Verses 5 and 6 contain an illustration of the manner in which the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law allowed people to avoid doing their duty to their parents. Note that some editions of the Greek text end verse 5 as shown in Revised Standard Version, while others end it earlier, as in Good News Translation. Good News Bible follows the preference of the UBS Greek New Testament.
In Greek you is emphatic and is in contrast to “God” of verse 4. The meaning is “on the one hand God said … but on the other hand you teach….” To make this emphasis on you clear, some translators have said “But you for your part.”
Say, as with “said” of verse 4, may also have an extended meaning; Good News Translation renders “teach.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates But you say as “But you affirm.”
In this verse there is a quote inside a quote (Jesus says to the Pharisees and teachers of the Law that they say that if a man says to his parents). Good News Translation simplifies the structure by using indirect speech: “But you teach that if a person….” This may be a useful model for translators in other languages as well. In fact there are languages for which the best rendering will be indirect speech for the whole verse, as in “But you teach that if a person has something he could use to help his father and mother, but tells them that he has promised to give that to God, then he does not have to do his duty to his parents.”
What you would have gained from me refers to something a person has that could be of help to his parents. It may be food or money, for example, but the text does not specify, nor should the translation. “What I have that could help you,” “This that I have that normally I would have given you,” or “My things I could give to you (to help you)” are possible translations.
Given to God (RSV footnote “an offering”) translates one word in Greek which is literally “gift.” New International Version represents it by “a gift devoted to God,” New English Bible has “set apart for God,” and New Jerusalem Bible “dedicated to God.” It is interesting that so many translations are sensitive of the need to be dynamic in order to aid the reader to understand the verse. Jesus is speaking about a situation where a person possesses something that can be used to help his parents. However, by “dedicating” it to God, it is removed from the use of his parents, though he himself may continue to benefit from it. This custom is not known outside the New Testament. In fact, Jewish teachers explicitly affirm that one’s duty to father or mother has priority over a number of other commandments, including that of the Sabbath. Evidently the persons to whom Jesus was speaking had a very rigorous attitude toward vows.
Most translators will restructure given to God very much like the models cited above. “Something I have promised to give to God” or “something set aside for an offering to God” are similar possibilities.
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 .