complete verse (Matthew 14:25)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 14:25:

  • Uma: “Yesus walked on top of the water heading for them.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “When it was very early morning (before sunrise, lit. come day) Isa went to them walking on the skin of the lake.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And when it was about dawn, Jesus went to them, and he was walking on top of the water.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “As it was becoming-pre-dawn, Jesus came-downhill and walked on the surface of the water to approach them.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “When it was beginning-to-dawn (lit. claws-of-the-day , Jesus followed after them. He was just walking there on top of the water.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “When three o’clock in the morning came, Jesus went to where his learners were, walking on top of the water.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

sea / lake

The various Greek, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Latin and Hebrew terms that are translated as “sea,” “ocean,” or “lake” in English are all translated in Chichewa with one term: nyanja. Malawi, where Chichewa is spoken, has a lot of lakes but does not share a border with the ocean (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation). Likewise, in Toposa all the different bodies of water are all called by one term as well: nya-name̥ (source: Schröder 2026, p. 101).

In Malagasy culture, the sea is perceived as sacred because it was a path taken by the ancestors. That is why the Malagasy word for the “sea” is ranomasina, which literally means “the sacred water.” The word masina actually has two different meanings: “salted” and “sacred/holy.” Salt is used for the conservation of some foods, such as meat or fish, that are to be set aside for later use. In this sense, the Malagasy phrase for “Holy Spirit” has the literal meaning of “Salted Spirit.” (Source: Brigitte Rabarijaona in The Bible Translator 2022, p. 103ff.)

“Sea” (or: “ocean”) is translated in Tepeuxila Cuicatec as “water land” and in Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac as “very big lake.” (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)

Honorary "rare" construct denoting God ("come")

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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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, ko-rare-ru (来られる) or “come” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Matthew 14:25

The And at the beginning of the verse simply indicates the narrative is continuing. Translators can drop it or render it with whatever word or phrase in their language is natural in the paragraph, possibly “Then.”

In the fourth watch of the night reflects the Roman custom of dividing the time between 6 P.M. and 6 A.M. into four equal periods of three hours each. Each one of these time periods was called a watch. The Jews and the Greeks, on the other hand, divided the night into three watches. Barclay translates “About three o’clock in the morning,” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch is less specific still: “Toward morning.” There are many ways that languages refer to the time indicated by in the fourth watch of the night. Besides an expression like that of Good News Translation, translators can have “just before dawn” or “very early in the morning (before dawn).”

In place of he came to them, it may be advisable to substitute nouns (“Jesus came to his disciples”), since in the Greek text Jesus was last mentioned by name in verse 16.

Came may better be rendered “went.”

Walking on the sea (so most translations) is rendered “walking on the lake” by Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, and Barclay. Walking represents the normal Greek word for “walk,” and on the sea means specifically “on the surface of the water,” thus indicating a miraculous event; for example, “walking over the lake” (New English Bible). The phrase in English, walking on the sea in both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, is open to being interpreted that the disciples were walking on the sea, not Jesus. This is clearly wrong. Translators can make clear who is walking by using two sentences, as in “Jesus went (or, came) to his disciples. He was walking on the water.” Another possibility is “Jesus walked over the water (and went) to his disciples.”

As we discussed in connection with the section heading above, the translation must not give the impression Jesus was wading in the water. The passage says clearly that he was walking “on top of the water” or “on the surface of the sea.”

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 14:25

14:25a

During the fourth watch of the night: This phrase refers to the time between 3:00–6:00 a.m. This phrase comes from the work of soldiers who stand guard for three hours at a time during the night. The first soldiers begin at 6:00 pm.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

Between three and six o’clock in the morning (Good News Translation)
-or-
A little while before morning (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Sometime before dawn

14:25b

Jesus went out to them: Jesus approached the disciples who were in the boat. If people in your area will think that the pronoun them refers to the crowd, you may want to use the words “the disciples” instead.

walking on the sea: In this miracle, Jesus was walking on the surface of the water as if walking on dry ground.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

walking on ⌊the surface of⌋ the lake

-or-

walking on top of the water

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