Will go away (Good News Translation “will be sent off”) is perhaps best interpreted to mean “God will send them away.”

Eternal punishment can be expressed by “where they will be punished forever” or “punishment that never stops.”

The righteous: see verse 37 and 1.19.

Eternal life: see comment at 19.16.

In Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch this verse is translated “Eternal punishment awaits these people. But the others, who have done God’s will, will receive eternal life.”

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 .

But after I am raised up is an obvious reference to Jesus’ resurrection from death, and Good News Translation makes this fact explicit: “But after I am raised to life.” It may be necessary to alter this statement to an active construction: “But after God raises me back to life” or “… from death.”

I will go before you to Galilee may refer either to Jesus’ resurrection or to his final appearance. On this issue scholarly opinion is sharply divided. The usual interpretation of this phrase is that of Good News Translation, “I will go to Galilee ahead of you.” That is, Jesus will go there before they do, and the presumption is that they will meet him there. Barclay has “I will go on ahead of you into Galilee.” There are some who have understood this to mean Jesus will lead the disciples to Galilee, as in “I will lead the way for you into Galilee.” The first interpretation is probably better.

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 .

Jesus’ reply (You have said so) places the burden of decision upon the High Priest, in contrast to the openly affirmative “I am” of Mark (14.62). A number of translations retain Jesus’ answer in a form similar to that of the Greek text: “You say it” (Luther 1984), “It is you who say it” (New American Bible), and “The words are yours” (New English Bible; Jerusalem Bible “The words are your own”). Renderings such as these have the effect of saying “That’s your way of saying it, but I don’t necessarily agree (or, I may or may not say it that way myself).” Others take Jesus’ answer to be an absolute affirmative: “Yes” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), “Yes, it is as you say” (New International Version), “It is true” (An American Translation), and “You have said so, Yes” (Phillips). Although either interpretation can be supported, we tend the prefer the former.

But I tell you is the same expression used in 11.22, 24; it is equivalent in emphasis to “For truly, I say to you” of 5.18 (see discussion there). The word translated But can mean “Moreover,” which would go better with the second interpretation of You have said so. Because you here is plural, contrasting with the singular You have said so of the previous sentence, Good News Translation translates “But I tell all of you.”

Hereafter of Revised Standard Version is somewhat ambiguous. Good News Translation‘s “from this time on” (New Jerusalem Bible “from this time onward”) or “from now on” (New English Bible, Barclay, Luther 1984, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch) reflects more accurately the meaning of the Greek construction. Several translations depart from the obvious meaning and translate either “Soon” (New American Bible, An American Translation) or “in the future” (New International Version, Phillips; Moffatt “in future”) in order to make Jesus’ statement chronologically precise. However, as one scholar expresses it, “Matthew’s overall meaning is that ‘from this time on’ they will see only the triumphant Son of Man, to whom all power in heaven and earth is given (28.18), and who will return to judge the world (25.31).”

The Son of man … on the clouds of heaven, taken from Daniel 7.13, agrees very closely with the Marcan parallel. The one significant difference is the shift from “with the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14.62) to on the clouds of heaven. Whereas both forms are represented in the two textual traditions of Daniel 7.13 in the Septuagint, the form chosen by Matthew probably lays greater stress upon the exalted position of the Son of Man.

The expression at the right hand is similar to the expression discussed at 22.44. Good News Translation has rendered Power as “the Almighty,” but for many translators “Almighty God” of Barclay is even better.

The Son of Man will be coming, with the understood destination of earth. Some translations will in fact say “coming to earth.” Since he will be coming on the clouds of heaven, translators may say “coming to earth, riding on the clouds of heaven” or even “riding to earth on the clouds of heaven.” Many translations feel that of heaven does not add anything to the meaning of the clouds and can easily be dropped.

A problem for translators is the fact that the Son of Man is both seated and coming. One way to handle this is to say “you will see the Son of Man, the one who sits at the right side of Almighty God, coming to earth on the clouds.”

Matthew clearly intends an identification of the speaker (Jesus) with the Son of Man, and the reply of the High Priest in the following verse makes it obvious that he too took it in that way. But translators should not use the first person “I.” See comments at 8.20.

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 .

Verses 21-23, the fourth in the series of five scenes, narrates the demands by the crowd: “Free Barabbas and put Jesus to death!”

As previously noted, Matthew likes to emphasize the position which Pilate held, and so he frequently refers to him as governor throughout this chapter.

Care should be taken that them and they are understood to be the crowd.

Which of the two do you want me to release for you? is found in Matthew but not in the Marcan parallel. The point of reference is the custom mentioned in verse 15.

The reply of the crowd (“Barabbas”) is also found only in Matthew. Here again Matthew utilizes direct discourse as a means of allowing Jesus’ opponents to condemn themselves.

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 .

It may be better to connect coming out of the tombs with the events of the previous verse, and then begin a new sentence with after his resurrection: “ the graves broke open. Many of God’s people who had died were raised to life and left their graves. Later, after Jesus rose from death, they went into the city of Jerusalem, where many people saw them.”

“After Jesus rose from death” of Good News Translation translates a Greek noun phrase after his resurrection. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch renders “when Jesus was resurrected”; one may also translate “after God had raised Jesus from death.”

For many readers it may be advisable to translate the holy city as either “the city of Jerusalem” or “Jerusalem, the holy city of the Jews.”

The Greek verb construction translated appeared to many may mean either “appeared to many people” or “were seen by many people.” New Jerusalem Bible follows one interpretation (“appeared to a number of people”), while New English Bible follows the other (“where many saw them”).

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 .

Go … baptizing … teaching (verse 20) are each participles dependent upon the main verb make disciples. But in such a construction it is not uncommon for the participles themselves to assume the force of an imperative. However, the command to make disciples is the primary command, while the commands to baptize and teach are ways of fulfilling the primary command. Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, and Luther 1984, together with a number of other modern translations, translate all of the four verb forms as imperatives: “Go … make … disciples … baptize … teach (verse 20)” (Good News Translation). Of the contemporary translations, Revised Standard Version and New International Version are in the minority as they follow the pattern set by King James Version, which renders “baptizing” and “teaching” as participles.

All nations (Good News Translation “all peoples everywhere”) continues the concept of all-inclusiveness which is emphasized throughout verses 18b-20: “All authority … all nations … all that I have commanded … always.”

Make disciples is also used with a causative force in Acts 14.21; the only other occurrences of this verb in the New Testament are in Matthew 13.52 (“has been trained”) and 27.57 (“was a disciple”). The notion of discipleship is integral to the Gospel of Matthew, where the noun “disciple” is used seventy-two times.

To make disciples of all nations has been translated by Barclay as “make the people of all nations my disciples.”

The disciples are to proceed with their work by baptizing the people of all nations. (Notice that in most languages one can baptize people, not nations.) “Baptism” was discussed at 3.1.

That baptism should be in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit is stated only here in the New Testament. In fact, a Trinitarian formula is found elsewhere in the New Testament only in 2 Corinthians 13.14 (TEV 13.13), where it forms part of a benediction. Elsewhere in the New Testament baptism is done only “in the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 2.38) and “in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 8.16).

In the name of means “by the authority of”; most translations retain the literal form, perhaps under the influence of church tradition. In some cases the phrase will have to be used with all three authorities, as in “in the name of the Father, in the name of the Son, and in the name of the Holy Spirit.”

There will be languages where the Father will have to be “God the Father,” but it would not be normal to render the Son by “Jesus the Son,” if for no other reason than that it is Jesus himself speaking here. “God the Son” is certainly the way most churches understand this phrase, but it should not be added to the translation. (On the other hand “God the Father” will have been used by many throughout the Gospel of Matthew.)

For Holy Spirit, see discussion at 1.18.

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 .