threw out the bad

The Greek in Matthew 13:48 that is translated as “threw out the bad” or similar in English is translated in the German translation by Fridolin Stier (1989) as “threw out the spoiled (or: “rotten”).”

complete verse (Matthew 13:48)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 13:48:

  • Uma: “When the net is full, the fishermen lift up their nets [and] go to the shore, and they sit down and choose the fish caught in the net. The good ones they put in their containers, the ones that are not good they throw away.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “When the net is full the people pull it to the sea shore then they sit down and select the fish. The good fish are put into their container and the ones that aren’t good are simply thrown out.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And when many fish are able to get inside of it, people pull it up on the shore. And they sit down because they will choose the good fish and put them into baskets, and those which are not good, they throw away.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “‘God’s ruling can also be compared to a fishnet that some fishermen lowered into the sea until it was full of many kinds of fish. Then they pulled it to the bank (lit. its edge) and they sat-down to sort-through what they had caught. What was good to eat-as-viand, they put in a bucket, but the bad, they threw away.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Without anything further, when the fishermen observed that many fish had gone in already, they hauled it up. And then they sat down and sorted them out. The good fish which can be eaten, they put these into the container. Those which weren’t, they threw them away.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “When the fishermen drag their net to shore which is full of fish, they sit down to sort them out. The good fish are kept, but the fish which are no good are thrown away.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 13:48

When it was full (so also New English Bible) has reference to the net: “When the net is full” (Good News Translation).

In Greek both drew and sat down are participles dependent upon the main verb sorted, literally “drawing it upon the shore and sitting down they sorted….” Here again the structure in translation depends upon the demands of the receptor language. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, for example, translates “If the net is full, then the fishermen drag it to land, sit down and sort out the fish.”

The expression sorted … into vessels may have to be expanded, somewhat as Good News Translation has done. For example, one can say “separated (or, divided) the good fish from the bad. Then they put the good fish into buckets….”

The good (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “the good fish”) refers to fish that are edible, while the bad (Good News Translation “the worthless ones”) refers to fish that cannot be eaten. In a Jewish context bad fish would be those which they were specifically forbidden by their Law to eat. The root meaning of the word bad is “decayed” or “rotten,” but that is certainly not the meaning here. Elsewhere the word is also known to mean “unusable” or “unfit (to be eaten).” Translators can therefore either retain “good fish” and “bad fish” or use something like “fish good for eating” and “fish that can’t be eaten.”

Vessels (Good News Translation “buckets”) is rendered “pails” by New English Bible, “basket” by Jerusalem Bible, and “containers” by New American Bible. The Greek word covers a wide range of meaning, and the translation should reflect what is natural in the receptor language. Either a general term or a specific term may be chosen, as the samplings from modern English translations illustrate.

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 13:48

13:48a

When it was full, the men pulled it ashore: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as pulled also means “pulled up.” When the net was full of fish, the fishermen pulled it up out of the water and onto the shore.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

When the net was full, they dragged it up onto the shore (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
When it was full, the fishermen pulled the net to the shore (New Century Version)

13:48b

Then they sat down and sorted the good fish: The phrase sorted the good means that the fishermen picked/gathered the good fish out from among the bad fish.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

gathered the good fish (God’s Word)
-or-
put all the good fish (New Century Version)

In some languages, it may be more natural to explain the action of sorting the fish in two steps. For example:

sit down to separate the fish. They keep the good ones (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
sit down to divide the fish: the good ones go into the buckets (Good News Translation)
-or-
sat down and separated the good fish from the bad. They put the good fish

the good fish: This phrase refers to fish that are good to eat.

into containers: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as containers generally refers to a type of pot that can hold a liquid like water. It is different than a basket. Putting fish into these types of containers would keep the fish alive and fresh longer.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

buckets (Good News Translation)
-or-

⌊clay⌋ pots
-or-
barrels (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

Here the type of container is not in focus. If people in your culture usually put live fish in baskets, you can use the word baskets here (as in the New International Version).

13:48c

but: There is a contrast here. The contrast is between what the fishermen did with the good fish, and what they did with the bad fish. The Berean Standard Bible indicates this contrast with the conjunction but.

Here are some other ways to connect 13:48c to the rest of the verse:

and threw away the bad fish (New Century Version)
-or-
The fish that were not good, they threw them away.

threw the bad away: This phrase means that the fishermen threw away or “discarded” the fish that were not good to eat. They either threw them back into the water, or onto the shore. The place where they threw them is not in focus.

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