come to me all you who are weary and burdened

The Greek in Matthew 11:28 that is translated in English as “come to me, all you who are weary and burdened” is translated in Bambam as “Come-here all of you who are tired and who carry a heavy load of traditions on their head related-to religion.” (Source: Phil Campbell in Kroneman 2004, p. 526)

complete verse (Matthew 11:28)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 11:28:

  • Uma: “‘Come, all you who are tired, and whose burden [anything carried on the back with straps] is heavy, I myself remove/release your burden.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Come to me, whoever of you is tired and in difficulties (lit. feels heavy) so that you can rest.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Come here to me, all of you who are tired because of your carrying heavy customs, because I will cause you to rest.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “‘All of you who are tired and burdened (lit. heavied), come to me so that I will cause-you-to-rest.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Come here to me for help, all you who are weary and suffering hardship for your customs and rules/taboos are like heavy baggage. Believe/obey and trust-in/rely-on me for I will cause you to rest.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “All the people who are tired from not being able to do all the words taught to them, you must allow me to help you in order that you find out how to rest your souls.” (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. )

formal pronoun: Jesus addressing his disciples and common people

Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.

As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator 2002, p. 210ff. ), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.

Here, Jesus is addressing his disciples, individuals and/or crowds with the formal pronoun, showing respect.

In most Dutch translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and common people with the informal pronoun, whereas they address him with the formal form.

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

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 11:28

Verses 28-30 form the third and final part of this difficult section. At least one thing is evident: these verses must be understood in light of the immediate context (verses 25-27) and in terms of their place within the overall structure of the Gospel. In the immediate context they affirm Jesus’ willingness to reveal the Father to whoever will accept his invitation. And in the flow of the Gospel they are spoken at a time when the people of Galilee and the nation’s religious leaders have rejected Jesus.

Come to me is a literal rendering of the Greek text and is the reading reflected in most all translations. It comes as an invitation of Jesus, and its meaning is straightforward and clear enough.

Who labor and are heavy laden is interpreted by Good News Translation as a construction in which the conjunction and links two verbs that say the same thing: “who are tired from carrying heavy loads.” Most other translations retain a form similar to that of the Greek text: “all you who labour and are overburdened” (New Jerusalem Bible) and “all whose work is hard, whose load is heavy.” Even more problematic than the form is the nature of the burden, which is easily misunderstood. It is the “yoke of the Jewish Law,” as is clearly brought out in the following verses through the use of the term “yoke” (see verses 29-30). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch completely restructures the verse in order to make the meaning unambiguous for its readers: “You are troubled by the commands which the teachers of the Law have placed upon you. Come to me; I will remove your burden.”

There are languages where the vocative all who labor and are heavy laden must come first, very much as in the Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch example cited. Translators can say “All of you who are tired from your work and the heavy loads you carry, come to me and I will give you rest.” But this retains the form and not the meaning, unlike Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch.

I will give you rest is quite clear and can usually be translated with a form similar to that of the text. Some translations will have “I will relieve you of your burdens” or “You will find rest with me.”

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 .