soft robes

The Greek in Matthew 11:8 that is translated as “soft robes” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) with weiche Wollkleider or “soft clothes made out of wool.”

complete verse (Matthew 11:8)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 11:8:

  • Uma: “So, what did you go wanting to see? Perhaps wanting to see a person who has beautiful clothes? Of course not, for people who have beautiful clothes, they are only in the houses of kings.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “No? Na, why did you go? To see a person in expensive clothes? The people who dress in expensive clothes live there in the palaces.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Did you go out to see a person whose clothes were very fine? Not that also, because a person like that is only seen in the house of a king.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “What then did you go to see? Was it a person wearing beautiful (clothes)? Emphatically also not, because those who wear (clothes) like that, they stay in kings’ houses.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “What really did you want to see there? A person whose clothes were the best? Of course not also, because as for people like that, they are only in the household of a king.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “If that wasn’t it, then whom did you see then? Did you see a man wearing good clothing? But you know that the people who wear good clothing live in the houses where kings live.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

behold / look / see (Japanese honorifics)

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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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God or a person or persons to be greatly honored, the honorific prefix go- (御 or ご) can be used, as in go-ran (ご覧), a combination of “behold / see” (ran) and the honorific prefix go-.

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

See also Japanese benefactives (goran).

Translation commentary on Matthew 11:8

Why then did you go out? may be rendered “So why then did you go there?” Interestingly, one of the best ways to render this is to actually follow the textual variant, “So what did you go out to see?”

Soft raiment (Good News Translation “fancy clothes”) also has the possibility of many different translations: “fine clothes” (Phillips, New Jerusalem Bible), “dainty and delicate clothes” (Barclay), “luxuriously dressed” (New American Bible), and “in silks and satins” (New English Bible). This is best understood as a contrast between the luxurious clothes of the rich and the rough garments worn by John the Baptist.

To see … soft raiment? may need a full expression: “Did you come out to see … soft raiment?” It may be even more advisable to drop the rhetorical question: “You did not go out to see….” As in the previous verse, another way to handle the rhetorical question is to follow it with a reply, as in “(Did you go to see) a man dressed in luxurious clothes? Of course not.”

Behold: see comments on 1.20. New American Bible has “Remember,” and Jerusalem Bible “Oh no.”

Those who wear … kings’ houses may be expressed as “people who wear fine clothes like that live in kings’ houses,” or “… live with kings,” or “it is people who live in kings’ houses who wear fine clothes like that.” This does not necessarily mean kings themselves.

Kings’ houses are palaces. Translators whose languages have such a word can certainly use it.

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 11:8

11:8a

Otherwise: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Otherwise is more literally “But what” (as in the King James Version and New American Standard Bible). This phrase indicates a contrast. The contrast is between going out to see a man wavering like a reed (11:7c–d) and the type of person whom the people really went out to the desert to see.

By using a contrastive phrase in Greek here, Jesus made it clear that he answered “no” to the rhetorical question in 11:7c. The people certainly did not go out to see that kind of man. Then Jesus asked a similar question here.

To help the transition from “no” to the question which follows, you may want to add “so” or “then.” Here is another way to translate this:

No? Then what did you go out to see? (Revised English Bible)

what did you go out to see?: This rhetorical question is almost identical to the rhetorical question in 11:7c, but it does not contain the phrase “into the wilderness.” This rhetorical question together with the rhetorical question in 11:8b emphasize who John was not.

Here are some other ways to translate this emphatic statement:

• As a rhetorical question. For example:

What kind of man did you go out to see? (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
When you went out ⌊to see John⌋, what ⌊kind of man⌋ did you expect to see?

• As the introductory clause in a rhetorical question or statement. For example:

When you went out, did you go to see…
-or-
When you went out, you certainly did not go to see…

Use a natural way in your language to translate this type of expression.

11:8b

A man dressed in fine clothes?: Some words from the previous sentence are implied but not repeated here. It may be more natural in your language to include some or all the implied words. For example:

⌊Did you go to see⌋ a man dressed in soft clothes?

This is also a rhetorical question. Jesus used this rhetorical question to emphasize that they did not go out to see a man dressed in fine clothes.

Here are some other ways to translate this emphasis:

• As a rhetorical question. For example:

Was he a man dressed in soft clothes?
-or-

⌊Did you go to see⌋ a man dressed in soft clothes? ⌊No!⌋

• As a statement. For example:

⌊You certainly did not go out to see⌋ a man dressed in soft clothes.

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

dressed in fine clothes: This phrase refers to the soft, expensive clothes that rich people wore. John’s clothes were made of camel hair and were rough. Jesus contrasted the soft and luxurious lifestyle of kings and their officials with John’s rough and difficult life in the desert.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

dressed in expensive clothes (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
wearing clothes that rich people wear

11:8c

Look: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Look emphasizes the words that follow. Some languages emphasize a sentence with a word or phrase at the beginning. Other languages do it with a word or phrase at the end. For example:

Of course not! Those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses.
-or-
Those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses, aren’t they?

Emphasize the following words in a way that is natural in your language.

those who wear fine clothing are found in kings’ palaces: This clause refers to the king and his family. They are people who are rich and wear expensive, fine clothes.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

Those who wear fine clothes are in royal palaces. (God’s Word)

-or-

People who dress like that live in the king’s palace. (Contemporary English Version)

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