complete verse (Matthew 21:29)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 21:29:

  • Uma: “‘He answered: ‘I refuse, Dad!’ But in the end his heart changed, he did go work in the fields.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “The older one said, ‘I won’t.’ But after that his thoughts changed and he went to their field.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And the son answered, ‘Oh I don’t want to.’ However, after a while he thought about it and his breath became bad about refusing his father and then he did what he was told to do.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “”I don’t-want-to/I-refuse,’ he said, but a little-later, his mind changed and he went to work.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “‘Expletive, I’m feeling lazy,’ he answered. But he changed his mind after all. He went after all and worked.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “This son given the work only says: ‘As for me, I won’t go,’ he says to his father. But afterwards he changed his mind and went to work as he had been told.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 21:29

I will not implies an absolute refusal. New Jerusalem Bible has “I will not go,” and Luther 1984 “No, I will not go.” Other languages may require a fuller statement: “No, I will not go to work in the vineyard.” An indirect form may also be natural, as in “but he told his father he would not go” or “but he refused to go.”

Repented is repeated again in verse 32. Elsewhere in the Gospel it is used only of Judas (27.3); otherwise in the New Testament it appears only twice (2 Cor 7.8; Heb 7.21). It may also mean “regret” (Luther 1984, New American Bible); Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “regretted his answer.” A number of translations have “changed his mind” (Good News Translation, Moffatt, An American Translation, New English Bible, Phillips, Barclay).

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 .