Matt 18:5 – TIPs

in the name of, on the account of his (or: my) name

Some of the Hebrew, Ge’ez, and Greek phrases that are translated in English in association with “name,” including “in the name of,” “in my name,” “in your name,” “on the account of my name,” “on the account of your name” (according to a classification by Robert Bratcher in The Bible Translator 1963, p. 72ff. , phrases that belong to the categories of “Agency or instrumentality” and “Representation”) present a number of challenges in other languages.

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Eugene Nida (1947, p 178ff.) explains this way:

“The biblical attitudes toward human personality are of great theological importance. There is, however, only one word which produces any considerable difficulty in other languages. This is the word ‘name.’ The great difference attached to the significance of the name of a person in the Bible times in contrast with our own culture is very important. Note such phrases as ‘whatsoever ye shall ask in my name,’ John 14:13, ‘believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God,’ John 3:18, and ‘life through his name,’ John 20:31. These expressions are generally difficult for us to understand, for the word ‘name’ does not mean the same to us as it meant to those of Bible times. To them the name was the symbolization of the authority and personality of the individual who possessed the name. To us a name is far less important. It may be changed whenever one can convince a judge that another name might be more economically advantageous. The name is also a legal method of giving one’s written assent to certain business transactions, but to us it is not the symbol of the personality.”

The translation in Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl typically is “in someone’s authority” (for instance “I have come in my Father’s name” in John 5:43 becomes “I have come on my Father’s authority”) (source Nida 1947, p. 179), or in Highland Puebla Nahuatl with the more paraphrastic equivalent “as though on orders from you” or in Tzeltal as “by your authority, so he said” (both examples for Mark 9:38 and 39, see Bratcher / Nida).

In Guhu-Samane, Mark 11:9 (in English: “Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord”) is translated as “Blessed is the Lord’s namesake who comes.” “In the name of the Lord” caused “puzzlement [because] “has he just assumed the name of the Lord, valid or otherwise? [But] with ‘blessed is the Lord’s namesake who comes’ the strong bond between the namesake and the important ancestor for whom named entitles the namesake to the deference due the ancestor. Thought very proper in this context.” (Source: Ernest L. Richert in Notes on Translation December 1963: p. 4-7; reprinted in The Bible Translator 1965, p. 198ff. )

Barclay Newman (see The Bible Translator 1974, pp, 432ff. ) reports on different solutions for the translation of the Today’s Malay Version (Alkitab Berita Baik, 1987):

In Malay “the phrase ‘in my name’ is problematic (…) since it sounds like the use of magic. For this reason [the English] Today’s English Version (Good News Bible) was followed at such passages as John 5:43 and 10:25, where ‘in the name of my Father’ is translated as ‘with my Father’s authority’ and ‘by my Father’s authority’ [respectively]. In John 12:13 ‘in the name of the Lord’ has become ‘in his (the Lord’s) behalf,’ following the common language German translation Die Gute Nachricht. In John 14:13, ‘because you are my followers’ is used, in John in 15:16, 16:23 and 24 ‘as my followers,’ in John 17:11 ‘by your own power, the power you gave me,’ and in John 14:26 ‘in my place.'”

Other translations for “in the name of Jesus Christ” include “in the authority of Jesus Christ” (Isthmus Mixe), “calling on Jesus Christ” (Teutila Cuicatec), “calling the name of Jesus Christ over you” (Ayutla Mixtec), “because of Jesus” (Tepeuxila Cuicatec), “by the power of the name of Jesus Christ” (Chichimeca-Jonaz), “the word of Jesus Christ is strong” (Lalana Chinantec) (source for this and above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), and “mentioning the name of Jesus” (Elhomwe — source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext).

complete verse (Matthew 18:5)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 18:5:

Uma: “Whoever receives a little child like this child because of his following of Me, its meaning, it is I whom he receives.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “If there is a person and because of his trust in me he honors/treats-according-to-custom one little child like this, I am the one honored/treated-according-to-custom.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “The person, who because of his faith in me, accepts and treats well any child like this, he has accepted me also.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “And whoever receives a lowly person like this child because of his faith in me, I am the one he has received.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “And also whoever receives a humble one like this child because of his belief in me, I am the one he is receiving.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “And the person who has respect for a child like this one here and does so because he knows that I look well upon such action, then it is as though that person has respect for me.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

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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 first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

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

Sung version of Matthew 18

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®).

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Translation commentary on Matthew 18:5

In several translations (Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible) a new paragraph is introduced with verse 5. This is apparently done on the basis of the assumption that (1) child serves as the connecting link between the two paragraphs, and that (2) the application of Jesus’ teaching begins with verse 5. On the other hand, it is just as logical to propose that the verse forms a natural conclusion to the discussion of who is the greatest, and that “one of these little ones” of verse 6 is actually the connecting link between the two paragraphs.

Whoever may be “any person who,” or it can be restructured slightly in a phrase like “If someone welcomes a child like this one in my name, that person welcomes me.”

Receives was discussed in 10.40. “Welcomes” (Good News Translation) or “accepts” are the most common ways of expressing the word here.

One such child (Good News Translation “one such child as this”) is fairly representative of what appears in most all translations. “A child like this one” is also common. Child may refer either to an actual child or, more probably, to “the one who humbles himself and becomes like this child” of verse 4. By means of a footnote New Jerusalem Bible indicates that the second of these two alternatives is intended here.

In my name is a literal rendering of the Greek text; Moffatt and Phillips, who are among the very few who avoid a literal translation, have “for my sake.” One may also translate “because of me” or “because he is one of my disciples.”

Receives me is translated “welcomes me” by Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, and New International Version (similarly Phillips). The picture is that of welcoming or accepting a person into one’s group or home. Translators normally render receives me with the same verb they used at the beginning of the verse for receives one such child.

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 18:5

Section 18:5–9

Do not cause anyone to sin

In the previous section, Jesus used a child to illustrate what it meant for a disciple to be great in the kingdom. In this section, he compared a humble disciple to a child. He warned people not to cause one of them to sin. If they did, the consequences would be serious.

Jesus also warned his disciples to eliminate the source of sin in their own lives.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

Temptations To Sin (Good News Translation)
-or-
Eliminate the cause of sin

There are parallel passages for this section in Mark 9:42–48 and Luke 17:1–2.

Paragraph 18:5–6

Some English versions put verse 18:5 in the previous paragraph. But it is best to start a new paragraph here (as in the New Century Version). It is true that Matthew used the term “child” again. But he changed from talking about the actual child that they were all looking at in 18:4. Here he talked about disciples who are like that child.

18:5a

And whoever: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as whoever is similar to, but slightly different from, the word translated as “whoever” in 18:4a. This phrase is also indefinite and refers to any person.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

Anyone who (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
The person who
-or-
If someone

welcomes: In this context, the word welcomes refers to giving hospitality to someone. It refers to welcoming a person into one’s house and caring for him by feeding him or helping him as he needs it.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

receives (English Standard Version)
-or-
shows/gives hospitality

This word also occurs in 10:40a. You should translate it here as you did there.

a little child like this: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as like this refers to something or someone just mentioned. So this phrase means “a child similar to the one I just spoke about.”

There are two ways to interpret the word child in this verse:

(1) It is figurative and refers to any person who is humble like a child. This could be a child or a humble adult.

(2) It is literal and refers to any child just like the child still standing in their midst.

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). Many commentators follow this interpretation.

Here are some other ways to translate the phrase a little child like this according to interpretation (1):

• Translate the phrase literally. For example:

a child like this child

If you follow this option, you may want to include a footnote. This is what the New Jerusalem Bible had done. Here is a sample footnote:

The words a little child like this are figurative and refer to a humble follower of Jesus. Such a person is like a child.

• Include some implied information in the text. For example:

a ⌊humble person who is⌋ like this child

in My name: This phrase probably modifies the verb “welcomes” (as in the Good News Translation). It indicates that someone welcomes the humble person on behalf of Jesus. He receives him under the authority of Jesus.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

because of me (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
welcomes…on my behalf (New Living Translation (2004))

18:5b

welcomes Me: The verb welcomes is the same verb here as in the first part of this verse. But here it is used in a figurative way. When someone receives/welcomes a believer, he honors Jesus. It is like he receives/welcomes Jesus.

In some languages, it may be necessary to include some of this implied information here. For example:

⌊it is the same as⌋ welcoming me
-or-

⌊it is like he would be⌋ giving me hospitality

-or-

⌊honors⌋ me

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Verse: Matthew 18:5