And indicates that the narrative is continuing. “Then” will be good in some languages, or it may be more natural to drop the transition (so Good News Translation).

Took (so also Moffatt) may have the more specific meaning “took … aside” (Good News Translation, New American Bible, New International Version) or “led him away from the others.” New English Bible translates “took him by the arm,” and Barclay “caught hold of him.”

Rebuke (so also New English Bible, New International Version) is difficult to render in English at a common language level. Both An American Translation and Moffatt translate “reprove,” while Phillips, Jerusalem Bible, and New American Bible have “remonstrate with.” Barclay attempts to go in the direction of a more dynamic equivalent: “sternly forbade him to talk like that.” Other possibilities are “scold him for talking like that” and “tell him he shouldn’t talk like that.” Elsewhere in the Gospel the verb is used six times: 8.26; 12.16; 16.20; 17.18; 19.13; 20.31.

God forbid (so also Moffatt, Barclay) is supplied with an object in Good News Translation: “God forbid it.” More literally the expression is “Mercy to you,” but in such a context the “mercy” would be interpreted as originating from God. New English Bible translates “Heaven forbid!” and New Jerusalem Bible “Heaven preserve you.” Both An American Translation and Phillips have “God bless you,” while New International Version renders by the one word “Never.” Similar expressions are “May God never permit that this happen” and “May God stop this from happening.” New American Bible joins this with the next sentence, This shall never happen to you, and translates “May you be spared, Master! God forbid that any such thing ever happen to you!”

This shall never happen to you is best interpreted as a negative expression equivalent to God forbid of the previous sentence. It is possible to unite the two sentences into one, especially in languages where repetition tends to diminish the effect: “May God never let this happen to you.”

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 .