| The Hebrew Synoptic Gospels |
| Luke 23: 31 |
The "green tree" and the "dry tree" allude to the prophecy in Ezekiel 20: 45- 21: 7. As an allegory, they represent the righteous and the wicked, respectively. Jesus isspeaking prophetically of the coming destruction of Jerusalem. He is telling the weeping womenif this is what happens to Him, what will happen to others? Jesus is referring to Himself asthe "Green Tree."
| AB | For if they do these things when the timber is green, what will happen when itis dry? |
| CJB | For if they do these things when the wood is green, what is going to happen when it's dry? |
| CNT | And indeed, if that is how they act when the tree is full of sap, what will they do whenit is already dried up? |
| EBR | Because if //in moist wood// /these things/ they are doing, -- In /the dry/ what shallhappen? |
| GW | If people do this to a green tree, what will happen to a dry one? |
| LB | For if such things as this are done to me, the Living Tree, what will they do to you? |
| LBP | For if they do these things with the green wood, what will be done with dry wood? |
| MCT | If they do these things to the green wood, what shall they do when it withers? |
| NCV | If they act like this when life is good, what will happen when bad times come? Footnote: Literally, "If they do these things in the green tree, what will happenin the dry?" |
| NWT | Because if they do these things when the tree is moist, what will occur when it iswithered? |
| PRS | For if this is what men do when the wood is green, what will they do when it is seasoned? |
| REB | For if these things are done when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry? |
| RSV | For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry? |
| SGAT | For if this is what they do when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry? |
| SNB | Because if, in moist wood, these things they are doing, in the dry, what shall happen? |
| SV | If they behave this way when the wood is green, what will happen when it dries out? Footnote: The aphorism in verse 31 is enigmatic; no one knows what it means,although it, too, must have something to do with the fall of Jerusalem. Including it in thedatabase for determining who Jesus was would add nothing to our knowledge of his teaching.Sources: Luke, Thomas. [In black print, meaning this quote was not madeby Jesus.] [Note: An aphorism is a brief statement of a truth or principle; a proverb.Enigmatic means puzzling.] |
| WMF | Because of what is happening today there shall be times coming of great trouble anddistress. |
| YLR | ...; -- for, if in the green tree they do these things -- in the dry what may happen?TD> |
This verse has basically been transferred, not translated. However, twoversions, which are paraphrases, have caught the general idea of what Jesus is telling thewomen. One footnote is quite interesting. A group of seventy-four scholars, all but one havingat least one doctoral degree, feels that no one knows what this "enigmatic aphorism" means.