complete verse (Matthew 16:9)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 16:9:

  • Uma: “You still do not understand! Do you no longer remember the five breads that I fed to the five thousand people? And how many baskets of leftovers you gathered?” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Do you still not understand? Do you not remember when I divided the five (loaves of) bread among the five thousand people and as to how many baskets full of left-overs you gathered?” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Evidently it hasn’t entered into your thinking that we (incl.) don’t have to worry about bread. Evidently you don’t know what I did when I broke the loaves so that the five thousand men might eat? Evidently you don’t also remember the baskets which you filled up with the pieces they left?” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Don’t you understand yet? Did you forget the five breads that sufficed for over five thousand people? How many baskets did you fill with what-was-left-over?” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Don’t your minds/thinking reach that far yet? Have you already forgotten those five units of bread which I broke in pieces and fed to five thousand people? Well, how many basketfuls were in excess?” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Don’t you understand about the word I speak? Don’t you remember what you saw where we had gone? When there were only five bread and five thousand men ate, don’t you remember how many baskets were left over?” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

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

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.

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 16:9



16:9a

Do you still not understand?: This is another rhetorical question. It is a rebuke. Jesus scolded his disciples for thinking that the reason he warned them in 16:6 was because they did not bring bread. In 16:9–10 he reminded them that he had multiplied small amounts of bread to feed large crowds of people. When he spoke about the leaven/yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees, he was warning against their dangerous influence or attitude. Clearly, Jesus expected his disciples to think about the danger of the Pharisees and Sadducees, not about bread.

Here are some other ways to translate this rebuke:

• As a rhetorical question. For example:

Why do you still not understand?
-or-
Do you not yet perceive? (English Standard Version)

• As a statement. For example:

You still do not understand!

Translate this rebuke in a way that is natural in your language.

understand: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates understand can also be translated as “perceive” (as in the English Standard Version).

16:9b–c

Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?: This is yet another rhetorical question. It is also a rebuke. Jesus scolded his disciples for seeming to forget his recent miracle and what it meant.

Here are some other ways to translate this rebuke:

• As one or two rhetorical questions. For example:

Do you not remember ⌊that I fed⌋ five thousand ⌊men⌋ with five loaves of bread and how many baskets full ⌊of leftovers⌋ you gathered?
-or-
Did you forget ⌊that I fed⌋ five thousand ⌊men⌋ ⌊with⌋ the five loaves? ⌊Did you forget⌋ the number of baskets you gathered?

• As a statement. For example:

You seem to forget how five loaves ⌊fed⌋ five thousand men and how you picked up ⌊twelve⌋ baskets full ⌊of leftovers⌋.

Translate this rebuke in a way that is natural in your language.

16:9b

Do you not remember: Here is another way to translate this clause:

Have you forgotten (Contemporary English Version)

the five loaves for the five thousand: This phrase refers to the miracle when Jesus fed five thousand men plus women and children. Matthew wrote about this story in 14:13–21.

If people in your area will not understand that this clause refers to Jesus feeding the five thousand, you may want to include some implied information. Here are some examples:

the five loaves ⌊which fed⌋ the five thousand ⌊men⌋
-or-

⌊the feeding of⌋ five thousand ⌊men⌋ with five loaves ⌊of bread⌋

loaves: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as loaves probably refers to flat breads. One person could eat three to five of these loaves at one meal. It was the common food for a meal.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

loaves ⌊of bread⌋
-or-

⌊small⌋ breads

16:9c

and: Verses 16:9b and 16:9c contain two 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 16:9c a separate question. For example:

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

how many basketfuls you gathered: This clause refers to the twelve baskets of leftover food that the disciples gathered after the five thousand men ate. Jesus did not mention the number of basketfuls. He just wanted the disciples to remember that he was able to provide much more bread than everyone needed.

In this whole story, Jesus seemed to make a point of not directly saying what he meant. Instead he tried to get the disciples to think again about events that they knew about. And he wanted them to see what they meant without him telling them.

Here is another way to translate this phrase:

the number of baskets you gathered

basketfuls: Here the word basketfuls represents the pieces of leftover food that the disciples gathered and put into the baskets. It does not refer to the baskets themselves. In other words, the disciples did not just gather empty baskets.

Here is another way to translate this to make it clearer:

the number of baskets ⌊of leftover food⌋ you gathered

The size of the baskets is not known. They were probably medium in size. Some languages have different words for different kinds or sizes of baskets. If your language is like that, use a word for one that is medium in size. Translate this word in the same way as you did in 14:20b.

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