The function of this verse is not to confirm the miracle, but to present Jesus as an Israelite faithful to the Law. It also shows that Jesus wants the man to be fully accepted in the community.

Mark’s Gospel contains frequent commands to silence, but most of them are omitted by Matthew. However, a few are retained (see 9.30; 12.16; 16.20; 17.9).

See that you say nothing to any one can be expressed “Make sure you don’t talk about this to anyone,” “Don’t say anything about this,” or “Don’t let people know what happened.” Good News Translation further emphasizes the imperative with “Listen!” Translators can also say “Pay attention now” or “Look, I’m telling you.”

Priest is often translated “sacrificer,” “sacrificer to God (for the people),” or “the one who goes before God for the people.” The priest would have been the one on duty in the Jerusalem Temple; only there could the purification ceremony have taken place (see Leviticus 14.1-32).

Jesus tells the man show yourself. This does not mean simply that he should let the priest see him or look at him, but rather that he should let the priest examine him. Thus it can be expressed “Go to the priest so he can examine you” or “Go have the priest examine you.” It may be necessary to add “so he can see you are cured.” Note that these examples combine go and show into one imperative.

According to Leviticus 14.1-7, the gift that Moses commanded consisted of two birds. One of the birds was killed during the ceremony; the other was released. Here offer the gift means “to make (or, offer) the sacrifice.”

That Moses commanded refers to the Law of Moses or the book Moses wrote, so that the translation can be “as the Law of Moses commands” or “that the book of Moses says you should.” It may be necessary to add “when you are cured of this disease.”

For a proof to the people, a noun phrase consisting of three words in Greek, is translated more fully by Good News Translation: “then in order to prove to everyone that you are cured.” The basic problem of interpretation relates to the words to the people, which is literally “to them,” as the RSV footnote indicates. It may refer to the people in general (Good News Translation, Revised Standard Version), to Jesus’ critics, or to the priests. Both New English Bible (“that will certify the cure”) and New American Bible (“That should be the proof they need”) retain the ambiguity.

The ambiguity can also be retained with a phrase like “that will prove you are cured.” However, in many languages it is necessary to say before whom the proof is offered, so that translators say “to prove to people” or “as evidence to all.”

Note that it is the sacrifice that is the proof, not the examination by the priest. Good News Translation expresses this relationship with the phrase “in order to prove.” Another way is “this will prove” or “doing this will prove.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .