And Peter said to Jesus (Good News Translation “So Peter spoke up and said to Jesus”) is more literally “But answering Peter said to Jesus.” Here again stylistic considerations will determine what should be done in the receptor language.

See 8.2 for a discussion of Lord. Most translators understand it in the Christian sense here, although Barclay has “Master.”

It is well that we are here (Good News Translation, An American Translation “how good it is that we are here”): this statement may be taken to indicate either that the disciples were overjoyed at being there with Jesus (New Jerusalem Bible, Phillips “it is wonderful for us to be here”; Barclay “it is a wonderful thing for us to be here”), or that the disciples felt the need to serve Jesus together with his two visitors (Moffatt “it is a good thing we are here”). Revised Standard Version seems to accept this second interpretation, though its rendering is somewhat ambiguous.

In many languages it is not possible to be ambiguous, however, since there are different ways of saying we, depending on whether Peter was speaking of himself and the other two disciples only, or of the three plus Jesus, or of all six who were there. Most translators seem to have felt that in this context Peter was probably referring to all of them, and they have rendered the phrase as “It is really wonderful that we (all) are here.” However, a translation like Moffatt (cited above), which is narrower, or Revised Standard Version, is certainly acceptable.

If you wish can be “If you want me to” or even “Would you like me to?”

Three booths (Phillips, Barclay “three shelters”) refer to temporary shelters in which Jesus and his companions could spend the night. For Matthew these words were doubtless intended to recall the Festival of Shelters, during which time the Jewish people constructed rough shelters to live in as a commemoration of the years when their ancestors wandered through the wilderness. On the festival see Leviticus 23.33-44.

Most cultures are familiar with some type of temporary shelter that can be used to translate booths. “Tents,” “field huts,” or even “temporary shelters” have all been used by translators.

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 .