complete verse (Matthew 14:11)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 14:11:

  • Uma: “The head of Yohanes was carried on a tray, offered to that young girl, and she carried it going to her mother.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then his head was brought on a tray and given to the girl. So-then it was brought by the girl to her mother.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “and they put the head of John on a plate, and they gave it to the girl, and the girl, she gave it to her mother.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “They put it on a plate and they took it to the young-lady who went and gave it to her mother.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “After the beheading, (the head) was placed on a plate and then given to that girl. She took it straight away to her mother.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “It was carried on a plate and given to the girl. The girl then delivered it to her mother.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 14:11

His head was brought will be an impossible structure in many languages. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch indicates the agent of the passive verb by making the last half of verse 10 and the first half of verse 11 into one sentence: “ He sent the executioner to the prison; he beheaded John and brought the head on a plate and gave it to the young girl.” It is not necessary to assume that the executioner is the one who brought the head in, though this is a valid assumption. One may also translate “ He sent his executioner to behead John the Baptist in prison. Then a servant brought….” Girl literally means “little girl,” though it is known that Salome was born in A.D. 10, which would mean that she was eighteen to twenty years old at this time. Matthew has previously used the word to describe the ruler’s daughter (9.24, 25), who was twelve years old, according to Mark (5.42).

And she brought it to her mother assumes that the mother was not in the same room with the guests; see Matthew 14.8. In some languages brought will have to be rendered “took.” The phrase may be followed by “and gave it to her.”

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 .