complete verse (Matthew 11:7)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 11:7:

  • Uma: “When those messenger of Yohanes the Baptizer had returned home, Yesus spoke to the people, talking about Yohanes. He said: ‘What was your purpose in going to meet Yohanes in the wilderness? Did you go to see a person whose heart is uncertain, who is like pimpi-reeds blown by the wind bending back and forth? Of course not, for Yohanes’ character is not like that.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “When the ones Yahiya had sent had left, Isa talked to the crowds about Yahiya. He said, ‘What did you want to see when you went to Yahiya to the lonely place? Did you want to see a person whose thoughts are not stable figuratively like a tall grass blown by the wind?” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And when the disciples of John had left, Jesus said to the many people gathered, he said, ‘When you went out to John in the land where there were no people living, why did you go out there? Was the thing you went to see a person like a weed moving in the wind? That’s not what you went to see because John’s breath doesn’t change back and forth.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “When those disciples of Juan were leaving, Jesus began to tell the people concerning Juan. He said, ‘Back-then when you went to where Juan was in the place with no inhabitants, what did you want to go see? Was it do-you-suppose a person like a reed (runo) that sways-back-and-forth-with the wind? Probably not.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “When those disciples of Juan had left, there was something Jesus said to that crowd of people there concerning Juan. He said, ‘When you went to Juan there in the wilderness, what were you looking for there? An ambivolent person, who is like a reed bending back and forth because the wind is blowing it? Of course not.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “When the messengers of John had returned, Jesus began to speak to the people about John. He said: ‘Whom did you go to see there in the wilds? Did you see a man who did not have a strong heart, one who was like a reed being blown about by the wind?” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

reed

There are two general types of reed in Israel, the Common Reed Phragmites australis and the Giant Reed Arundo donax, and it is impossible to say which one is intended in a given biblical context.

The English word “cane” comes from the Hebrew word qaneh. Qaneh is the most general Hebrew word of the many referring to reeds and rushes. Like the English word “reed,” it may refer to a specific type of reed or be a general name for several kinds of water plant. This word is also used to refer to the stalk of grain in Pharaoh’s dream (Genesis 41:5, Genesis 41:22), to the shaft and branches of the golden lampstand in the Tabernacle (Exodus 25:31 et al.), to the beam of a scale (Isaiah 46:6), to the upper arm of a person (Job 31:22), to a measuring stick (Ezekiel 40:3 et al.), and to aromatic cane (Song of Songs 4:14 et al.).

The Greek word kalamos is also used to refer to a measuring stick (Revelation 11:1 et al.) and to a pen (3 John 1:13 and 3 Maccabees 4:20).

The common reed is a tall grass with stiff, sharply-pointed leaves and a plume-like flower head that reaches to more than 2 meters (7 feet). It grows in lakes and streams, the roots creeping across the bottom of the lake to produce new leaves and stalks.

The giant reed is similar to the common reed but tends to grow not in the water but on the river banks. Its majestic plumes can reach up to 5 meters (17 feet) in height on hollow stalks that look like bamboo.

Reeds of both kinds were used for baskets, mats, flutes, pens, arrows, and roof-coverings. Isaiah 42:3 says that the Messiah will be gentle with weak people (“a bruised reed he will not break”), in contrast to the typical iron-fisted tyrants of the day. The Pharaoh is likened to an undependable reed staff in 2 Kings 18:21 et al. In 1 Kings 14:15 Israel is compared to a reed shaking in the water.

The common reed of the Mediterranean area has relatives in Europe, India, Japan, and North America. It is thought to be the only species of the genus Phragmites (although some botanists divide it into three species). It is very important for conservationists, because it provides habitat for many kinds of animals and birds. In North America the weaker native type is being overtaken by more robust types from Europe, which are now threatening other kinds of marsh plants. In Japan people eat the young shoots of reeds. Native Americans used to eat the seeds.

Translators living near lakes and rivers will be able to find an equivalent, if not a relative, of the reed. Others can be generic and use “grass” or a phrase such as “tall grass growing in the water.”

Common reed, photo by Rob Koops

Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

In Newari it is translated as “bamboo.” (Source: Newari 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. )

Translation commentary on Matthew 11:7

As in this context is a transition of time that means “While,” as in “At the time they were leaving.”

As they went away: Good News Translation, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, and Barclay identify they as “John’s disciples.” Jerusalem Bible translates “As the messengers were leaving,” which is similar to New English Bible and New American Bible.

The crowds, as in 8.1, may be better singular, “the crowd.”

After Jesus began to speak … concerning John, in many languages it is necessary to say “He said.”

What did you go out into the wilderness to behold?: since the allusion is specifically to John the Baptist, Good News Translation translates “When you went out to John in the desert, what did you expect to see?” In some cases, instead of simply “went out” it may be necessary to specify “went out to see” or “went out to listen to.” Another way to render this question is “What did you expect to see when you went out into the wilderness (to hear John)?” Or the order may better be reversed: “When you went out to the desert to hear John, what did you expect to see?”

For wilderness or “desert,” see comments on 3.1.

A reed shaken by the wind? presupposes the fuller form: “Did you go out into the wilderness to see a reed shaken by the wind?” Good News Translation retains the singular form (“A blade of grass”), though a collective form may be more appropriate: “a reed-bed” (New English Bible) and “the long grass” (Barclay). Jesus has in mind the tall canegrass which was found along the banks of the Jordan River.

Shaken by the wind (Good News Translation “bending in the wind”) is capable of being translated in a number of different ways: “swept by the wind” (New English Bible), “swaying in the wind” (New American Bible), and “waving in the breeze” (Phillips).

It may be advisable to shift from rhetorical questions to statements: “When John was preaching in the desert, you went out to see him. You did not go there to see a blade of grass bending in the wind” or “You did not go out into the desert merely to see a blade of grass bending in the wind.”

Some translators have retained the rhetorical questions but supplied the answer: “When you went out into the desert, what did you expect to see? Was it long grass swaying in the wind? Of course not.” Verse 8 would follow easily from this.

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 .