SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 15:16



15:16

Do you still not understand?: This is a rhetorical question. It is a mild rebuke. Jesus rebuked/scolded the disciples because they did not understand the things that he taught. Not only did the crowds not understand his teaching, even his own disciples did not yet understood.

Here are some other ways to translate this rebuke:

As a rhetorical question. For example:

Why is it that up to now you too do not understand?
-or-
Don’t any of you know what I am talking about by now? (Contemporary English Version)

As a statement. For example:

You are still no more intelligent than the others. (Good News Translation)
-or-
You should understand what I am teaching, but up to now, even you do not understand.

Translate this rebuke in a way that is natural in your language.

you: The plural pronoun you is emphasized in the Greek by moving it to the beginning of the clause. It emphasizes the comparison of the disciples with the crowd. If there is a natural way to emphasize this word in your language, you may want to do so.

There is a Greek word before you that the Berean Standard Bible does not translate. It is often translated as “also.” It compares the disciples to the people in the crowd. The crowd did not understand Jesus’ teaching. The disciples also did not understand.

Here are some ways to translate this phrase:

you too
-or-
even you

still: The Greek adverb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as still means “up to that time.” Up to that time the disciples had not understood Jesus’ teaching. When Jesus used the word still, he implied that they should have understood it before then.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

yet (God’s Word)
-or-
by now (Contemporary English Version)

not understand: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as not understand also means “senseless” or “foolish.” Jesus implied here that the disciples should have understood what he meant. Jesus did not imply that the disciples were stupid. He implied that they were not using their intelligence to understand spiritual truth.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

do not understand ⌊me

-or-

are ignorant

© 2023 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

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