Jesus condemns the scribes and Pharisees exactly as in verse 13: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Translators should use the same expression they did there.

You traverse sea and land gives an indication of the intense missionary activity conducted by the Jews. Jesus does not criticize them for their missionary enthusiasm, but rather because conversion leaves their converts worse off than they were before.

Translators should find some expression in their language to express naturally traverse sea and land; for example, “travel by land and by sea,” “travel great distances,” “travel everywhere,” or “travel over ocean and land.”

Proselyte (Good News Translation “convert”) is the technical term used of a non-Jew who had fully embraced Judaism, even to the point of accepting circumcision. Often Christians know the term “convert” (Good News Translation) or proselyte primarily in the context of someone becoming Christian. Of course here the Pharisees were trying to have people convert to Judaism, so it may be necessary to make that clear. Make a single proselyte may then be “persuade one person to accept your religion” or “persuade one person to worship God in your way.” When he becomes a proselyte can then be “when he believes your way” or “when he accepts your religion.” Or translators may take the approach of Good News Translation: “when you succeed.”

Twice as much a child of hell as yourselves: the phrase a child of (literally “a son of”) translates a Hebrew idiom which means “one characterized by,” “one who belongs to,” or “one deserving of.” Therefore Good News Translation translates “twice as deserving of going to hell”; Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition has “so that he doubly deserves punishment in hell.” Both New English Bible and New Jerusalem Bible prefer “twice as fit for hell.” The twice as much means twice as much as the Pharisees and teachers of the Law are. “He deserves punishment in hell twice as much as you yourselves” will express this. The background of this remark is perhaps the observation that converts tend to become more zealous (or more fanatical) than those who converted them. As RSV’s footnote indicates, hell is literally “Gehenna” (see comment at 5.22).

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 .