sell

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “sell” in English is translated in Noongar as wort-bangal or “away-barter.” Note that “buy” is translated as bangal-barranga or “get-barter.” (Source: Bardip Ruth-Ang 2020)

See also buy and buying / selling.

sparrow

While the Greek word strouthion is certainly the name for the sparrow, the Hebrew tsippor is actually an inclusive word that refers to sparrow-sized birds in general. These small birds, especially sparrows, were caught in nets and traps and were an important part of the diet of poor people.

There are three types of sparrow that are common in Israel, the House Sparrow Passer domesticus, the Spanish Sparrow Passer hispaniolensis, and the Dead Sea Sparrow Passer moabiticus. All three are small speckled brown birds. Additional small birds that abound around towns and settlements are members of the bunting, finch, and tit families. Sparrows in particular are usually found in fairly large numbers roosting and nesting together. All are seed eaters and live mainly on grass seeds and grain.

Sparrows were considered clean birds and were associated with the poor.

Sparrows or sparrow-like small birds are found all over the world. Finding a local word is not usually difficult. The reference to “a lonely bird on the housetop” in Psalms 102:7 takes on additional meaning if the sparrow was intended, since it is a bird that is seldom seen alone. It would then indicate the psalmist’s sense of loneliness at being separated from those with whom he belongs.

Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

complete verse (Matthew 10:29)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 10:29:

  • Uma: “‘Two sparrows are usually sold for just one cent coin. But even so, there is not one that dies if it is not the will of God your Father.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “There are little birds that one can buy two for one centavo. Even though they are of little value, none of them falls to the earth/ground if not from the will of God.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “We can buy two very small birds for a single cent because their value is very small, but there isn’t even one of them that can fall to the ground if our Father God doesn’t want it to.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But remember/consider also the manner of God your Father with the rice-birds (see here ). Two rice-birds are sold for a five-centavo-piece only, isn’t it so? But not even one of them dies and falls if he doesn’t allow it.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “For isn’t it so that rice-birds are sold for just a few centavos for two? Well even though it’s as cheap as that, not even one of them can fall to the ground unless it is determined by your Father in heaven.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “When two birds are sold, only one coin is paid. But not even one bird is lost except that your Father has given permission.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Father (address for God)

The Greek that is translated with the capitalized “Father” in English when referring to God is translated in Highland Totonac with the regular word for (biological) father to which a suffix is added to indicate respect. The same also is used for “Lord” when referring to Jesus. (Source: Hermann Aschmann in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 171ff. )

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. In the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017, God the Father is addressed with mi-chichi (御父). This form has the “divine” honorific prefix mi– preceding the archaic honorific form chichi for “father.”

If, however, Jesus addresses his Father, he is using chichi-o (父を) which is also highly respectful but does not have the “divine” honorific. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also Lord and my / our Father.

Translation commentary on Matthew 10:29

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? translates a negative rhetorical question. Since the particular form of the question expects the answer “yes,” Good News Translation shifts to a statement and translates “For only a penny you can buy two sparrows.” Barclay renders “Everyone knows that two sparrows can be bought for one farthing.” The question form can sometimes be retained with questions such as “It’s true, isn’t it, that two sparrows only cost a penny?” or “It only takes a penny to buy two sparrows, doesn’t it?”

Sparrows may not be known, in which case translators can say “two common birds” or “two small birds.”

The Greek word penny refers to a Roman copper coin worth about one sixteenth of the coin that was the workman’s average daily wage. Translators may have a small unit of currency like penny that they can use. Sometimes “a small coin” is possible, and “very little money” is another common translation.

Will fall to the ground may need to be present tense, as in “falls to the ground.” Other translations render it as “dies.”

Without your Father’s will (Good News Translation “without your Father’s consent”) is literally “without your Father.” Scholarly opinion supports this interpretation, which is followed in Good News Translation, Revised Standard Version, New English Bible, An American Translation, Moffatt, and New American Bible. But other scholars interpret the phrase to mean “without your Father knowing” (New Jerusalem Bible; similarly Phillips and Barclay). The context seems to favor the first of these possibilities, and Hellenistic Greek literature uses the phrase “without the gods” to mean “without the will of the gods.” Without your Father’s will may be rendered “unless God your Father has agreed” or “without your Father willing it.”

The sentence may be more natural if the order is different, as in “And yet, unless your Father agrees to it, not one of them will even fall to the ground.”

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 10:29

10:29–31

This parable shows that God is greatly concerned for the well-being of people who believe in him. The parable shows this by comparing the way God values sparrows to the way he values people.

10:29a

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?: This is a rhetorical question. The rhetorical question emphasizes the fact that people put little value on sparrows. A penny is the smallest amount of money. Yet, people could buy two sparrows with one penny.

Here are some other ways to translate the emphasis:

• As a rhetorical question. For example:

Can you not buy two sparrows for a penny? (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
Two sparrows are sold for only a penny, isn’t that right?

• As a statement. For example:

Two sparrows are sold for just a penny
-or-
For only a penny you can buy two sparrows (Good News Translation)

Translate this emphasis in a way that is natural in your language.

sparrows: The word sparrows refers to a kind of small bird that was sold for food. Here are some other ways to translate this word:

• Use a descriptive phrase and transliterate the word sparrow. For example:

small birds called sparrows
-or-
sparrow birds

• Use a generic phrase. For example:

small birds

• Use a common bird in your area that is small and that people eat. For example:

rice birds

penny: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as penny refers to a small coin. It had little value. Sixteen of these coins were equal to one denarius. (A denarius was the usual wage for a farm worker for one day at that time.) Because the value of money changes, it is recommended that you use a general term. For example:

a small coin
-or-
very little money

10:29b

Yet not one of them will fall to the ground: This clause is an idiom. It means “not one bird will die.” For example:

not even one of them can die (New Century Version)

apart from the will of your Father: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as apart from the will of your Father is more literally “without your Father.” There are several ways to interpret this phrase:

(1) This phrase refers to the will of God regarding the sparrows. Not one sparrow dies without God willing it. For example:

apart from the will of your Father (New International Version)

(Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, New International Version, Good News Translation, God’s Word, NET Bible)

(2) This phrase refers to the knowledge of God regarding the sparrows. Not one sparrow dies without God knowing it:

without your Father knowing (New Jerusalem Bible)

(New Jerusalem Bible, New Living Translation (2004), Contemporary English Version, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, Revised English Bible, New Century Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) because it seems to best fit the context. Just as a sparrow will not die unless it is the will of God, a disciple will not be persecuted unless it is the will of God.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

without your Father’s permission (God’s Word)
-or-
only if/when your ⌊heavenly⌋ Father allows it

-or-

unless/except your Father ⌊God⌋ wants it to happen

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