For Son of man, see comments on 8.20.

The translation of his angels will depend somewhat on how angels has been dealt with elsewhere (see 1.20), but “his servants” or “his messengers (or, servants) from heaven” are possible renderings in this verse.

There is a good deal of controversy which surrounds the meaning of the phrase his kingdom. For example, some scholars attempt to distinguish between “the Kingdom of God” and “the Kingdom of the Son of Man.” For them the Kingdom of the Son of Man is the equivalent of the church in the present, while the Kingdom of God is the Kingdom in its final consummation. They then speak of the Kingdom of the Son of Man as belonging to the present world (verse 41), while the Kingdom of the Father (God) is to come in the future (verse 43). But these two terms are best taken to be synonyms, a judgment supported by 16.28 and 20.21, where the Kingdom of the Son of Man definitely refers to the Kingdom in its final consummation. If these two terms are synonyms, then one may translate “The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will separate from the presence of God all who have led others to be unfaithful to God and who themselves have done evil” (Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition).

INCL translates “The Son of Man will send his angels to gather from among his people….” In this verse it is obvious that “Kingdom” is used both of those people who actually obey the Son of Man (or, of God) and of those people who only profess to obey the Son of Man (or, of God).

Some translators have retained kingdom here by saying “gather from among the people of God’s Kingdom,” but “… from among the people under God’s rule” is also reasonable.

Gather out has been translated “weed out” by Barclay to retain as much as possible the imagery of the parable. Translations very similar to Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch above are “separate from the other people under God’s rule” or “take out from….”

All causes of sin translates a neuter form in Greek, literally “all stumbling blocks” (New English Bible “whatever makes men stumble,” Jerusalem Bible “all things that provoke offences”). One scholar describes this phrase as “a strange reference” which is “only comprehensible on the basis of Zephaniah 1.3.” But although the form is neuter, in the present context of judgment, the phrase makes no sense at all unless people are the cause of stumbling (sin) to others. Matthew’s language may be influenced by the form of the text in Zephaniah, but he evidently has people in mind: “all those who are a cause of sin to others” (Barclay) and “all who draw others to apostasy” (New American Bible).

Evildoers may be rendered as “all people who do evil.” The term can be rendered the same way as in 7.23.

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 .