One of these little ones is described by the phrase because he is a disciple (literally “in the name of a disciple”). Good News Translation combines these two phrases and renders “one of the least of these my followers.” Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition is similar to Good News Translation; New American Bible has “one of these lowly ones because he is a disciple”; New English Bible “one of these little ones, because he is a disciple of mine.” It is important in translation that little ones be understood of status rather than of age. Therefore it may be translated as “least important ones.” The phrase can then be “one of these least important of my followers because he is my follower.”

A cup of cold water reflects the show of hospitality in first-century Palestine. It may be necessary to add “to drink” or to say “a drink of cold water,” as in Good News Translation.

For comments on truly, I say to you, see 5.18.

The translation of this verse may be complicated, because Jesus is addressing his disciples (see verse 40), yet he is referring to them in the third person as one of these little ones … because he is a disciple. This results from the double orientation of Matthew’s Gospel, by which Matthew relates Jesus’ words to the actual church situation of his own day. So then Matthew will freely shift from the second person to the third person, if this better suits the needs of his congregation.

Good News Translation has rendered the negative shall not lose his reward as a positive sentence, “will certainly receive….” It may be necessary to make this passive an active, as in “God will certainly reward him” or “God will not fail to reward him.”

See verse 41 for comments on reward.

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 .

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus: the first of these clauses simply gives information, as Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation indicate, but the second clause is better rendered as an imperative: “and you are to name him Jesus” (New American Bible). Note Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, “she will have a son; you must name him Jesus”; and Barclay, “she will have a son, and you must call him by the name Jesus.” She will bear a son can be translated fairly easily in most languages. “She will give birth to a son (or, baby boy)” is usually possible, or “The baby she will bear will be a boy.”

Except for the name Jesus, this sentence is a direct quotation from the Septuagint of Isaiah 7.14, which suggests that the name is in focus. For this reason the use of the imperative (“you are to [or, you must] name…”) is more satisfactory than the simple future. It is not correct in many languages to say you shall call his name, since this will mean calling out loud rather than naming. Translators should use the natural way to speak of naming a child; for example, “The name you are to give him will be Jesus” or “You should name him Jesus.” You is singular here, meaning Joseph.

On the meaning of the name Jesus, see comments on Matthew 1.1.

For he will save his people from their sins is in part a quotation from Psalm 130.8 (“he [the Lord] will save his people Israel from all their sins,” Good News Bible). The forgiveness of sins summarizes the concept of salvation, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. It includes much more than the mere pardon of individual wrongs; it indicates that the barrier between God and people has been removed.

It is important to translate the notion of cause in the word for. In some languages translators will not start a new sentence after “name him Jesus” but will continue with the same sentence as using “for” or “because,” saying “… call his name Jesus, because…” or, if a separate sentence is used, “The reason you will give him this name is that….”

Save has sometimes been translated as “rescue,” as in “He will rescue his people from their sins.” Another way has been “redeemed” or “set free,” as one may perhaps buy a slave his freedom: “He will set his people free from their sins.” It would be wrong, however, to give the idea that his people will stop committing sin. Better would be “He will rescue them from the situation of sin” or “… from the effects (or, results) of their sins.” Since these results are God’s punishment, translators can even say “… from the punishment because of their sins.” These solutions are also useful in languages where the concept of rescuing from sins does not make sense because sins are not seen as the type of situation from which one needs to be rescued or can be rescued. It would not be right, either, to translate save as “forgive.” Jesus will not forgive his people, but rather will bring about God’s forgiveness.

Sins itself is a concept that has been translated in many different ways. Of course, many languages are familiar with the concept and have no problem translating it. The word used indicates a violation of the teachings, laws, and traditions of that culture. But in other languages the closest equivalent is “bad actions,” “wrong actions,” or “forbidden actions.” Translators have sometimes found it necessary to make clear that sins are actions against God’s teaching, and have used phrases such as “acts that disobey God.” The translation of this sentence will then be something like “He will rescue his people from the effects of their disobeying God.”

In the Gospel of Matthew, his people means “Israel.” But this information is probably best put in the footnotes, leaving his people or “his own people” in the text.

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 .

Good News Translation restructures this verse chronologically, placing the act of confession before that of baptism. In Greek baptized translates an imperfect tense (parallel to the imperfect of “went out” in verse 5), while confessing translates a participle (a present participle in Greek may refer to an action preceding that of the main verb). But these represent formal features of the Greek, and the translator must decide what form is most adequate for the needs of the receptor language. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, among others, restructures in chronological sequence in Good News Bible tradition. It should be noted that the gift of forgiveness came later from Jesus (see Matt 26.28); there is no connection between baptism and forgiveness as in Mark. Here the work of the Baptist relates solely to the matter of confession.

Some scholars believe that were baptized by him may rather have the meaning “were baptized under his supervision” or “baptized themselves under his supervision.” No translations go in this direction.

Some suggest that John took over his rite of baptism from Jewish proselyte baptism; one scholar, for example, affirms without hesitation that it was taken from the Qumran community (the Essenes), but given a “far more profound meaning.” For a summary discussion of the differences between the baptism of the Qumran community and that of John the Baptist, see the modern commentaries. Regardless of the source of John’s baptism, the meaning that he gave to it is clear in the context. For a discussion of baptized, see verse 3.1. Here “they had John baptize them” or “John baptized them.”

The word confessing is often translated as “They declared openly the wrong things they had done” or “They admitted in public (or, before God) their sins.”

Whichever action, confessing or baptizing, is given first, the important thing is that the relationship between them be clear. Chronologically, the confessing preceded their being baptized. It was the people who confessed and John who baptized them. It should not sound as if John was confessing. This can be expressed as “They declared before all the sins they had done, and John baptized them in the Jordan River” or “The people were baptized by John in the Jordan River after they confessed their sins.”

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 .

In this verse, as in verse 21, Matthew connects the adverb Immediately with the fact that they left. However, in the Marcan parallel “immediately” is not connected with their leaving but with Jesus’ call: “and immediately he called them” (Mark 1.20). Care should be taken not to follow the example of the Living Bible (Living Bible), which forces the Marcan text to agree with Matthew: “He called them too, and immediately they left their father Zebedee in the boat….” Here, as elsewhere, the translator should never force one Gospel to agree with another.

As in verse 20, Immediately will be translated as “Right away,” “At once,” or “Without delay.”

For left, see also verse 20. Possible renderings are “they left the boat and their father there to go with Jesus (or, to become Jesus’ disciples)” or “they abandoned the boat and left their father….” (See verse 20 for other comments on followed.)

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 .

This and the following verse are applications of the statement regarding adultery. Even if a man’s eye, which should keep him from stumbling, causes him to sin, it should be taken out and thrown away! Commentators agree that the right eye is chosen as an illustration on the analogy of the “right hand” (verse 30), which is generally regarded as more useful than the left. Quite often translators find it odd to speak of one particular eye causing sin, since we see with both. Therefore some say “your eye” or “your eyes.”

Causes … to sin translates a verb frequently used in Matthew’s Gospel (5.30; 11.6; 13.21, 57; 15.12; 17.27; 18.6, 8, 9; 24.10; 26.31, 33). The root meaning is “cause to stumble,” and the specific nature of the “stumbling,” whether physical or otherwise, is determined by the context. In Matthew the focus is generally upon the doing of something that may lead another to give up his faith. Causes … to sin can be translated as “causes you to do wrong,” “makes you sin,” or “makes you think about doing wrong so that you sin.”

The phrase needs to be restructured in many languages, as in “if, because of what your eye has seen, you sin” or “if you are led to do sin because of your eyes (or, because of what you have seen with your eyes).”

If translators have used the plural “your eyes,” then they will say “pluck them out” rather than pluck it out.

Of course, Jesus is using very exaggerated language to impress on his hearers the seriousness of what he is saying. There have been translators that have wanted to tone it down, or to make the application clear in the translation, as in “You must not let anything prevent you from entering the kingdom and send you to hell instead. Even your vision is less important.” But translators should retain the language of Jesus at this point.

One of your members means “one part of your body.” Some translations make it clear that the eye is the part of the body being spoken of here, as in “your eye, which is only one part of your body.”

Lose means “deprived of.” The sentence can be “It is better not to have one of the parts of the body” or “It is better to have one of the parts of your body missing.” “Lose” in the sense of “not able to find” would be wrong in this context.

Hell is the rendering of most modern translations (New Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, Barclay, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Bible en français courant, Bijbel in Gewone Taal). An American Translation translates “the pit!” and Phillips “the rubbish-heap.” Revised Standard Version follows the translation hell with a note “Greek Gehenna”; both Moffatt and New American Bible translate “Gehenna.” The word “Gehenna” is merely a transliteration of the Greek, which itself is a Grecized form of the Hebrew. See comments at verse 22, where the word is first used.

The phrase thrown into hell is a passive construction. Many translations use an impersonal construction such as “they throw your body into hell” or “they force you to go to hell.” Others make God the indirect agent, as in “God has your body thrown.” Another way would be to say simply that you “go to hell.”

Some translations use a sentence with “worse” rather than “better,” as in “It is bad to lose a part of your body, but it is worse if the whole body gets thrown into hell.”

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 .