complete verse (Matthew 14:7)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 14:7:

  • Uma: “Being carried away by his gladness, he promised her and he vowed/made an oath to that young girl, he said to her: ‘Whatever you (sing.) ask for, I will definitely give to you (sing.)!'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “therefore he said to the girl, ‘I swear whatever you ask I will really give to you.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “He promised the one who danced, ‘Ask for anything,’ he said, ‘and I will give it to you.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “therefore he made-a-promise to her, saying, ‘I vow that I will give to you (sing.) whatever you (sing.) request!'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “That’s why Herodes promised with an oath that he would give that girl whatever she asked from him.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Herod said to this girl: ‘Whatever thing you ask from me, I will give it to you,’ he said.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 14:7

This verse follows on directly from the previous one. So that is the link, and it may be translated as “… and her dancing pleased Herod so much that he promised…” or “He was so pleased that he promised….”

He promised with an oath to give her is in part transformed into direct discourse in Good News Translation: “he promised her, ‘I swear that I will give….’ ” Promised with an oath translates a structure which is the strongest possible way of making a promise; New Jerusalem Bible has “that he promised on oath to give.” Another possible restructuring, utilizing partial direct discourse, is “he made an oath and promised her, ‘I will give you….’ ”

See 5.33 for a discussion of oath and other forms of swearing.

Whatever she might ask is too brief for some languages. “Anything she might ask for” or “anything that she asked him to give her” are other renderings.

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 14:7

14:7a

so much that: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as so much that introduces a result. The dance pleased Herod. As a result, he made an oath. This conjunction also means “so” or “therefore.”

Here are some other ways to translate this conjunction:

So (New Century Version)
-or-
For that reason
-or-
That is why

he promised with an oath: The phrase promised with an oath refers to the strongest possible type of promise. It is the type of promise made in front of witnesses. Making an oath often involves the person asking God (or a god) to punish him if he does not keep his promise.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

he promised and he vowed
-or-
he made a vow

In some languages, it will be natural to translate part of this clause as direct speech. For example:

he made a promise saying, “I vow that
-or-
he promised her, “I swear that (Good News Translation)

14:7b

to give to her whatever she asked: In some languages, it will be more natural to translate this phrase as direct speech. For example:

“…I will give you anything you ask for!” (Good News Translation)

-or-

“Whatever you ask me, I will give it to you.”

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