Appearance (so also New American Bible, New International Version, Moffatt, An American Translation), a word which appears only here in the New Testament, may also mean “face” (New Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, Barclay). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates “He shone like lightning.” There are languages where the comparison may be rendered “shone brightly like lightning” or “was as bright as lightning.”

Raiment simply means “clothes,” as in Good News Translation.

White, whether of lightning or of snow, is the “heavenly” color. In Daniel 7.9 the clothes of the “One who had been living forever” (TEV) are “white as snow,” as is also the hair of the risen Lord (Rev 1.14). And of the angel who appeared to Daniel (10.6), it is said “His face was as bright as a flash of lightning” (TEV). Note also the similar descriptions found in Luke 9.29 and 24.4.

White as snow is obviously going to be a problem in areas where snow is unknown. Some translators, recognizing that this is simply a way of saying that his clothing was very white, either use a cultural substitution such as “white as egret feathers (or, as cotton)” or use whatever is the normal way in the language to say “very, very white.”

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 .