Notice that this verse and verse 17 both begin with He said to him. Of course, in the context the participants are clear, but it may be necessary to have here “And the man said to Jesus.” He said to him appears in Good News Translation as “he asked” and in Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch as “asked the man.”
Which? (so also Jerusalem Bible) of the Greek text is translated “Which commandments?” by New English Bible and “What commandments?” by Good News Translation; An American Translation, New International Version, and New American Bible have “Which ones?”
A comparison of the commandments as given in Matthew and Mark (10.19) yields interesting results: (1) Matthew does not follow the Marcan sequence of commandments; (2) “Do not cheat” (not one of the Ten Commandments) is omitted from Matthew’s list; and (3) Matthew adds the command to love your neighbor as yourself (taken from Lev 19.18), which he repeats in 22.39, where it does have parallels in Mark (12.31) and Luke (10.27). The other four commandments originate from either Exodus 20.13-16 or the parallel in Deuteronomy 5.17-20. In Greek the series of five commands is introduced by the definite article “the” (impossible to produce in English translation), which suggests that by the time Matthew wrote his Gospel, these five commandments had been placed together as a recognized unit.
Rather than simply have Jesus list the commandments, some translators have tried to indicate that he is quoting from the Law of Moses. They have said “Jesus answered by stating these commandments from God’s Law” or “Jesus said to the man, ‘The laws are that you shall not….’ ”
Traditionally in the Old Testament the commandments were listed in second person, “You shall” or “You shall not.” In other languages, however, it may be more natural to say “A person shall (or, shall not)” or “Everyone (or, No one) should.” In English “should” or “must” are better as commands than “shall.”
You shall not kill was discussed at 5.21. For discussion of You shall not commit adultery, see 5.27.
You shall not steal: translators may have to make other participants explicit, as in “You shall (or, must) not take anything that belongs to someone else.” Whatever is the usual way to speak of stealing should be used.
You shall not bear false witness, this traditional rendering of English translations (see also An American Translation, New American Bible) refers specifically to a courtroom setting. New English Bible has “do not give false evidence,” and New International Version “do not give false testimony”; in Good News Translation the command is rendered “do not accuse anyone falsely.” Another possibility is “Don’t lie about someone in court.”
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 .