Jesus heals a boy

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complete verse (Matthew 17:14)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 17:14:

  • Uma: “When Yesus with his three disciples returned and met the crowds, there was a man who came and kneeled in front of him and said to him:” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “When Isa and company returned to the crowds, a man came prostrating/bowing down before Isa asking for help, he said,” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And when they arrived to the many people, there was a person who came up to Jesus and knelt to him.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “When they had come-downhill, they met many people. One of them who was a man, he approached Jesus and knelt in front of him.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “When those four reached their companions, there were many people there again. A man approached Jesus and bowed down in front of him.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “When Jesus arrived to where the people were, there came to him a man who kneeled and said:” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

before / in the sight of / presence of (God) (Japanese honorifics)

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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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-mae (御前) or “before (God)” in the referenced verses. In some cases in can also be used in reference to being before a king, such as in 1 Samuel 16:16.

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

See also presence (Japanese honorifics) and before you / to you.

Translation commentary on Matthew 17:14

Mark’s introduction to the narrative (9.14-16) is considerably longer than that of Matthew (17.14) or Luke (9.37).

And when they came to the crowd: since a new section begins here, it may be advisable to identify by name the persons involved: “When Jesus and his disciples returned to the crowd” or “When Jesus and his disciples came back down the mountain to where the crowd was.”

A man came up to him: Good News Translation identifies him as Jesus, though it seems better to introduce him at the beginning of this verse; however, if that is not done, then Jesus should definitely be marked by name at this point in the narrative. In some languages came up to him will more naturally be “went up to him” or “approached Jesus.”

Kneeling translates a participle dependent upon the main verb came. The receptor language will determine the particular form of these two verb forms; Good News Translation has “… came to Jesus, knelt before him.” Some translators will start a new sentence: “… approached Jesus. He knelt before Jesus and said.”

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 17:14



Section 17:14–20

Jesus healed a boy whom a demon controlled

In 10:1 Jesus had given power to his twelve disciples to cast out demons and heal sick people. Then the disciples went out in groups of two and did those things (Mark 6:7–13). But in this section, they could not cast out a demon that caused a boy to have severe physical problems. Only Jesus was able to force the demon to leave the boy. This story shows that the disciples’ faith was not yet strong.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

Jesus Cures A Demon-Possessed Boy (God’s Word)
-or-
The Healing of a Boy With a Demon (New International Version)

There are parallel passages for this section in Mark 9:14–29 and at Luke 9:37–43.

Paragraph 17:14–18

17:14a

This is the beginning of a new section. The Greek begins this new section with a conjunction that usually joins the next event to the previous one. Many English versions translate this conjunction as “and,” but the Berean Standard Bible does not translate the word here.

You should begin this new section in a way that is natural in your language.

they came to the crowd: This clause implies that Jesus and his disciples came up to the edge of a crowd of people. They reached these people after walking down the mountain.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

Jesus and his disciples ⌊descended and⌋ arrived at a crowd ⌊of people⌋
-or-
when ⌊they arrived at the bottom of the mountain,⌋ they came to a crowd ⌊of people⌋

17:14b

a man: This man was most likely a Jewish man from the surrounding area. He was not a disciple of Jesus.

came up to Jesus: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as came up means “approached.”

Here is another way to translate these words:

approached him/Jesus

17:14c

and knelt before Him: The man got on his knees in front of Jesus to show that he understood that Jesus was more important than he was. He wanted to show his own humility and his respect for Jesus. He did this in front of Jesus to show that he wanted to talk with him.

In some cultures, these things are shown by bowing down in front of the person. For example:

and bowed before him (New Century Version)

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