Midnight (so New English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Good News Translation, New International Version, New American Bible) means twelve o’clock at night for most English readers. This is too specific for the Greek text, which is better phrased as “in the middle of the night” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, An American Translation, Phillips, Barclay). One may also translate “late at night” or “very late at night.”

There was a cry is translated “a cry was heard” by New English Bible. Good News Translation does away with the passive (“when the cry rang out”), and New American Bible alters it to an impersonal form (“someone shouted”).

Behold: see comment at 1.20. The bridegroom is now near enough that his approach can be noticed, or else someone has run ahead to announce his arrival. In place of Behold, the bridegroom, several modern translations have “Here is the bridegroom” (Good News Translation, New English Bible) or “The bridegroom is here” (Jerusalem Bible). Of course, the bridegroom was not there yet, and “The bridegroom is coming” or “Here comes the bridegroom” may be better. For some translators the indirect form may be more natural, as in “someone shouted that the bridegroom was coming and they should go out to meet him.”

To meet him translates a Greek prepositional phrase (literally “for meeting him”), which is found also in Acts 28.15 and 1 Thessalonians 4.17, as well as in some manuscripts of Matthew 27.32.

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 .