Translation commentary on Matthew 19:14

Let here has the sense of “allow” or “permit.”

If translators are using direct discourse, as in Revised Standard Version, then come may be the most natural word to use. However, if indirect discourse is used, then either “come” or “go” is possible, depending on the receptor language; for example, “Then Jesus told his disciples to let the children come (or, go) to him.” “Approach” is also possible.

Hinder may also mean either “forbid” or “stop” (Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible); New English Bible prefers “try to stop.”

To such belongs the kingdom of heaven, apart from a slight variation in the word order, is almost identical with “theirs is the kingdom of heaven” of 5.10. The major difference is the substitution of such for “theirs” in the Greek text. Such can be reflected in the translation by “people like these children.” See comment at 5.10.

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 19:14



19:14a

But Jesus said: There is a contrast here. The contrast is between the desire of the disciples to keep the children away (19:13c), and the desire of Jesus to bless the children (19:14). The Berean Standard Bible indicates this contrast with the conjunction But.

Let the little children come to Me: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Let means “allow” or “permit.” Jesus instructed the disciples to allow the children to come to him.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

Allow the little children to come to me
-or-
You should permit the little children to come to me

the little children: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible here translates as little children also occurs in 19:13a. You should translate it the same way in both places.

19:14b

do not hinder them: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as hinder also means “prevent” or “forbid.” This also is an instruction to the disciples. They were not to do anything to prevent the children from coming to Jesus.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

do not stop them (Good News Translation)
-or-
do not forbid their ⌊coming to me⌋

them: This pronoun refers to the children.

19:14c

For: This conjunction introduces the reason for Jesus’ command not to hinder the children from coming to him.

Here is another way to translate this word:

because

In some languages, it will be more natural to begin a new sentence without translating this word. For example:

People who are like these children belong to God’s kingdom. (Contemporary English Version)

the kingdom of heaven belongs: Jesus was saying that people like those children are the ones who are a part of the kingdom. They belong in it, and it belongs to them. These people are those who let God rule over them.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

are part of the kingdom of God (God’s Word)
-or-
belong to God’s kingdom (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
God accepts them into his kingdom
-or-
are citizens of the kingdom of God

This same Greek phrase occurs in 5:3b and 5:10b.

to such as these: This phrase refers to people who are like the children who wanted to come to him.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

to people who are like these children (New Century Version)

-or-

to people like this

© 2023 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.