Came to (New American Bible “arrived at”) is more naturally taken to mean “went into” (New International Version “entered”). Revised Standard Version probably translates came to so as to avoid the erroneous conclusion that the healing of the woman took place immediately in front of the official’s home. The context implies other activity by Jesus, which may need to be made explicit in translation: “Then Jesus went to the official’s house. When he arrived there, he went in and saw….” In place of came to some languages will prefer “went to.”

Flute players (Good News Translation “musicians”): according to Jewish tradition, even the poorest people were expected to have two flute players and a wailing woman for a funeral. In order to clarify the role of the flute players, Good News Translation adds “for the funeral.” This information was immediately evident to a Jewish reader who was familiar with the funeral customs, but it will not be clear to other readers.

Many cultures are familiar with the flute or other instruments that are played by blowing through a wooden tube. If no such instrument exists, then translators can say “musical instruments for a funeral” or, as in Good News Translation, “musicians for the funeral.”

The crowd making a tumult is rendered “the crowd making a commotion” by New Jerusalem Bible and “the general commotion” by New English Bible. The reference is to the mourners, who would have been wailing loudly in typical oriental fashion. Some translators will have “the crowd was making a big noise” or “he saw the way the crowd was generally in an uproar.”

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 .