cwere afraid of the people, 2band so they were trying to find a way of putting Jesus to death secretly. (Good News Translation)
-or-
Because 2athe chief priests and the scribes 2cfeared the people ⌊would attack them if they arrested Jesus in public⌋, 2bthey looked for a ⌊secret⌋ way to kill Jesus.

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