SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 2023 – Page 11

SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 10:23

10:23a

When they persecute you: The word persecute means “deliberately harm someone,” “mistreat someone,” or “cause someone to suffer.” People can persecute others physically, such as beating them or forcing them to leave their homes and taking their possessions forcefully. People can also persecute others verbally by saying hurtful things.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

treated badly (New Century Version)
-or-
cause to suffer
-or-
oppress

This word also occurs in 5:10a and 5:12b. You should translate it here as you did there.

in one town: This phrase refers to any of the towns or villages that the disciples will visit.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

in one place (New International Version)
-or-
in any town/village

flee: To flee means to move quickly away from danger and seek a safer place.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

run away (Good News Translation)
-or-
escape
-or-
get away from the danger

10:23b

The Greek of 10:23b begins with a conjunction that is often translated as “for.” Verse 10:23b–c is the basis for the command to flee to another village (in 10:23a). Many English versions leave this conjunction untranslated, as the Berean Standard Bible does. In some languages, it will also not be necessary to translate this conjunction.

Truly I tell you: Jesus often used these words to introduce a statement that he wanted to emphasize.

Here are some other ways to show this emphasis:

• As a phrase before Jesus’ statement. For example:

I assure you (New Living Translation (1996))
-or-
Listen to this:
-or-
Let me tell you this:

• As an emphatic word within Jesus’ statement. For example:

You will certainly not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes

If you have another way in your language to emphasize a statement or to alert people to listen with special attention, consider using it here. See how you translated this clause in 10:15a.

10:23c

you will not reach all the towns of Israel: In Greek, this clause is more literally, “you will not finish the towns of Israel.” The thing to be finished is left implied in the Greek. The context implies that the disciples will not finish their ministry of traveling from one town to the next to preach the good news to the Jews (10:5–17).

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

you will not finish going through all the towns of Israel (NET Bible)
-or-
you will not finish your work in all the towns of Israel (Good News Translation)
-or-
you will not finish ⌊going and preaching the good news⌋ in all the towns of Israel

before the Son of Man comes: There are many ways to interpret this clause. Here are the main interpretations:

(1) It refers to Jesus’ coming back to his disciples after the resurrection.

(2) It refers to Jesus’ coming to his father at the time of the ascension.

(3) It refers to Jesus coming in judgment against Israel in 70 AD when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed.

(4) It refers to the second coming of Jesus at the end of the world.

(5) It refers to Jesus coming to and joining his disciples later on their trip.

There is much debate and disagreement among commentators about this verse. But this clause can be translated well without interpreting it. So it is recommended that you translate this clause literally and not try to interpret it.

the Son of Man: Jesus used the phrase the Son of Man to refer to himself. In some languages it may be necessary to add the pronoun “I” to show that Jesus was referring to himself. For example:

⌊I,⌋ the Son of Man

This phrase also occurs in 8:20b and 9:6a. You should translate it here as you did there. See also Son of Man in Key Biblical Terms for more information.

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 11:13

11:13

For: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as For indicates that 11:13 explains something. Here this conjunction introduces more details about John and the kingdom.

Jesus explained that John was the turning point between the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament period was a time of prophecy about the Messiah and his kingdom. The New Testament period was the time when these prophecies were fulfilled.

Here is another way to translate this conjunction:

I say this ⌊because⌋

Some English versions do not translate this conjunction. In some languages, it may not be necessary to translate this conjunction either.

all the Prophets and the Law: This phrase refers to the books of the prophets and the five books of Moses in the Old Testament. These two groups of books represent all the Old Testament.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

All the Books of the Prophets and the Law of Moses (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
all ⌊the books of⌋ the prophets and ⌊all the books of⌋ the law ⌊of Moses⌋

Normally, Jews said “the Law and the Prophets.” Here Matthew reversed the normal order. He perhaps did this to focus on the function of prophecy in the Old Testament.

prophesied: The verb prophesied means “spoke a message on behalf of God.” The Old Testament Scriptures spoke about many future things. Some of those prophecies were about the coming Messiah and his kingdom. In the context of 11:11–13, the topic is the kingdom of God. So here, Jesus was referring to prophesies about the kingdom. In some languages, it will be natural to make this explicit. For example:

spoke about the Kingdom (Good News Translation)
-or-
told about what would happen ⌊regarding the kingdom of God⌋

The word prophesy also occurs in 7:22b.

until John: The phrase until John refers to John’s coming or time on earth. The coming of John marked the end of the Old Testament period and the beginning of the time of the kingdom. The period of the prophets and their prophecies about the kingdom was from Moses to John. When John came, these prophecies started to be fulfilled.

In many languages, it will be necessary to make some of this information explicit. For example:

Until the time of John all the prophets and the Law of Moses spoke about the Kingdom (Good News Translation)
-or-
All the Prophets and the Law prophesied about the kingdom until John came. ⌊When he arrived, he began to fulfill what they had said.⌋

-or-

Before John came, all the Prophets and the Law prophesied about the kingdom. ⌊When he arrived, those prophecies started to become true.⌋

SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 12:15

Section 12:15–21

Jesus is the Servant whom God chose

About seven hundred years before Jesus was born, God told the prophet Isaiah that the Christ would be kind and gentle and would announce God’s way of saving people and making them righteous (Isaiah 42:1–4). And Jesus fulfilled that prophecy (12:17–21).

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

God’s Chosen Servant (New International Version)
-or-
Jesus Is God’s Chosen Servant (New Century Version)
-or-
Jesus fulfilled what the prophet Isaiah had said

Paragraph 12:15–21

12:15a

The Pharisees secretly made plans to kill Jesus, but they did not kill him at that time. Jesus knew about their plans, and he left that area. In some languages, it may be natural to begin this verse with the conjunction “but.” For example:

But (New Living Translation (2004))

Aware of this, Jesus: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Aware is the word that simply means “knew.” Jesus “knew” that the Pharisees planned to kill him.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

But Jesus knew what they were planning. (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Jesus knew what the Pharisees were doing (New Century Version)

withdrew: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as withdrew means “went away” or “left.” This word is often used when someone goes away from danger. Jesus withdrew from the Pharisees and their plans to kill him. He did not flee in fear, but rather he went away because it was not yet time for him to die.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

went away (Good News Translation)
-or-
left (Contemporary English Version)

12:15b

Large crowds followed Him: There is a textual issue here:

(1) Some Greek manuscripts have many followed him. For example:

many followed him (Revised Standard Version)

(English Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, New International Version, Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible)

(2) Other Greek manuscripts have many crowds followed him. For example:

many crowds (New Revised Standard Version)

(Berean Standard Bible, Good News Translation, NET Bible, New Revised Standard Version, Contemporary English Version, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, King James Version)

In this case, the particular Greek text that you follow is not that important. What is important is that you should translate this clause in a way that indicates that many people followed Jesus.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

many people followed him (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
large crowds followed him (Contemporary English Version, Berean Standard Bible)
-or-
Many crowds followed him (New Revised Standard Version)

followed: In this context, the verb followed only refers to “went after.” Here this verb does not imply that the people were disciples of Jesus. Use your normal verb for “followed” here.

He healed them all: This clause indicates that Jesus healed everyone among them who was sick. It does not imply that everyone who followed Jesus needed to be healed.

Here are some other ways to make this clear:

He healed all the sick among them (New Living Translation (2004))

-or-

he healed all who were sick (New Century Version)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 12:47

12:47a–b

Someone told Him, “Look, Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to You.”: There is a textual issue here.

(1) Some Greek manuscripts include 12:47. Most English versions follow these manuscripts.

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Good News Translation, New Revised Standard Version, NET Bible, King James Version, New American Standard Bible, Contemporary English Version, God’s Word, New Living Translation (2004), Revised English Bible, New Century Version, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

(2) Some Greek manuscripts do not include 12:47. A few English versions follow these manuscripts.

(English Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible)

It is recommended that you follow option (1). Most English versions follow this option. Also, option (1) helps connect 12:46 and 12:48.

The person who told Jesus the news certainly talked to Jesus with respect. In some languages, it may be necessary to make this respect explicit. For example:

⌊Teacher,⌋ your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.

-or-

⌊Excuse me,⌋ your mother and your younger brothers are standing outside the house. They want to speak with you.

In some languages, it may be natural to translate this verse as indirect speech. For example:

Someone told Jesus that his mother and ⌊younger⌋ brothers were standing outside ⌊the house⌋ and wanted to talk with him.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 13:29

13:29a

Verse 13:29 is the owner’s refusal to allow the servants to pull out the weeds. Some English versions introduce this refusal with the conjunction “But.” Other English versions, including the Berean Standard Bible, do not have a conjunction here. In some languages, it will not be necessary to have a conjunction here either.

if you pull the weeds now: The Greek phrase the Berean Standard Bible translates as if you pull the weeds now is more literally “lest, gathering the weeds,….” The word “lest” expresses negative purpose: It means “in order not to.” (This same word occurs in 13:15d.) The owner told the servant not to pull out the weeds so that they would not also pull out the wheat.

Here are some other ways to translate these words:

No, ⌊do not do that,⌋ so that you don’t also
-or-
No, ⌊do not pull them out,⌋ because you might also
-or-
No. If you pull out the weeds, you may (God’s Word)

13:29b

you might uproot the wheat with them: The verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as uproot means to pull out a plant along with its roots. The roots of the weeds and the roots of the wheat were growing together in the ground. So if the servants pulled out the weeds and their roots, they might also cause the roots of the wheat to come out, and the wheat plants would die.

Here is another way to translate this clause:

you may uproot the wheat with them (NET Bible)
-or-
you might also pull up the wheat (New Century Version)

-or-

you might ⌊accidentally⌋ uproot the wheat with them

SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 14:3

Paragraph 14:3–5

14:3a

Now: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Now is usually translated as “For.” It indicates that the events in 14:3–12a are the reason/basis for Herod’s statements in 14:2. Herod wrongfully killed John (14:7–10), so he may have thought that God corrected that wrong by causing John to live again.

The events of 14:3–5 happened several months or even a year before 14:1–2. The story of Jesus does not resume until 14:12b. You may want to indicate that a change in time begins here at 14:3.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

Because earlier
-or-
For previously
-or-

⌊He said that⌋ because ⌊some⌋ months earlier
-or-
Some time earlier

Herod had arrested John: This clause means that Herod commanded his soldiers to arrest John. Herod himself did not arrest John.

Here are some other ways to make this clear:

Herod had ⌊earlier ordered his men to⌋ arrest John
-or-
Herod ⌊sent his soldiers, and they went and⌋ arrested John

and bound him: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as bound means “tie” a person so that he cannot escape. Here the soldiers tied John’s arms and/or legs with either ropes or chains.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

and tied him ⌊with ropes/chains⌋
-or-
and he had him tied up (Good News Translation)

This word does not imply that the soldiers tied John so tightly that he could not move.

14:3b

and put him in prison: In some languages the idea of put him in prison is expressed as a verb. For example:

caused him to be imprisoned

Other languages do not have a specific word for prison. These languages can express the idea of “put in prison” as:

locked/tied in a room

14:3c

on account of Herodias: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as on account of means “because of” Herodias. When John told Herod that it was not lawful for him to have Herodias, he offended both Herod and Herodias. As a result, Herodias had a grudge against John (Mark 6:19a). So Herod put him in prison “to appease Herodias” or “to make Herodias happy.”

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

because of Herodias (New International Version)
-or-
as a favor to…Herodias (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Herod did this for Herodias (God’s Word)

Herodias: The word Herodias is the name of a woman. You should write the name Herodias according to the spelling system that your language uses for a woman’s name.

She is a new person in the story. If your language has a particular way to introduce new people into a story, you should use it here.

his brother Philip’s wife: Herodias had been married to Philip. Philip was Herod’s older brother. Herod divorced his first wife to marry Herodias. And Herodias divorced Philip to marry Herod. Then Herod and Herodias got married while Philip was still alive.

Because Herodias was no longer married to Philip, it may not be natural in your language to use the phrase Philip’s wife. You may need to say:

Herodias, who had previously been married to Herod’s ⌊older⌋ brother Philip

-or-

Herodias, who was formerly the wife of Philip, ⌊older⌋ brother of Herod

SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 14:35

14:35a

the men of that place: There are two ways to interpret the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as men:

(1) It refers specifically to men. The Greek word is the more specific term “males,” so it should be translated as “men.” For example:

when the men of that place (New International Version)

(Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, New International Version, English Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, God’s Word, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, King James Version)

(2) It refers generally to people. For example:

When the people there (New Century Version)

(Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, New Revised Standard Version, Contemporary English Version, NET Bible, Revised English Bible, New Century Version, New Living Translation (2004))

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). Matthew uses the specific Greek word for men rather than the more general word often translated as “people.” It would be the men who would be available and more likely to send messengers throughout the region. The women would most likely be in their homes or buying at the market.

This entire phrase refers to the men of the town and region of Gennesaret.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

the men who lived there
-or-
the local men
-or-
the men there (God’s Word)

recognized Jesus: The verb recognized refers to seeing and knowing who a person is. The men had seen Jesus before, so when they saw him this time, they knew who he was.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

identified Jesus
-or-
saw Jesus, they knew who he was
-or-
saw him and said that he was Jesus

14:35b

they sent word: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as sent word indicates that the men sent a message saying that Jesus was there.

Here are some other ways to translate this verb:

they sent a message
-or-
sent messengers (God’s Word)
-or-
they told people (New Century Version)
-or-
they spread the news

to all the surrounding region: This phrase refers to the surrounding areas. It was likely those places that were a day’s walk away or less.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

to the whole surrounding area ⌊that Jesus had come⌋
-or-
all around there that Jesus had come (New Century Version)

14:35c

all the sick: This phrase refers to anyone who had something wrong with them, either physical, emotional, or mental. This phrase includes those controlled by a demon.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

those who had something wrong with them

-or-

those who were not well

SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 15:31

15:31a

The Greek begins this verse with a conjunction that Berean Standard Bible leaves untranslated but that some English versions translate as “so that.” It means “for this reason, therefore, so.” This conjunction indicates that 15:31 is the result of 15:30.

Here are some other ways to begin this verse:

• Use a conjunction. For example:

As a result (NET Bible)
-or-
Therefore/So

• Begin the verse without any conjunction. For example:

The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking… (New International Version)

The crowd: This phrase refers to the same people as the “large crowds” of 15:30a. The expression you use here should refer to the same group of people.

was amazed: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as was amazed indicates that the people were amazed.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

were amazed (New International Version)
-or-
were astonished (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
marveled (New American Standard Bible)

15:31b

they saw the mute speaking: The crowd saw each type of handicapped person (the mute, crippled, lame, and blind) healed and functioning normally. In some languages, it may be more natural to say that the crowd “heard” the mute speaking rather than say that they saw the mute speaking. For example:

they heard the mute speaking. They saw…
-or-
Everyone was amazed at what they saw and heard. (Contemporary English Version)

15:31c

the crippled restored: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as restored means “whole,” or “undamaged.”

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

the maimed made whole/complete
-or-

⌊they saw⌋ the handicapped made healthy
-or-
the crippled restored (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
the crippled made well (New International Version)

15:31f

they: The pronoun they refers to the crowds. They are the same people who were amazed in 15:31a. The people whom Jesus healed probably also glorified God. But here the focus is on the crowds who saw all these miracles.

glorified: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as glorified means “spoke well about.”

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

praised (New International Version)
-or-
honored
-or-
spoke highly of

the God of Israel: The term Israel here refers to the “people of Israel.” Also the use of the word of indicates that the people of Israel have a relationship with God. It does not mean that God belongs only to Israel.

Here are some other ways to translate this term:

God of ⌊the people/nation of⌋ Israel
-or-
God of the Jews/Israelites

-or-

God ⌊whom the people⌋ of Israel ⌊worship⌋

General Comment on 15:31

It may be more natural in your language to list the people healed first and then the reaction of the crowd. Here is an example:

Therefore, the mute were now speaking, and the crippled were now well, and the lame were now walking and the blind were now seeing. The crowds saw ⌊all this⌋ and were astonished, and they praised the God of Israel.

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Source: SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 2023

SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 10:23

SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 11:13

SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 12:15

SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 12:47

SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 13:29

SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 14:3

SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 14:35

SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 15:31

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