Many languages will begin the sentence with a marker of direct speech or the phrase “He said.”
Woe or “Alas” is the rendering of most translations. A few attempt something dynamic: “How terrible it will be” (Good News Translation), “Tragic will be your fate” (Barclay), and “It will go ill with you” (New American Bible). Elsewhere Matthew utilizes this interjection in 18.7 (twice); 23.13, 15, 16, 23, 25, 27, 29; 24.19; 26.24. Woe is almost the opposite of “Blessed” or “Happy” in 5.3 and following. It means things are going to be bad for those towns, that they will receive God’s punishment. Thus possible translations are “Terrible things are in store for you” or “How awful are the things that will happen to you.”
Often it will be more natural to put Chorazin and Bethsaida at the beginning of the sentence, as in “Chorazin, terrible things will happen to you. Bethsaida, terrible things will happen to you.” It may be more natural to address them together, as in “Chorazin and Bethsaida, how awful is the fate that awaits you.”
In those languages where it is not natural to address a town, then translators will say “You people of Chorazin, you people of Bethsaida, the troubles coming to you are terrible.”
The town of Chorazin is mentioned in the Bible only here and in Luke 10.13; it is located about two miles northwest of Capernaum.
Bethsaida (literally “house of fish”) is probably a reference to the town of Bethsaida Julias, on the east bank of the Jordan, north of Lake Galilee. There is no mention in Matthew’s Gospel of Jesus’ having performed any miracles there. Mark alone mentions the healing of a blind man in Bethsaida (Mark 8.22-26).
Mighty works is the same expression used in verse 20; see comments on 7.22. If the passives done in you and had been done are not natural, then translators can say “if I had done the miracles in Tyre and Sidon that I did in your towns, these people…” or “if it had been in Tyre and Sidon that I performed the mighty works instead of your town, those people….”
Tyre and Sidon were towns along the Phoenician coastline. Especially during Old Testament times these two towns were notorious for their evil, and Israel’s prophets spoke against them (see Isa 23; Ezek 26–28; Amos 1.9, 10; Joel 3.4; Zech 9.2-4). Some translators feel this implicit information is important, and say “those evil towns of Tyre and Sidon.”
Sackcloth and ashes were signs of repentance and sorrow (see Isa 58.5; Jonah 3.6; Dan 9.3). Sackcloth was a coarse cloth that can be translated simply as “rough cloth.” The significance of the act can then be indicated, too, as in “the rough cloth that shows they have turned from their sins.” The sackcloth was worn, but the ashes were sprinkled on the head. Sentences that will convey the meaning of the actions clearly are “they would have repented long ago and worn the coarse cloth and sprinkled ashes on their heads to show it” and “long ago they would have worn the coarse cloth and put ashes on their heads to show they were turning from their sins.” Some translations have dropped the actual actions and said simply “long ago they would have shown to all that they were turning from their sins.” However, translators should try to retain these cultural actions in the text, since they were a common aspect of biblical culture.
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 .
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