complete verse (Matthew 16:10)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 16:10:

  • Uma: “And how about the seven breads that I fed to the four thousand people? How many baskets of leftovers did you gather?” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “And do you not remember the seven bread that I divided among the four thousand people and as to how many baskets full of leftovers you gathered?” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Evidently also the seven pieces of bread that I fed to the four thousand men and those basketfulls that you gathered up afterward are not in your thinking?” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “And the seven breads that sufficed for over four thousand people, how many baskets did you fill with what-was-left-over?” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Like that indeed the seven units of bread with which I fed four thousand. Well, how many large-basketfuls of bread were in excess?” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “And on the day when there were only seven bread and four thousand men ate, don’t you remember how many baskets of bread were left over.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

large numbers in Angguruk Yali

Many languages use a “body part tally system” where body parts function as numerals (see body part tally systems with a description). One such language is Angguruk Yali which uses a system that ends at the number 27. To circumvent this limitation, the Angguruk Yali translators adopted a strategy where a large number is first indicated with an approximation via the traditional system, followed by the exact number according to Arabic numerals. For example, where in 2 Samuel 6:1 it says “thirty thousand” in the English translation, the Angguruk Yali says teng-teng angge 30.000 or “so many rounds [following the body part tally system] 30,000,” likewise, in Acts 27:37 where the number “two hundred seventy-six” is used, the Angguruk Yali translation says teng-teng angge 276 or “so many rounds 276,” or in John 6:10 teng-teng angge 5.000 for “five thousand.”

This strategy is used in all the verses referenced here.

Source: Lourens de Vries in The Bible Translator 1998, p. 409ff.

See also numbers in Ngalum and numbers in Kombai.

formal pronoun: Jesus addressing his disciples and common people

Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.

As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator 2002, p. 210ff. ), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.

Here, Jesus is addressing his disciples, individuals and/or crowds with the formal pronoun, showing respect.

In Nepali translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and other people with the medium honorific pronoun timīlē (तिमीले) or timīlēharū (तिमीलेहरू). This disciples respond with a high honorific pronoun. (Source: Chitra Chhetri in The Bible Translator 2009, p. 73ff. )

In most Dutch translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and common people with the informal pronoun, whereas they address him with the formal form.

Translation commentary on Matthew 16:9 – 16:10

These questions are not asking whether or not the disciples really do remember, but they are rhetorical questions which are meant to rebuke the disciples for not perceiving or remembering. For this reason it may be advisable to restructure the questions of these verses as statements; for example, “You still don’t understand! You have already forgotten about the time that I fed five thousand men with five loaves of bread. After that meal you took up enough leftovers to fill twelve baskets. You have even forgotten about the four thousand men that I fed with seven loaves. After that meal you took up enough leftovers to fill seven baskets.”

Baskets in verse 9 is the same word used in the account of the feeding of the five thousand (14.20), while baskets in verse 10 is the same word used in the account of the feeding of the four thousand (15.37).

The five loaves of the five thousand refers specifically to the five loaves he used to feed the five thousand men, as has been made explicit in the example above. “How I fed five thousand men with five loaves” is also possible. The seven loaves of the four thousand can be treated in a similar fashion.

In the above example, too, we rendered how many baskets you gathered with the phrase “leftovers to fill twelve (or, seven) baskets.” Another possibility is “filled up twelve (or, seven) baskets with the bread left over.”

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 16:10



16:10a

Or: The word Or indicates that there is a second part to Jesus’ question. In some languages, it will be natural to repeat some of the words in the first part of the question. For example:

Do you not remember…

the seven loaves for the four thousand: This phrase refers to the miracle when Jesus fed four thousand men plus women and children. Matthew wrote about this story in 15:33–38.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

Or the seven loaves ⌊which fed⌋ the four thousand ⌊men⌋.
-or-
Or ⌊do you not remember⌋ ⌊the feeding of⌋ four thousand ⌊men⌋ with seven loaves ⌊of bread⌋
-or-

⌊Also,⌋ ⌊have you forgotten how I fed⌋ four thousand ⌊men⌋ with seven loaves of bread?

16:10b

and: Verses 16:10a and 16:10b contain two more things that the disciples should have been thinking about. These two things are joined by the conjunction and.

In some languages, it will be more natural to make 16:10b a separate question. For example:

⌊Do you not remember⌋ how many baskets you gathered?

how many basketfuls you gathered: This clause is just like 16:9c, except that the Greek word for basketfuls is different. Here, the word for basketfuls refers to a larger type of basket than the kind in 16:9c. If your language has words for two different sizes of baskets, use the word for the larger one here.

If your language has one word for all kinds of baskets, you may want to include a descriptive word. For example:

how many large baskets you gathered

The word for this larger type of basket also occurs in 15:37b. You should translate it here as you did there.

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