Fear not (Good News Translation “So do not be afraid”) is without an object in Greek. New American Bible supplies an object (“So do not be afraid of anything”); it may even be better to translate “So do not be afraid of people” or “So do not be afraid of what people may do to you.” The text stresses that one need fear only God, for in the final analysis it is he alone who determines the destiny of all people.

You are of more value than many sparrows is translated by Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch as “You are worth more to God than an entire flock of sparrows.” Similar renderings are “God considers you much more valuable than many sparrows” and “As far as God is concerned, you are worth much more than even many sparrows.”

Since the expression with many sparrows could be misunderstood to mean you are more important than many but not all sparrows, a rendering such as “an entire flock” is often better.

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 .