You are the light of the world is made into a simile by Good News Translation: “You are like light.” And Good News Translation understands of the world to mean “for the whole world.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates “You are the light for the world.” INCL renders “You are like light that is needed by everyone in this world.”

As with “salt” in the previous verse, many translations have used a simile to translate You are the light of the world. Good News Translation and INCL are examples cited above. Those translations which have tried to show the basis of the comparison, in what way the disciples are like light, have said “You show people the way (to God) as a light does,” “You help people to see God as if you were a light,” or “People can see their way to God because of you who are like a light for them.”

Again, world means “all the people of the world” or “people everywhere.”

The saying about A city set on a hill may originally have been a secular proverb which could have been used in a variety of contexts. Here the meaning is clear: light is certain to be noticed.

The city on a hill cannot be hid, that is, “cannot remain unseen,” “people can easily see it.”

Some translations tie the two statements in this verse closely together with sentences such as “You are the light of the world that people cannot fail to see, just as they cannot fail to see a city built on a hill” or “People cannot fail to see the way to God (or, way of life) because you are a light for them which they can see as easily as they see a city on a hill.”

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 .

What reward have you?: On the notion of rewards see verse 12. The question actually means “what reward can you expect?” (New English Bible, Barclay). But it is God from whom one expects to receive the reward, and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch follows Good News Translation in making this explicit (“How can you expect a reward from God…”); Bible en français courant is similar.

The question if you love those who love you should give the idea of loving only those who love you: “If you love only the people who love you….”

This is a rhetorical question. Jesus is not asking what the reward is, but is rather pointing out forcefully that loving those who love you will not bring a reward. This may be expressed as a statement, as in “To love only those people who love you does not bring any reward,” “God isn’t going to reward you because you love people who love you also,” “You should not expect a reward for loving those people who love you,” or “God should not reward you for loving people who love you.” Another way is to use a rhetorical question like that in Good News Translation, “Why should God reward you…?”

Do not even the tax collectors do the same? translates a question form in Greek which expects a positive reply (note Jerusalem Bible “Even the tax collectors do as much, do they not?”). Several translations (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, New English Bible, Bible en français courant, Bijbel in Gewone Taal) restructure by a statement, as does Good News Translation: “Even the tax collectors do that!”

The tax collectors referred to in the Gospels are probably the Jewish employees of the chief collectors. The Roman system for gathering taxes made for inequality and oppression, and that is one reason that in the Gospels tax collectors are quite often grouped together with sinners. To emphasize the derogatory connotation of the term, Barclay translates “the renegade tax collectors.”

Many translations have fairly literal renderings of tax collectors. They have, for example, “people who collect money for the government” or “people who make everyone pay money to the government.” Some say “to the Roman government” or “to the emperor (or, king) in Rome.” Other translations reflect the low esteem in which tax collectors were held by saying “those unpatriotic (or unscrupulous, or oppressive) tax collectors.”

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 .

Gentiles (Good News Translation, Jerusalem Bible “pagans”) is made from the same stem as the noun used in 5.47 (see comments there), and the two words mean the same. The more general use of the term simply means “Gentiles” as opposed to Jews. However, in the present context it is apparently used in a derogatory sense of people who have not learned to trust in the God of the Jews. Barclay translates “the people who don’t know God” (so also Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch); New American Bible has “The unbelievers”; New English Bible renders “the heathen.”

Seek (Good News Translation “are … concerned about”) is given a dynamic translation by many: “running after” (New American Bible), “set their hearts on” (New Jerusalem Bible), and “keep thinking about” (Barclay). Elsewhere in the Gospel of Matthew this same Greek verb is found only in 12.39 and 16.4, where it is translated “ask for (a miracle)” by Good News Translation.

Seek can also be “worry about,” “keep thinking about,” or “preoccupied with.” Many languages will use an idiomatic expression such as “Those things fill their hearts (or, minds).”

All these things is translated “These are the things” by Good News Translation. But Good News Translation includes the force of all by the rendering “always” in conjunction with the verb (so also New American Bible).

Some translators have rendered all these things as “These are the very things that Gentiles are always worrying about” or “It is all these kinds of things that concern the Gentiles.”

Heavenly Father, as elsewhere in this passage, refers to God. He knows that you need them all, that is, “He knows that you should have these things” or “He is aware that it is necessary for you to have these things.”

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 .

The function of this verse is not to confirm the miracle, but to present Jesus as an Israelite faithful to the Law. It also shows that Jesus wants the man to be fully accepted in the community.

Mark’s Gospel contains frequent commands to silence, but most of them are omitted by Matthew. However, a few are retained (see 9.30; 12.16; 16.20; 17.9).

See that you say nothing to any one can be expressed “Make sure you don’t talk about this to anyone,” “Don’t say anything about this,” or “Don’t let people know what happened.” Good News Translation further emphasizes the imperative with “Listen!” Translators can also say “Pay attention now” or “Look, I’m telling you.”

Priest is often translated “sacrificer,” “sacrificer to God (for the people),” or “the one who goes before God for the people.” The priest would have been the one on duty in the Jerusalem Temple; only there could the purification ceremony have taken place (see Leviticus 14.1-32).

Jesus tells the man show yourself. This does not mean simply that he should let the priest see him or look at him, but rather that he should let the priest examine him. Thus it can be expressed “Go to the priest so he can examine you” or “Go have the priest examine you.” It may be necessary to add “so he can see you are cured.” Note that these examples combine go and show into one imperative.

According to Leviticus 14.1-7, the gift that Moses commanded consisted of two birds. One of the birds was killed during the ceremony; the other was released. Here offer the gift means “to make (or, offer) the sacrifice.”

That Moses commanded refers to the Law of Moses or the book Moses wrote, so that the translation can be “as the Law of Moses commands” or “that the book of Moses says you should.” It may be necessary to add “when you are cured of this disease.”

For a proof to the people, a noun phrase consisting of three words in Greek, is translated more fully by Good News Translation: “then in order to prove to everyone that you are cured.” The basic problem of interpretation relates to the words to the people, which is literally “to them,” as the RSV footnote indicates. It may refer to the people in general (Good News Translation, Revised Standard Version), to Jesus’ critics, or to the priests. Both New English Bible (“that will certify the cure”) and New American Bible (“That should be the proof they need”) retain the ambiguity.

The ambiguity can also be retained with a phrase like “that will prove you are cured.” However, in many languages it is necessary to say before whom the proof is offered, so that translators say “to prove to people” or “as evidence to all.”

Note that it is the sacrifice that is the proof, not the examination by the priest. Good News Translation expresses this relationship with the phrase “in order to prove.” Another way is “this will prove” or “doing this will prove.”

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 on 1.20 and 8.2.

They brought is translated “some people brought” by Good News Translation. New Jerusalem Bible has “some people”; New American Bible “the people”; New English Bible “some men.” The meaning is doubtless “some people from the town.”

In Greek a paralytic is a masculine form of an adjective meaning “a paralyzed person.” The Greek text itself gives no hint of the person’s age, whether he was a man or a boy. Most translations indicate that he was a man and consistently refer to him as a man throughout the narrative. Living Bible, perhaps on the basis of the manner in which Jesus addresses him (my son), refers to him as a “boy” in this verse and again in verse 7. However, in verses 5 and 6 he is twice referred to as a “man.” For the sake of consistency within the narrative, it is best to refer to him either as a man or a boy throughout, rather than to shift back and forth in this way. Moreover, though the person may be a boy, it is not legitimate to base it upon the noun of address used by Jesus. Technically, the term used here does mean “child,” but it may even be used in an extended sense of “descendant.” For example, the rich man is addressed by his ancestor Abraham with this same word in Luke 16.25. In the present context the best solution is to assume that this is merely a polite form of address from a superior to an inferior. Therefore paralytic may be rendered “a man who could not move” or “a man whose sickness made him so he couldn’t move.” See comments on 8.6.

The bed referred to was probably either a pallet or a rug. Therefore it is important to avoid using a word that would make it seem he was lying on a large bed with legs, springs, mattress, and so forth. “Cot” or “mat” are quite common translations.

It may not be best in some languages to say Jesus saw their faith, but rather that he “observed,” “perceived,” or “realized how much faith they had.”

Their faith, a noun phrase in Greek, is translated “how much faith they had” by Good News Translation. Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition renders “how much faith they had in him.” The text may also be expressed “that they believed he could heal the man” or “how strongly they believed he could heal the man.”

Note that the text says their faith, which refers to the faith of those who brought the paralyzed man, but it can also include the faith of the sick man himself.

Take heart, my son is difficult to render naturally in English. New American Bible translates “Have courage, son” and Jerusalem Bible “Courage, my child.” Take heart (Good News Translation “Courage”) may also mean “Don’t worry” or “Have no fear” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). Some translations have had the equivalent of “Cheer up” or “Don’t be discouraged.” In many languages it will be more natural to have Jesus address the man first before he encourages him: “My son, cheer up.”

My son can be a problem. Here Jesus uses it as a term of endearment, as a friendly way to address the man. But in very many languages, to say “My son” or “My child” can only mean that Jesus was the man’s father. Then it may be better to say “Young man” or “My friend.” In some languages it may be more appropriate to omit the noun of address, as Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch does.

Your sins are forgiven is normally understood to mean “God has forgiven your sins,” since in Jewish thought only God could declare a person’s sins forgiven. The problem of understanding the meaning of the text is further complicated by the accusation of blasphemy made against Jesus. A person would not usually have been accused of blasphemy unless he had used the divine name. These problems have serious implications for translation, especially in those languages where passive verbs are not used or are used only rarely. Furthermore, any decision regarding the translation of your sins are forgiven will immediately affect the translation of the accusation made against Jesus in the next verse (“This man is blaspheming”). If a passive structure cannot be maintained, there are several possible alternatives: (1) “I say to you, ‘God has forgiven your sins.’ ” (2) “I forgive your sins” or “In the name of God I forgive your sins.”

For forgiven, see comments on 6.12.

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 .

As indicated in the UBS Greek text, there is a considerable degree of doubt regarding the inclusion of this verse. Since the accusation of the Pharisees plays no part in the continuation of the narrative, some scholars believe that the words have been brought in either from 12.24 or from Luke 11.15. On the other hand, the textual evidence itself is rather overwhelmingly in favor of the inclusion of this verse. It may be that Matthew places this statement here in order to prepare the reader for the controversy in 10.25.

Rather than attribute the source of Jesus’ power to God, the Pharisees claim that it comes from the prince (Good News Translation “chief”) of demons, that is, the Devil himself. Most scholars interpret by to mean “with the power of” (the chief of demons), though the Greek construction may also mean “he has the power to cast out demons because he himself is their chief.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates “He can drive out evil spirits because the chief of all the evil spirits gives him the power to do it.” For many readers it will be helpful to identify the Devil as the chief of all the demons: “… the Devil, who is the chief of all evil spirits, gives him the power….” If this identification is not made in the text, it should at least be done in a footnote.

It is important that prince is understood to mean “chief” or “leader,” not “son of a king.”

The translation of Pharisees was discussed at 3.7.

For demons and “Devil,” see comments on 4.1.

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 .