a man against his father and a daughter against her mother (Matthew 10:35)

In Afar the Greek in Matthew 10:35 that is translated into English as “a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother” is translated as lab-baxa kay abbah fillat, say-baxa tet inah fillat . . . umaaneh tittin amot haa’gida: “that a male child place on his father’s neck, (and) a female child on her mother’s neck . . . together on their heads for evil.” (Accusation is placing evil on the neck or head of the person.)

complete verse (Matthew 10:35)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 10:35:

  • Uma: “Because of this my coming, the people of one household will oppose one another, some will follow me, some will not. A male child is opposed to/has differences with his father, a female child is opposed to/has differences with her mother, a child-in-law is opposed to/has differences with his/her parent-in-law.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Because of me the son is against his father and the daughter is against her mother and the daughter-in-law is against her mother-in-law.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “For because of my coming here, a man will be against his male child, and a woman will be against her female child. And a woman will also be against her daughter-in-law.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Therefore in-the-future fathers-and-children and mothers-and-children will oppose-each-other. Parents-and-children-in-law will also oppose-each-other,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Because I came here so that those who believe and who don’t will-be-caused-to-become-opponents, a son and his father, a daughter and her mother, a child-in-law and his parent-in-law.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “I have come here so that there will be situations causing wars between people. The son will fight his father. The daughter will fight her mother. The daughter-in-law will fight her mother-in-law.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

For the Old Testament quote, see Micah 7:6.

1st person pronoun referring to God (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 first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

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

See also pronoun for “God”.

Translation commentary on Matthew 10:35 – 10:36

To set … against (so also Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible) is the wording of many translations; New American Bible has “to set … at odds with” and An American Translation “to turn … against,” and it can also be “to make sons their fathers’ enemies.”

This is the only passage to which the lexicons assign this meaning for the verb, which has “divide in two” as its primary meaning. But the primary meaning also suits the context well, especially the figure of the sword in verse 34. If this symbolism is carried into verse 35, then one can translate “I have come like a sword that separates sons from their fathers….” And if the separation is understood in the sense of “setting against,” then it is possible to arrive at “… that separates sons from their fathers and makes them enemies.” Unless something of this nature is done, then there is not a clear relation between verses 34 and 35.

A man against his father may require slight rewording: “a son against his father.” On the other hand, a daughter against her mother may need to be “a woman against her mother,” and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law may be here “a woman against her mother-in-law.” In the Jewish culture sons and daughters were to be obedient to their parents, and a daughter-in-law was expected to obey her mother-in-law.

A man’s foes (Good News Translation “a man’s worst enemies”) will be those of his own household (Good News Translation “the members of his own family”): Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch widens the application: “The closest relatives will become enemies.” The purpose of the saying is to underline the division that comes in families when some of its members accept the Christian message and others do not. Since Jesus is addressing his disciples, it may be necessary to shift to the second person: “The members of your own family will become your worst enemies.”

Most of verses 35-36 are taken from Micah 7.6, a quotation also found in Luke 12.53; but neither Gospel follows precisely either the Hebrew or the Septuagint. Some translators have indicated that Jesus is quoting (or referring to) an Old Testament passage. They have said “For, as it is written in the Scriptures, I have come….”

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 10:35

10:35–36

Most of 10:35–36 is a quote from Micah 7:6. Some English versions show this by putting the part from Micah in single quotes. For example:

35I have come so that

‘a son will be against his father,

a daughter will be against her mother,

a daughter-in-law will be against her mother-in-law.

36A person’s enemies will be members of his own family.’ (New Century Version)

10:35a

For: In this context, 10:35–36 explains 10:34. The Greek introduces this explanation with a conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as For.

Here are some other ways to introduce this explanation:

What I mean is
-or-
Let me explain

I have come to turn ‘a man against his father: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as turn means “divide,” “turn against,” “rebel,” or “reject.” When a father (10:35a) believes in Jesus, his unbelieving son often turns or rebels against his father because of their different beliefs.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

I have come to se a man against his father (English Standard Version)
-or-
I have come to cause a son to rebel against his father.
-or-
I have come so that ‘a son will be against his father (New Century Version)

man: In this context, the word man refers to a son. Some versions make this explicit. See the example above from the New Century Version.

10:35b

daughter: In this context, the word daughter probably refers to a grown woman and not a child.

10:35c

a daughter-in-law: The word daughter-in-law refers to the wife of a woman’s son.

mother-in-law: The word mother-in-law refers to the mother of a woman’s husband.

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