But I say to you repeats the emphatic formula frequently used throughout this passage (see verse 22 and comments there).

Resist is the rendering of most English translations (so An American Translation, Moffatt, Barclay, Anchor Bible, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible; New American Bible “offer … resistance”); New English Bible translates “set yourself against.” A literal translation of the verb is to “stand against.” The context, as well as the parallels found in rabbinic sources, suggests that the word has a specifically legal connotation: “resist” in a court of law, or “oppose” before a judge. The Traduction œcuménique de la Bible (footnote) indicates that the verb carries the sense of a retort or of a payment in kind, be it immediate and personal or before a court of law; in the footnote attention is called to the following verses: Luke 21.15; Acts 13.8; Romans 13.2; Galatians 2.11; James 4.7; 1 Peter 5.9.

For these reasons it is important that resist not be translated so as to refer to physical resistance. Some translations (for example, Good News Translation) have used a fairly general expression such as “Don’t try to pay back,” “Don’t go seeking revenge,” or “Don’t try to do something in return.” Others follow more strictly the interpretation that puts “resist” in a legal context here, and say “Don’t try to get a judge to help you get revenge” or “Don’t take someone who wrongs you to court to get revenge.”

One who is evil (Good News Translation “someone who wrongs you”) in the Greek is simply the adjective “evil” used as a noun. It presents the same problems of interpretation as does “evil” in verse 37. Anchor Bible follows Revised Standard Version; New English Bible has “the man who wrongs you”; New International Version translates “an evil person”; Jerusalem Bible has “the wicked man.” Other translations take the word in an impersonal or abstract sense: “evil” (Barclay, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch) or “injury” (Moffatt, An American Translation, New American Bible). But the context favors the interpretation represented in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. And it is erroneous to force modern psychology on the text by affirming that the reference is to “evil in the abstract,” which becomes visible through a person’s actions. The commentator is perhaps correct who narrows the meaning to “one who wishes to do injury.” Thus translators will translate one who is evil as “the one who wrongs you,” “who does something bad to you,” or “who harms you.”

Note that But indicates a contrast: “Instead,” or even “Instead, the way you should behave is.”

If any one strikes you on the right cheek has reference to an injury of insult, not of violence. In the Near East, both in Jesus’ day and in the present, the most insulting physical blow that one can give another is a slap with the back of the hand against the right cheek. Luke, on the other hand, substitutes a different verb (6.29), suggesting “a violent act.”

If possible, translators should use a word that means “slap” for strikes. Some have used “one cheek” for right cheek, but as we explained, it was in fact the right cheek that was slapped as an insult, and the biblical form should be retained if possible. Translators may consider saying “hits you on the cheek to insult you.”

Turn to him implies “let him slap” (Good News Translation) and the other obviously has reference to “the left cheek” (see Good News Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Bible en français courant). The translation can be “turn the left cheek for him to slap as well” or “turn so he can also slap your left cheek.”

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 .

Matthew 6.25-34 forms a unit in itself and calls for absolute commitment to God and his kingdom (verse 33) rather than to earthly possessions. It continues the main theme of the preceding paragraph, that is, the necessity for complete devotion to the service of God. There is a parallel in Luke, but it appears in a different context (12.22-34).

Therefore (Good News Translation “This is why”) forms only a loose connection in the context. The presence of the complete formula (Therefore I tell you) in both Matthew and Luke (12.22) suggests that the words were taken over from the special source shared by Matthew and Luke, where Therefore may have had a closer connection with the context. In this verse translators most often indicate a rather loose connection, with transitions such as “And so I tell you,” “I tell you, then,” or “So I tell you.”

Anxious about is translated by the equivalent of “worry about” in Good News Translation, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, An American Translation, Barclay, Phillips. Either translation is an accurate rendering of the Greek. One commentator expresses the meaning as “You must not be distracted by cares.” The verb occurs four more times in this passage (verses 27, 28, 31, 34) and in 10.19. There are several ways languages express the meaning of do not be anxious about. Some say “Don’t be overly concerned,” “Don’t let the worries distract you,” or “Don’t allow the cares to bother you too much.”

The Greek word rendered life literally means “soul.” However, it is not here used in contrast to body, but appears as a word that is nearly synonymous, since both terms really refer to one’s own self. The use of the word in this verse, as elsewhere in the Bible, indicates that the “soul” is not to be understood as an eternal part in man, but as his entire being. In the Jewish sense, “soul” is the basic element in a person’s vitality, requiring food for sustenance, and is thereby essentially synonymous with life. Good News Translation interprets with this same meaning but with considerable restructuring: “do not be worried about the food and drink you need in order to stay alive.” A number of other modern translations are also dynamic; for example, “Stop worrying about what you are going to eat and drink to keep you alive” (Barclay), “don’t worry about living—wondering what you are going to eat or drink” (Phillips), and “do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink” (New International Version). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch ties this clause with the next: “Do not worry about food and drink and your clothing. Life is more than food and drink, and the body is more than clothing.” The use of “Stop worrying about” (Barclay) is based on the observation that the Greek verb tense is a present imperative, implying a command to stop doing some action already in progress. Barclay also uses this same form in the second half of the command: “Stop worrying about the clothes you are going to wear to keep your body warm.”

Some translations have said “Don’t be overly concerned about the things that relate to your life, such as what you’re going to eat or drink” or “You should not always be preoccupied by (or, worrying yourself about) things to keep alive with, such as food or drink.”

Nor about your body, what you shall put on is rather awkward for English speakers. A number of modern translations have restructured similarly to Good News Translation: “… and clothes to cover your body” (New English Bible), “… or use for clothing” (New American Bible), and “… nor about your body and how you are to clothe it” (Jerusalem Bible). This phrase can also be “nor about what clothes you’ll cover your body with” or “nor about the clothing you need to protect your body.”

Good News Translation prefaces Is not life more than food with “After all.” This phrase does not represent any specific words in the Greek text; it is introduced in English because the need is felt for a transitional.

Is not introduces a rhetorical question in Greek which expects the answer “Yes.” New Jerusalem Bible changes the question form of the Greek text to a statement: “Surely life is more than food, and the body more than clothing!” New English Bible and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, among others, restructure similarly. In some languages a question will be formed at the end of a sentence, as in “Life means more than food and the body means more than clothing, isn’t that so?”

The concepts of life being more than food and the body more than clothing often need to be restructured if readers are to understand what is meant. Some ways will be to say “What is important in life is much more than food,” “There is much more to life than just food,” or “There is much more of importance to life than food.” Similarly the second part may be “There are things more important to our bodies than clothing.”

Of course, any one of these statements can be expressed as a question, as in the text: “Isn’t there more to life than just food?” “Aren’t there things more important to our bodies than clothing?” and so on.

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 .

Every one can be rendered “anyone,” “whoever,” or “those people who.”

The phrase hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like is similar to verse 24 except for the negative does not do them.

The Greek word translated foolish man was first used in 5.22. It is also used in 23.17 and in 25.2, 3, 8. See 5.22 for a discussion of the word. Here it can be “stupid person” or “person who has no sense.”

Upon the sand would be more natural for English speakers without the use of the definite article the, which is found in Greek. Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, and New English Bible omit the article, and New American Bible has “on sandy ground.” See comment on “the rock” in verse 24.

As with “on the rock,” upon the sand will pose a problem for people who do in fact build houses on sand. They may have to say “on top of sand so it was not strong” or “on sand with the result that nothing could give it strength.”

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 .

And behold: see comments at 1.20 and 8.2. Here, phrases such as “At once” or “As soon as they saw Jesus” will be good too.

Cried out (Good News Translation “screamed”) indicates a loud shout (New English Bible “shouted”). Jerusalem Bible has “They stood there shouting….” Notice that in this verse it is the men, not the spirits, shouting at Jesus.

What have you to do with us, O Son of God? is literally “What to us and to you, Son of God?” The construction “What to us and to you” is a Semitic idiom; in the Marcan (5.7) and Lukan (8.28) parallels it appears in the singular (“What to me and to you”). The same expression occurs in the Septuagint, with at least two different meanings. In Judges 11.12 Jephthah’s reply to the Ammonite king means “What is your quarrel with us?” In 2 Samuel 16.10 David’s reply to Abishai and Joab may be rendered “This is none of your business.” In John 2.4, where these same words comprise Jesus’ response to his mother during the wedding feast at Cana, the meaning is “You must not tell me what to do.” Here the meaning is best explained by the question that follows, “Have you come to punish us before the right time?” (Good News Translation).

The question is certainly a hostile one, and the translation should reflect this: “What’s your business with us?” “What are you going to do with (or, to) us?” or “Why are you bothering us?” It can even be translated as something of a warning, as in “Don’t interfere with us.”

In 3.17 God speaks of Jesus as his Son, and in 4.3, 6 the devil identifies Jesus as God’s Son. According to the New Testament, demons also have supernatural insight, and it is on this basis that the demon-possessed men recognize who Jesus really is.

The vocative formula with O as in O Son of God is archaic and unnatural in English as well as in many other languages. Better will be “You who are Son of God” or simply “Son of God.” Whether to put this before or after the question depends on the receptor language.

Have you come here to torment us before the time? reflects Jewish and Christian thought, according to which demons have power to trouble people until the day of God’s final judgment upon them.

Torment may be “punish” (Good News Translation), “make suffer,” or “torture.”

The time is specifically a reference to the final judgment, and so it may be rendered “before the Day of Judgment.” New American Bible renders “before the appointed time”; New Jerusalem Bible renders “before the time,” with a note indicating that the Day of Judgment is meant. A common translation is “the time of judgment” or “the proper time for that.”

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 .

Passed on from there translates the same verb and adverb used in Matthew 9.9. Jesus’ movements cannot be defined with exact precision. Translators should probably render Jesus passed on from there in a way similar to the phrase in verse 9, perhaps as “Jesus left there,” “Jesus continued on from there,” or “Jesus went on from there.”

Followed (so also New Jerusalem Bible) may have the force of “started following” (Good News Translation). In this context followed will certainly mean “went behind him.” It does not mean that they became disciples. Good News Bible found it more natural to say “started following,” and this will be true in many other languages as well.

The expression crying aloud means “shouting” or “calling loudly.” It does not mean weeping. They were calling out repeatedly as they walked along. “They were shouting” will indicate this.

Have mercy on us is the cry of the blind men for help and healing from Jesus. They do not merely want his pity or sympathy; they want him to heal them. Have mercy on us should be translated by some phrase that is natural in the context. Examples may be “Take pity on us,” “Be kind to us,” or “Please be kind and help us.”

Son of David is a Jewish Messianic title. It was first used in 1.1 (Good News Translation “a descendant of David”) and appears also in 15.22; 20.30; 21.9, 15. Jesus is the Promised Savior, and so the time had arrived for the promised healing of the blind. See, for example, the prophecy in Isaiah 35.5.

The title Son of David could make some readers think that Jesus was David’s son. Therefore “Descendant of David,” “Descendant of King David,” or “You who are of King David’s family” have been used. However, the fact that Son of David was a Messianic title does get lost with such translations. This fact can be explained in a footnote, or the title itself can be in the text and the footnote can explain the meaning.

Many languages have formulas for titles, and they can be used here. A common way in West Africa, for example, is to say “You who are called Son of David.”

In some languages the vocative cannot be at the end of a sentence but must be at the beginning, as in “Son of David, have mercy on us.”

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 .