Following is a 1973 painting of the JESUS MAFA project, a response to New Testament readings from the Lectionary by a Christian community in Cameroon, Africa. Each of the readings was selected and adapted to dramatic interpretation by the community members. Photographs of their interpretations were made, and these were then transcribed to paintings:
From Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. Image retrieved March 23, 2026. Original source: librairie-emmanuel.fr.
Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 20:16:
Uma: “Yesus finished that parable, he said: ‘So also in the future: many people who are unimportant [lit., their lives little] at this time will become important [their lives big] in the future. And may also who are important [their lives big] at this time will become unimportant [their lives little] in the future.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “So-then Isa said, ‘Therefore the ones who are last now will be first in the future and the ones who are first now will be last in the future.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And Jesus said, ‘Those who are last today will be first in the future. And those who are first today will also be last in the future.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Then Jesus concluded saying, ‘What will happen in God’s ruling will be like that, because the low/humble now will be made-high/great, and the high/great now will be made-low/humble.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Jesus said in addition, ‘This is like what I was saying, that there are important ones today in man’s opinion who will become low-class/insignificant. And there are only low-class/insignificant ones today who will become important in the kingdom of God.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Therefore now, those workers who are last to go to work are the ones who will first receive their wages. The workers who first go to work are those who will receive their wages last. Many people have been called, yet few are the people chosen.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
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®).
So is translated “And Jesus concluded” by Good News Translation. All translations indicate a shift in speaker by closing the quotation at the end of verse 15, and some translations try to help further by introducing a new paragraph with verse 16. However, this solution is of no assistance to persons who must depend upon hearing the Scripture read, and its value is questionable even for those who read the Scripture for themselves. A number of CLTs follow Good News Translation in introducing Jesus as the speaker.
The last translates a masculine plural form in Greek. It may be necessary, not only to mark this as a specific reference to people, but to indicate the time periods: “So those people who are last now will someday be first….” As in 19.30, to which this verse refers, last and first do not refer to time but to rank. Translators can use the same expressions here as they did there, possibly “least important” and “most important.”
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 .
The words in 20:16 are not part of Jesus’ parable. In some languages, it may be necessary to make this clear. Some ways to do this are to add some words of introduction. For example:
And Jesus concluded (Good News Translation)
-or-
Jesus then said (Contemporary English Version)
So: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as So indicates that 20:16 is the conclusion that Jesus made from the parable.
Here are some other ways to translate it:
Therefore
-or-
In this way (God’s Word)
the last will be first: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the last is more literally “the last ones.” It refers to people who are last. They are last in the sense of importance now. As the owner paid the last workers first, God will take those in the world who are lowest in status and make them great in his kingdom.
These words are similar to 19:30b. You should translate it in a similar way here. For example:
people who are last will be first
-or-
people who are low/humble now will become high/great
-or-
those who have the last place now will have the first place in the future (New Century Version)
The Greek does not necessarily imply that all who are last will be first. You should avoid words like “all” or “everyone” or even “many” here. In 19:30, the Greek has the word translated “many,” but here it does not. However, if translating without a word like “many” implies “all,” then you may want to use the word “many” from 19:30.
20:16b
and the first will be last:
The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the first is more literally “the first ones.” It refers to people who are first. They are first in the sense of most importance now. But in the future, they will be last in importance.
These words are similar to 19:30a. You should translate it in a similar way here. For example:
and people who are first will be last
-or-
and people who are high/great now will become low/humble
-or-
and those who have the first place now will have the last place in the future (New Century Version)
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.