complete verse (Matthew 15:35)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 15:35:

  • Uma: “From there, he ordered the many people to sit on the ground.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “So-then Isa told the crowds to sit down on the ground.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Jesus commanded that the people sit down on the ground.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “That being so, Jesus had-the many-people -sit-down.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Jesus caused the people to sit down.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Jesus ordered that the people should sit to eat.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Honorary "rare" construct denoting God ("order/command")

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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 morphemes rare (られ) or are (され) are 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, meiji-rare-ru (命じられる) or “order/command” is used.

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

Translation commentary on Matthew 15:35

As Revised Standard Version indicates, the Greek of this verse opens a sentence which is continued in verse 36. But a number of translations make verse 35 into either a complete sentence (Good News Translation, Barclay) or an independent clause (New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, An American Translation). Moreover, since Good News Translation begins a new paragraph with verse 35, the name Jesus is introduced as subject of the participle commanding (“So Jesus ordered”). Many translations prefer “ordered,” though “instructed” (New Jerusalem Bible) is also accurate.

Sit down (so most all translations) translates a Greek verb normally used of reclining at a meal. This is the only occurrence of this verb in the Gospel of Matthew. In some languages it may be helpful to render Jesus’ command in direct discourse: “So Jesus told the crowd, ‘Sit down on the ground.’ ”

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 15:35



15:35

And: In Greek, 15:35 begins with a common conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as And. Here it introduces what Jesus did next.

Here are some other ways to begin this verse:

Then (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
After that

The New International Version and some other English versions do not translate this word. In some languages, it will not be necessary to translate this word either.

He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as instructed also means “gave orders” or “commanded.” It indicates that Jesus gave instructions to the large crowd. Your translation of the word instructed should not imply that Jesus was speaking harshly to the people.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground (New Living Translation (2004))

In some languages it may be more natural to use a causative expression for this phrase. For example:

caused the people to sit down

to sit down: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as sit down is literally to “recline.” To recline is to sit and then lean over on the left elbow with legs outstretched to the right. This was the normal Jewish position for eating.

You may want to use the usual position that people use when they eat in your culture. This is what most English versions do.

on the ground: Jesus told the people to sit on the ground because he was about to give them food. They were in the wilderness, so they had to sit on the ground.

In some languages it may be unnecessary to specify “on the ground,” since it may be clear from the context. If that is true in your language, you may leave this phrase implicit. For example:

He told the people to sit down

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