In British Sign Language it is translated with a sign that combines the signs for “tell-a-story” and “compare.” (Source: Anna Smith)
“Parable” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
Scot McKnight (in The Second Testament, publ. 2023) translates it into English as analogy because “the Greek word has the sense of tossing down something alongside something else. Hence an analogy.”
Orthodox Icons are not drawings or creations of imagination. They are in fact writings of things not of this world. Icons can represent our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. They can also represent the Holy Trinity, Angels, the Heavenly hosts, and even events. Orthodox icons, unlike Western pictures, change the perspective and form of the image so that it is not naturalistic. This is done so that we can look beyond appearances of the world, and instead look to the spiritual truth of the holy person or event. (Source )
Following is a hand colored stencil print on momigami of Peter by Sadao Watanabe (1970):
Image taken with permission from the SadaoHanga Catalogue where you can find many more images and information about Sadao Watanabe. For other images of Sadao Watanabe art works in TIPs, see here.
Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)
The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).
For this verse, translators typically select the exclusive form (excluding Jesus).
Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.
Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 15:15:
Uma: “Petrus said: ‘Teacher, explain to us that parable earlier.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “So-then Petros spoke, he said, ‘Explain to us what it means that you said.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Then Peter said, ‘Explain to us your parable a while ago.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Then Pedro said, ‘Please explain the parable that you (sing.) said a-little-while-ago.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Pedro said to him, ‘Lord, tell us the meaning of that illustration of yours a while ago.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Peter said to Jesus: ‘Tell us the meaning of the word you made with comparisons when you spoke to the people.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
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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 choice of a benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.
Here, setsumeishite (説明して) or “explain” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
But Peter said to him is more literally “But answering, Peter said to him”; New English Bible has “Then Peter said,” and New Jerusalem Bible “At this, Peter said to him.”
Explain (so Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, Moffatt) is translated “Tell … what … means” by New English Bible and Barclay. The Greek verb is used only here in the New Testament, though it is found in the Septuagint of Job 6.24, where it has the same meaning.
Parable: the reference is to the content of verse 11 rather than to that of verses 12-14. Good News Translation prefers “this saying,” and Barclay “this difficult saying,” because for English readers parable does not include the wide range of meanings that the Greek word does. Most translations do not make it clear that the parable refers to the saying in verse 11; in fact, in most cases readers get the impression it is what Jesus just said in verse 14 that is being referred to. For this reason some translators have said “Tell us the meaning of that saying you quoted to the Pharisees” or “Explain for us the meaning of what you said to the Pharisees.” Of course, if there is in a language some word or other form that clearly relates the parable to the saying in verse 11, that should be used.
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 .
The Greek begins this verse with a conjunction that some English versions translate as “But.” It indicates a change from Jesus’ speech to Peter’s request. There is no contrast here. Some English versions, including the Berean Standard Bible, do not translate this conjunction.
Here is another way to begin this verse:
Then (New Living Translation (2004))
Peter said: There is a Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible does not translate here. In this context it means “responded, spoke up.”
Explain this parable to us: This sentence is a polite request asking for information. Peter politely asked Jesus to explain the meaning of the parable/words that he said to the people in 15:11. Peter did not ask Jesus to explain the meaning of the words that he said to the disciples in 15:13–14. In order to make this clear, you may need to make some adjustments to this request. For example:
⌊Lord, please⌋ explain to us ⌊the meaning of⌋ the parable/saying ⌊that you told the people⌋.
-or-
Explain to us the parable that says people aren’t defiled by what they eat. (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
What did you mean when you talked about the things that make people unclean? (Contemporary English Version)
this parable: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as parable can refer to a story, a saying, a proverb, or a parable.
Here Peter used this Greek word to refer to what Jesus said in 15:11. (It does not refer to what Jesus just said in 15:13–14.) Many English speakers would not consider the words in 15:11 to be a parable.
Here are some other ways to describe the words in 15:11:
this saying (Good News Translation)
-or-
the example (New Century Version)
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