Attendants (Good News Translation “servants”) is the noun frequently translated “deacon” in certain other contexts, though it may have the broader meaning of “servant” or “helper.” Here it is apparently used as a synonym for “servant” of verses 1-10, though New Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, and Barclay join Revised Standard Version in translating attendants, which seems to distinguish between the two groups. Translators who wish to keep this same distinction may also say “servants in the house” or “those serving the guests.” Otherwise it is often impossible to render this term any differently than “servants.”

Hand and foot (so also Good News Translation) is literally “feet and hands.” Both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation are simply following a pattern which is more natural in English, and the same thing is done in German by Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Luther 1984, and Zürcher Bibel. To Bind him hand and foot means to tie up his hands and his feet or to tie him up so he can’t even move his hands and feet.

The outer darkness is a Semitic expression which Jerusalem Bible and New English Bible more appropriately render as “out into the dark.” The same expression occurred at 8.12, and translators should see the discussion there.

There men will weep and gnash their teeth translates an impersonal construction: “There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” The same expression is used in 8.12 and is symbolic of the suffering that one endures in hell. The question that the translator must face is whether it should apply to the individual in the parable, or whether the shift is made to everyone who will finally share this horrible fate. In other words, is this phrase part of the parable, something the king says to his servants, or a general point Jesus is making after completing the parable? The context seems to suggest that Matthew intends the more comprehensive application. As Traduction œcuménique de la Bible comments at verse 11, “God’s invitation is free, but it is also demanding.” However, translators should probably not add “So Jesus concluded” at this point. And further, it is better to say “There men will weep and gnash their teeth” than to say that it is the man who will (as Good News Translation does). But the text itself allows for either interpretation.

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 .