3:10 So 1 the crowds were asking 2 him, “What then should we do?” 3:11 John 3 answered them, 4 “The person who has two tunics 5 must share with the person who has none, and the person who has food must do likewise.”
1 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the consequential nature of the people’s response.
2 tn Though this verb is imperfect, in this context it does not mean repeated, ongoing questions, but simply a presentation in vivid style as the following verbs in the other examples are aorist.
3 tn Grk “he”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 tn Grk “Answering, he said to them.” This construction with passive participle and finite verb is pleonastic (redundant) and has been simplified in the translation to “answered them.”
5 tn Or “shirt” (a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin). The name for this garment (χιτών, citwn) presents some difficulty in translation. Most modern readers would not understand what a ‘tunic’ was any more than they would be familiar with a ‘chiton.’ On the other hand, attempts to find a modern equivalent are also a problem: “Shirt” conveys the idea of a much shorter garment that covers only the upper body, and “undergarment” (given the styles of modern underwear) is more misleading still. “Tunic” was therefore employed, but with a note to explain its nature.