SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 13:41

13:41a

The Son of Man: As in 13:37, here Jesus refers to himself as The Son of Man. In some languages, it may be necessary to add the pronoun “I” to make it clear that Jesus was referring to himself. For example:

I,⌋ the Son of Man

will send out His angels: Jesus will send angels to earth from heaven. In some languages, it may be natural to include some of this information. For example:

will send his angels ⌊from heaven
-or-
will send his angels ⌊to the earth

If you translated “the Son of Man” as “⌊I,⌋ the Son of Man” then you should use the phrase “my angels” rather than “his angels” here.

13:41b

they will weed out of His kingdom: This clause refers to gathering certain things and removing them from Jesus’ kingdom.

The word weed is the same verb that is used in 13:30c and 13:40a. There it referred to gathering weeds. Here it refers to gathering evil people.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

they will gather/collect and remove from his kingdom
-or-
they will remove from his Kingdom (New Living Translation (2004))

His kingdom: The pronoun His refers to the Son of Man, Jesus. The kingdom of the Son of Man and the kingdom of God/heaven are all the same.

Here is another way to translate this phrase:

his rule/chieftaincy

If you translated “the Son of Man” as “⌊I,⌋ the Son of Man” then you should translate this phrase as “my kingdom” to make it clear that Jesus was referring to his own kingdom.

13:41c

every cause of sin: There are two ways to interpret the Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as every cause of sin:

(1) It refers to all people who cause other people to sin. For example:

all those who cause people to sin (Good News Translation)

(Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version)

(2) It refers to all things that cause people to sin. For example:

everything that causes sin (New International Version)

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, English Standard Version, NET Bible, Revised Standard Version, King James Version, New American Standard Bible, Revised English Bible, God’s Word, New Living Translation (2004), Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, New Jerusalem Bible)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). Most English versions translate the Greek word literally. However, in the context of 13:39c, the weeds represent people who follow Satan. The weeds do not represent other things.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

everyone who…causes others to sin (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
everyone who causes someone else to sin

all who practice lawlessness: This phrase refers to everyone who breaks God’s laws on purpose.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

all who are always breaking ⌊God’s⌋ laws
-or-
everyone who does not follow ⌊God’s⌋ laws

-or-

all who do evil (New International Version)

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