Translation commentary on Matthew 12:49 – 12:50

And marks the continuity of the discourse. “Then he…” will be necessary in some cases.

Stretching … said is a common Greek construction that is most often rendered by two independent verb clauses: “He stretched out … and said.” Stretching can be “he reached out his hand” or, as in Good News Translation, “he pointed to.” This latter shows the meaning clearly.

For a proposed restructuring of these two verses, see comments on verse 48. Another proposal is “Jesus pointed to his disciples and then asked the man, ‘Do you want to know who my true mother and brothers are? Look, my disciples are the ones, because the people who do the will of God my Father in heaven, they are my true brother, and sister, and mother.’ ” Jesus’ disciples were last mentioned in verse 2 (see 5.1 for a discussion of “disciple”).

The will of my Father in heaven is translated as a clause by Good News Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, and Bible en français courant: “what my Father in heaven wants him to do.” To make sure readers understand my Father in heaven to be God, it may be necessary to say “God my Father in heaven.”

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 .

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