As they (Good News Translation “the men”) were going away serves to link this story with the one immediately before it. Since verses 32-34 comprise a unit within themselves, it may be useful to replace they with “the two men whom Jesus had healed of their blindness” or “the two men whose sight had been restored.”

Here again behold functions to introduce new participants into the narrative; see 1.20; 9.18, 20.

Dumb translates an adjective which may mean either “unable to speak” or “unable to hear” (11.5); only the context will clarify the meaning. Here, of course, it means “could not talk” (Good News Translation). Good News Translation avoids the use of dumb, because English speakers often understand it to mean “stupid” or “ignorant.”

Demoniac translates a participle which Good News Translation represents by “because he had a demon.” New American Bible has “who was possessed by a demon,” and New English Bible “possessed by a devil.” Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition has “because an evil spirit ruled him.”

Sometimes this sentence is easier to translate if the order is changed, as in “A man who had an evil spirit in him that made him unable to talk.”

As we pointed out before, generally the notions of being possessed by a demon, an evil spirit, or a devil are translated the same way. See comments on 4.1 and 4.24.

Was brought (so also New English Bible) translates an active verb “they brought”; Good News Translation retains the impersonal active form, “some people brought.”

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 .