reveal

The Greek that is translated as “reveal” in English is translated in Maan with the expression “take the leaf from it.” (Source: Don Slager)

complete verse (Matthew 10:26)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 10:26:

  • Uma: “But even so, don’t be afraid of people who oppose you. Because all their hidden behavior will definitely be visible. All that is in their hearts will definitely be revealed.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “‘Do not be afraid of people. Nothing is covered up that will not finally come out, nothing is hidden that will not finally be known.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “However, don’t be afraid of people because their activity which they cover up will still become visible, for anything that they won’t talk about will be revealed.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “‘Therefore do not be afraid of them, because all that is hidden and not known now will be shown and made-known in a future day (lit. addition of days).” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But don’t be afraid of these who will cause you suffering. Because even things which are being done which are being hidden, there’s none at all which won’t be caused-to-surface at the judging. Yes indeed, there’s nothing being done out of sight that won’t be told-to-all.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Therefore concerning these people who are against you, do not fear them. Whatever word is covered will finally be known.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 10:26

So have no fear of them: the pronoun them may be interpreted either as a reference to people in general or more specifically to those who oppose the Christian message. “You must not fear any man” is the choice of Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch. Some translators understand them to refer to those in verse 25 who say bad things about the members of the family, that is, Jesus’ followers. Thus they render them as “those people.”

The negative construction of the Greek (for there is nothing covered that will not be revealed … not be known) is reconstituted as a positive statement in Good News Translation: “Whatever is now covered up will be uncovered, and every secret will be made known.” Jerusalem Bible does similarly (“For everything that is now covered will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear”), as does Barclay (“What is veiled must be unveiled, and what is hidden must be made known”). This shift to a positive form does not make the saying more easily understood, but it does resolve all the problems of communication. There still exists the difficulty of the impersonal form, which tends to make this sound like a proverbial saying. The proverbial form would certainly be satisfactory for the translation of the saying in its other contexts (Mark 4.22; Luke 8.17) but not here, where it functions as a command. That this is the case is clearly shown by what is said in verse 27, and so the text may be rendered “Whatever I now tell you in secret, you must tell in the open. Everything must be made known.” Or “… in private, you must tell to everyone. You must make everything known.” Translators who want to keep the sentence less specific can render this slightly differently: “For what people haven’t known, you will tell about these things; you will make people know everything” or “You must tell people about all the things that are now secret; leave nothing hidden.”

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 10:26

Paragraph 10:26–31

10:26a

So: Verse 10:26 is the conclusion to the previous verses. The Greek introduces this conclusion with a conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as So.

Here is another way to translate this conjunction:

Therefore

do not be afraid of them: This is a command. Jesus told his disciples not to be afraid of the people who will persecute them.

Here are some other ways to translate this command:

have no fear of them (English Standard Version)
-or-
don’t be afraid of those who threaten you (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
do not be afraid of those ⌊who persecute you⌋

10:26b–c

For: Verse 10:26b–c gives the basis for the command in (10:26a). Jesus told his disciples not to be afraid of their persecutors, for/because God will expose what these people have said and done.

Here are some other ways to introduce this basis:

because
-or-

⌊I say this⌋ because

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

there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, and nothing hidden that will not be made known: Before translating this part of the verse, there are two issues to consider:

Issue 1: Interpretation

There are two ways to interpret this clause:

(1) The word nothing means no sins. According to this interpretation, this part of 10:26 goes together with the preceding verses. People who persecute Jesus and his disciples make their plans in secret. Their sins are now a secret. But on judgment day, God will reveal them.

(2) The word nothing means no part of the gospel. According to this interpretation, this part of 10:26 goes together with the following verse. There Jesus instructed his disciples to proclaim from the rooftops what he had told them in secret.

English versions are ambiguous and it is not possible to tell which interpretation they follow. If you cannot translate ambiguously, it is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). This interpretation better fits with the way that 10:26b–c is connected with 10:26a. Jesus instructed his disciples not to fear those who persecute them, for/because one day God will reveal their sins and judge them.

Issue 2: Parallelism

Verse 10:26b–c is a Hebrew form of poetry called a parallelism. In a parallelism, an idea is repeated. Often, the idea is repeated to emphasize it. In this particular parallelism, the ideas in 10:26b are repeated in 10:26c.

The parallel parts in 10:26b–c that are similar in meaning are shown here:

26b
there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed,

26cand nothing hidden that will not be made known

In some languages, people will think that the parallel parts in 10:26b–c describe different events. In other words, they will think that “concealed” and “hidden” describe different events, and “that will not be disclosed” and “that will not be made known” also describe different events.

If that is true in your language, you should:

• Indicate that both clauses refer to the same thing. For example:

26bnothing is concealed that will not be disclosed,

26c
⌊I repeat,⌋ nothing ⌊is⌋ hidden that will not be made known

• Combine the parallel parts and emphasize it in some way. For example:

certainly nothing is covered/hidden that will not be made known

10:26b

there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed: As mentioned above, the word nothing refers to people’s sins. These sins may be a secret today, but one day they will be shown.

This clause is passive. It also has two negatives: nothing and not. Here are some other ways to translate it:

• Use a passive verb. For example:

nothing is now covered that will not be uncovered
-or-
no ⌊sin⌋ is now covered that will not be shown

• Use a passive verb and no negatives. For example:

Whatever is now covered up will be uncovered (Good News Translation)
-or-
whatever ⌊sin/behavior⌋ that is now covered will be revealed

• Use an active verb with both negatives. For example:

nothing is covered that ⌊God⌋ will not reveal
-or-
no ⌊sin⌋ is now covered/hidden that God will not reveal

• Use an active verb and no negatives. For example:

⌊God⌋ will show whatever is now covered
-or-

⌊God⌋ will expose all ⌊sin/behavior⌋ that ⌊people⌋ have covered/hidden.

10:26c

and: In this context, the word and indicates that 10:26b and 10:26c have the same meaning.

Here are some other ways to indicate this:

• Use another conjunction. For example:

or (English Standard Version)

• Introduce 10:26c with a phrase that indicates that the meaning is the same as 10:26b. For example:

I repeat

• Put one clause immediately after the other with no connector or introductory phrase. For example:

Nothing has been covered that will not be exposed. Whatever is secret will be made known. (God’s Word)

nothing hidden that will not be made known: As mentioned above, this part of the clause means the same thing as 10:26b. In Jewish culture, it was common to repeat an idea with words of similar meaning to emphasize that idea.

Some words from the previous part of the clause are implied but not repeated here. In some languages, it may be more natural to include some of those words. For example:

⌊There is⌋ nothing hidden that will not be made known.

Like in 10:26b, the verb in 10:26c is passive. This part of the clause also has two negatives: nothing and not. Here are some other ways to translate it:

• Use a passive verb. For example:

nothing is secret that will not be made known (NET Bible)
-or-
there is no secret ⌊sin⌋ that will not be made known

• Use a passive verb and no negatives. For example:

everything now hidden will be made clear (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
every ⌊sin⌋ now hidden will be made known

• Use an active verb with both negatives. For example:

nothing is secret that ⌊God⌋ will not make known
-or-
there is no secret ⌊sin⌋ that ⌊God⌋ will not make known

• Use an active verb and no negatives. For example:

⌊God⌋ will uncover every secret

-or-

⌊God⌋ will make known all ⌊sin/behavior⌋ that ⌊people⌋ have hidden.

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