Jesus now appeals to Scripture in support of his affirmation that John is more than a prophet.

Of whom it is written is similar to the earlier quotation formulas (see 2.5). Both Good News Translation and Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition introduce God as the speaker of the words quoted from Scripture, and Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition translates: “John is the one of whom it speaks in the holy Scriptures: ‘Here is my messenger, says God….’ ”

Translators will need to find a natural way to introduce this quotation. Here are some other suggestions: “The man you saw is the one that God was speaking about in the Scriptures when he said…” and “God’s Scriptures were speaking about this man in the place it says….” Good News Translation is also a useful model.

Translators who use “Scriptures” should refer to comments on 4.4.

For comments on Behold, see 1.20. It is a word that can be dropped or rendered by “I tell you” or “Look,” or some other expression which will catch the attention of the audience.

Note that my messenger means “God’s messenger.” Hence the introduction of “God” in these examples. Readers must not think it is Jesus’ messenger being referred to.

The Scripture quotation derives from the Greek text of Malachi 3.1, but Matthew’s wording differs in at least two respects from that of the Septuagint. (1) Before thy face (Good News Translation “ahead of you”) is not found in the Malachi passage, though it does appear in the Septuagint of Exodus 23.20. (2) In place of “before me” (a reference to God), Matthew substitutes before thee (Good News Translation “for you”), that is, “before Jesus, the Messiah.” In the original Malachi text (and also in Exo 23.20) the messenger was to go ahead of God and prepare the way for him. Matthew, however, reinterprets the text to mean that God now sends his messenger (John the Baptist) to prepare the way for the Messiah (Jesus). This is what gives John his unique position. He is a prophet, but his role supersedes that of other prophets in that he is the one who introduces the Messianic Age.

Before thy face is usually translated as in Good News Translation. It does not mean literally “in front of your face” but rather refers to going ahead.

To prepare thy way before thee means “to get your road ready for you (to travel on)” or “to open the road so you can travel on it.” If “road” would be understood only as a paved road, then translators should retain way, of course.

Even though “you” does refer to the Messiah, Jesus, most translators prefer not to say “Jesus” specifically. At most, if the sentence can not be understood otherwise, translators may say “before you, the Messiah.”

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 .