Most all modern translations take this verse in the context of a lawsuit, though the restructuring is in each case somewhat different. For example, New English Bible has “If a man wants to sue you for your shirt,” and New International Version “and if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic.” Jerusalem Bible renders “if a man takes you to law and would have your tunic,” and New American Bible “If anyone wants to go to law over your shirt.”

For would sue you, translations can have “takes you to court,” as in Good News Translation, “wants to take you before the judge,” or “goes before the judge to ask the judge to give him your coat.”

He takes you to court to take your coat, that is, “to make you give him your coat,” “so that the judge makes you give him your coat.”

The words rendered coat and cloak require comment, since they reflect a unique aspect of Israelite Law. The outer garment (cloak) was both an article of clothing and a covering for the night. Israelite law did not permit it to be kept from its owner overnight; therefore the legal adversary was actually after the man’s coat, a garment worn under the outer cloak. In Luke 6.29 the two garments are mentioned in reverse order. There, however, the context is not that of a lawsuit, but of a robbery in which one man forcibly tears away another’s outer garment. The coat was a long, close-fitting garment worn next to the skin; it was used by both sexes.

Coat will be difficult for some translators, because it is distinguished from the outer garment or cloak. If there are terms that distinguish from the outer garment, they can usually be used, much as Good News Translation has used “shirt” and “coat.” Otherwise, translators will look for general or descriptive phrases such as “the clothing you wear under your outer wrap (or, near your body)” and “the clothing that covers the outer clothing.”

However, to help readers realize the difference in value of the two garments, something Jesus’ hearers would have understood immediately, translators may prefer to say “your garment that is of little value” and “your outer garment that is more valuable.”

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 .