9:13a
But go and learn: The clause go and learn is an expression that rabbis used when teaching their students. It means that the person should look more closely at the passage and learn what its real meaning is.
The Greek word translated here as go does not mean to literally “go.” It is a way of challenging the people to study the passage more carefully. If people will think that this word literally means to go somewhere, then it may be good to leave it out.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
Study/Read more carefully and learn
-or-
Go and learn ⌊to follow⌋
-or-
Learn (God’s Word)
what this means: The word this refers to the quote from the book of Hosea that follows. In some languages, it may be good to indicate that what follows is a quote from the Bible.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
what it means ⌊when God said⌋
-or-
the correct meaning ⌊of the words which are written in God’s book⌋
9:13b
I desire mercy, not sacrifice: This quote from Hosea is a comparison of two things: mercy and sacrifice. It means that mercy is more important than sacrifice. It does not mean that God wanted his people to stop offering sacrifices.
In some languages, it may be more natural to express this comparison in another way. For example:
I want kindness more than I want animal sacrifices. (New Century Version)
I: The pronoun I refers to God. Jesus quoted words that God spoke. If people will think that the pronoun I is Jesus speaking about himself, you should indicate that God spoke here. For example:
⌊when God said,⌋ ‘I…”
desire mercy: The word mercy means “compassion, concern, or pity toward someone in serious need.”
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
It is kindness that I want (Good News Translation)
-or-
want ⌊you⌋ to pity
In some languages it may be necessary to indicate who should have mercy and to whom. For example:
I want you to be merciful to others. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
I want people to pity/love others.
sacrifice: The word sacrifice refers to the killing of animals at the temple and offering them to God. God required the Jews to offer animal sacrifices to him regularly.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
animal sacrifices (Good News Translation)
-or-
offering sacrifices to me (Contemporary English Version)
9:13c
Jesus’ quote from Hosea finished at the end of 9:13b. Here Jesus resumed speaking in his own words. If this is not clear in your translation, you may want to add some type of introduction. For example:
⌊Jesus continued⌋
For: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as For introduces the final part of Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees’ question (in 9:11b). It introduces the reason clause (4:6b) of a reason-result statement. The result is implied. The implied information is: “I eat with tax collectors and sinners.”
result (implied)
⌊I eat with tax collectors and sinners
⌋,
reason
for/because I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.
Without the implied information, the word For does not make much sense. Many English versions leave it untranslated.
I have not come: Jesus used the clause I have not come to introduce a general statement about the purpose of his ministry. He used the verb come here in the sense that he came “to the earth” or came “from God.” He was not referring to coming to Matthew’s house.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
I did not come ⌊to earth⌋
-or-
⌊The reason⌋ I came ⌊from God⌋ was not to call the righteous
to call: The verb call means “invite.” It does not mean to shout or use a loud voice.
Matthew did not specify exactly what Jesus was calling sinners to do. In this context, the word call may refer to:
(a) A call to repent (which is based on Jesus dealing with sinners and the theme of forgiveness in 9:6a).
(b) A call to follow him and become his disciple (which is based on Jesus calling Matthew in 9:9c).
(c) A call to accept him as Savior (which is one of the major themes of the book of Matthew).
The parallel passage in Luke 5:32 says “call…to repentance.” So if you use a verb that requires you to indicate the purpose of the call, you should indicate that it is a call to repent.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
to call ⌊to repent⌋
-or-
to invite ⌊to turn to God⌋
the righteous: The word righteous refers to people who live according to God’s standards. In other words, they consistently do what is right.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
those who obey God’s law
-or-
people who do what is right
In some languages there may be an idiom to describe this. For example:
people who follow a straight path
-or-
upright/straight people
In this context Jesus was using irony. There are no truly righteous people because everyone has sinned. He may have referred to people who think that they are doing what is right and do not recognize their sins.
Here is another way to translate this phrase:
those who think they are righteous (New Living Translation (2004))
9:13d
but: There is a contrast here. The contrast is between what was not Jesus’ purpose in coming to earth (in 9:13c), and what was his purpose in coming (in 9:13d). Some English versions indicate this contrast with the conjunction but.
In some languages, no conjunction is necessary. The clauses themselves will indicate the contrast. For example:
cI didn’t come to invite good people to be my followers. dI came to invite sinners. (Contemporary English Version)
sinners: Some words from the previous clause are implied but not repeated here. In some languages, it may be more natural to repeat those words. For example:
I came to invite sinners. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
⌊I have come to call/urge⌋ sinners ⌊to repent⌋.
General Comment on 9:13c–d
In some languages, it may be more natural to change the order of the clauses in 9:13c–d. For example:
I have come to call sinners, not those who think they are already good enough. (New Living Translation (1996))
© 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.