The Greek in Matthew 18:15 that is translated with some rendering of “in private” in English versions is translated in most German versions with the idiom unter vier Augen (“under four eyes”) which means “privately” or “confidentially.” (See also the Hebrew equivalent in 2 Samuel 3:27.)
magi, wise men
The Greek magoi originally referred to Persian Zoroastrian “priests who were experts in astrology and in the interpretation of dreams. But the word may also be used in a derogatory sense of ‘magician’ or ‘charlatan,’ a meaning which it has in its only other New Testament occurrences outside Matthew’s nativity narrative (Acts 13:6,8). Matthew most likely has Babylonian astrologers in mind.” (Source: Newman / Stine; see also this interview .)
While most English translations either transliterate this as “magi” or translate it as “wise men,” most German versions (with the exceptions of Luther and Menge [publ. 1909]) use Sterndeuter, an old-fashioned term for astrologer. The Pfälzisch translation by Walter Sauer (publ. 2012) uses Sternegugger, also an old-fashioned term for astrologer with the verbatim meaning of “star watchers.”
In Luxembourgish, it is translated as weis Astronomen or “wise astronomers.” (Source: Zetzsche)
In Kwakum it is translated as “guardians of religious rites who look up at the starts to see the things to come” or “guardians of religions rites.” (Source: Stacey Hare in this post )
See also complete verse (Matthew 2:1) and who know the laws.
Learn more on Bible Odyssey: The Magi .
sound a trumpet before you
The Greek in Matthew 6:2 that is often translated in English as “sound a trumpet before you” is translated in Kayaw as “blow flutes beat drums.” “Flutes and drums are always played at Kayaw festivals and special occasions; flute and drum bands normally accompany visiting dignitaries in a procession as they arrive at a festival.” (Source: Anonymous)
In the English Good News Version (publ. 1966) it is translated non-figuratively as do not make a big show of it and the German equivalent, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch (publ. 1968) uses an existing German figure of speech with nicht an die große Glocke hängen (literally: “don’t hang it on the great bell”), meaning “don’t make a big fuss about it” or “don’t broadcast it all around.” (Source: Newman / Stine) See also expose to public disgrace.
The newly-created expression that Luther used in 1522 in the German New Testament translation, ausposaunen, has become a widely used idiom with the meaning of “broadcast (new information)” (literally “to trumpet out”). (Source: Jost Zetzsche)
Translation commentary on Matthew 1:3
The first clause is from 1 Chronicles 2.4 (“and Tamar his wife [Hebrew: daughter-in-law] gave birth to Perez and Zerah”).
Many languages have to make by Tamar a separate sentence: “Their mother was Tamar.”
In 1 Chronicles 2.9 Ram is mentioned as one of the sons of Hezron. For Ram the Septuagint has Aram (see the RSV footnote), but Ram is obviously the person who is meant, and many modern translations follow this spelling (Phillips, New English Bible, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible [New Jerusalem Bible], Translator’s New Testament, though others maintain the Septuagint spelling (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Zürcher Bibel, Barclay, Moffatt, An American Translation). The advantage of using Ram is that it avoids confusion with the several Arams mentioned in the Old Testament (see Gen 10.22, 23; 22.21; Num 23.7; 2 Sam 8.6; 15.8; 1 Chr 1.17; 2.23; 7.34; Hos 12.12; Zech 9.1), some of which are people and the others are places, but none of which are the person intended by Matthew. See the comments on names in 1.1.
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 .
Translation commentary on Matthew 2:14
As we have mentioned before, And will be omitted in some languages, but in others it will be translated by something such as “And so,” “So,” or “Therefore.”
In the Greek text he refers to Joseph. To avoid confusion because of the several persons mentioned in the narrative (the angel, Joseph, Herod, the child), Good News Translation makes the pronominal reference explicit.
Rose: TEV has “got up.” See also comment in verse 13.
His mother refers to Mary, the mother of Jesus, not to Joseph’s mother. This information is, of course, clear to the good reader, but the translation should leave no possibility of ambiguity. Some languages will have to say “the child and the mother” or “the child and the child’s mother.”
By night means “during the night” or “while it was still night.” Note that as in Good News Translation, “left during the night” is probably better than “took by night.”
Departed: they set out on the journey that same night. The translation should not intimate that they arrived there in the same night.
Took … departed is similar to “take … flee” in verse 13. It can be expressed by “He went with the child and his mother and they left,” or simply “He left with the child and his mother.”
There are languages where departed to Egypt will have to be expressed by two verbs, as in “They left during the night to go toward Egypt” or “They left during the night. They went toward Egypt.”
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 .
Translation commentary on Matthew 4:7
Again it is written is similar in form to the structure in verse 4; Good News Translation has “But the scripture also says.” Other possibilities are “In another place the scripture says” or “Another passage of scripture says.”
You shall not tempt the Lord your God comes from the Septuagint of Deuteronomy 6.16.
The You in the quotation does not refer to the Devil but to the people of Israel, to whom this statement was originally made. The translator should take care that the reader will not be confused about this. Translators may have “You people,” “None of you,” or the impersonal “One.”
Tempt translates a compound form of the verb made from the same root as the one used in Matthew 4.1; either may mean “put to the test” or “tempt,” depending upon the context. Elsewhere in the New Testament this compound form of the verb appears only in Luke 4.12; 10.25; and 1 Corinthians 10.9, where it is used in parallel with the verb of 4.1. The Deuteronomy passage refers to the time when the Israelites put God to the test at Massah (see Exo 17.1-7). They were thirsty and demanded that God work a miracle, but here Jesus refuses to put God to the test by demanding a miracle of him. The sense of tempt that people first think of is “to try to get someone to do wrong,” an idea that would certainly not fit in this context. Translators will do better to follow Good News Translation, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test,” or to use an expression such as “Don’t try to force God to prove himself,” “Don’t try to test God,” or, as in Barclay, “You must not try to see how far you can go with the Lord your God.”
It is not possible here to give a complete discussion of how to translate Lord. Translators look for a term used for someone to whom others owe allegiance. This is sometimes the same term as “chief” or “elder brother.” In some languages it is “the owner of the people” or even “our owner.” (Translators can discuss this with their translation consultant.)
It is used here with your God. The “your” in the quotation meant the God the people of Israel worshiped. Therefore “you” should not refer to the Devil. But translations can say “the Lord, the God of Israel” or “the Lord who is God.” It can also be in the third person, as in “No one must put the Lord his God to the test.”
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 .
Translation commentary on Matthew 5:15
Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel: a lamp would be placed under a bushel (Good News Translation “bowl”) solely in order to hide it. It would be totally absurd for someone to light a lamp for the purpose of supplying light for a one-room Palestinian house, and then immediately hide it.
Nor indicates a continuation of the thought from the previous verse. Translators sometimes say “further” or “similarly.”
Men may be “people,” but when the negative component from Nor is added, it may be translated as “No one,” as in Good News Translation. If the singular “No one” is used, then English will normally speak of lighting a lamp. However, if “people” or “men” is used, it will be more natural to speak of lighting “lamps.”
A lamp may be a “lantern” or “light.” But “candle,” used by some, would be wrong, since candles were not in use in Palestine at that time.
The word translated bushel is a Latin loan word which originally referred to a grain measure containing about 8.75 liters, or almost exactly one peck. Elsewhere in the New Testament it occurs only in Mark 4.21 and Luke 11.33. In this passage the size of the vessel is not so important as its function, that is, to hide the light of the lamp. If there is no exact equivalent of a bushel in an area, then translators may use some other kind of container that would effectively hide a lamp were it placed over it. Such objects include “basket,” “calabash,” or “large bowl.”
The light is placed on a stand, “a place where lamps are placed,” “a high table for the lamp,” or “a shelf for the lamp.”
All means all the people, as Good News Translation shows.
It gives light to all in the house presupposes a one-room structure in which a lamp is placed in a position where it can give light to the entire area. The context allows for light to be taken as a reference to the disciples, the preaching of the disciples, Jesus himself, or the preaching of Jesus. Fortunately, this is something the translator need not and should not make explicit. The sentence can be translated “it is placed on a stand where it lights up the house for everyone” or “it is put in its place so that everyone in the house can have light.”
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 .
Translation commentary on Matthew 5:47
And if you salute only your brethren: it is important to note that in the Jewish context the salutation is more than a gesture or greeting; it expresses a desire for the peace and welfare of the one greeted. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch renders the sentence dynamically: “And what is so special if you are friendly only with your brothers?” For most English speakers salute refers to a formal military greeting; the meaning is “greet” or “speak … to” (Good News Translation). An American Translation has “And if you are polite to.” Some have said “greet politely” or “show courtesy by greeting.”
It is fairly well agreed among the commentators that brethren, as used here, means “fellow members of a religious community.” Moffatt, Barclay, together with Good News Translation, translate the noun as “friends.” Phillips translates the clause, “And if you exchange greetings only with your own circle….” A common way to translate this has been to say “people of your own group.” See also comments on verse 22.
What more are you doing than others? assumes the answer “Nothing more!” It is possible to shift to a declaration, “you are not doing anything more than what people ordinarily do.” Modern translations represent the question in many different ways: “what is there remarkable in that?” (An American Translation), “what is special about that?” (Moffatt), “what is so praiseworthy about that?” (New American Bible), and “are you doing anything exceptional?” (New Jerusalem Bible).
This question can also be expressed as a statement, as we have suggested. Other examples are “you are only doing the same as everyone else” or “you have not done anything more than other people do.”
Gentiles is rendered “pagans” by New International Version, Moffatt, New American Bible, Jerusalem Bible, Phillips; “the heathen” is the translation of Anchor Bible, New English Bible, Barclay (An American Translation “the very heathen”). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch renders: “Those who do not know God.” Etymologically the Greek word meant “national,” then “foreign” or “Gentile,” when used in contrast to Jews. However, in many occurrences of Gentiles in the New Testament it is the religious rather than the racial contrast which is intended, and for this reason such a rendering as Gentiles is inadequate. Elsewhere in the New Testament the word is used in Matthew 6.7; 18.17 (Good News Bible “pagans”) and in 3 John 7 (Good News Translation “unbelievers”). Some later manuscripts of the New Testament substitute “tax collectors” for Gentiles. But TC-GNT indicates that this was merely an attempt “to bring the statement into closer parallelism with the preceding sentence,” as with the final sentence of verse 46.
The translation of Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, “those who do not know God” for Gentiles, has often been a useful model. A similar expression is “those who do not believe in God.” However, a problem can arise in cultures where it is accepted that everyone knows and believes in God, but Gentiles are those who either “don’t know him as he really is” or “don’t know him to worship him.”
Do not even the Gentiles do the same? expects a “yes” answer, and so may be represented by a statement: “Even the pagans do that!” (Good News Translation).
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 .