complete verse (Matthew 22:3)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 22:3:

  • Uma: “He gave orders to his servants to go call the people who were invited, like this: ‘Let us go eat at a wedding feast!’ But all those who were called, they did not want to go.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “When the day of the feast had come he sent his servants to go and fetch the people who had been invited. But they did not want to go to the wedding.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “He commanded his servants that they notify the people that he had told before-hand to come to the gathering. However, as for the people, they paid no attention to the servants.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “When everything was ready, he sent some of his slaves to go tell again the ones who were originally/previously invited that they should come to attend-the-wedding. But the invited-ones, they refused to come.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “When it was ready, he ordered his slaves to inform all who were invited, but they didn’t want to attend/join-in.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “He sent his servants to bring the people whom he had invited to attend the wedding. But these people who were sent for didn’t want to go.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 22:3

According to one scholar, to call those who were invited to the marriage feast represents “a special courtesy, practiced by upper circles in Jerusalem,” in which the invitation was repeated immediately prior to the time of the banquet. If this exegesis is correct, then the first part of the verse may necessitate some restructuring in order to reflect a more precise chronological order: “… who prepared a wedding feast for his son, 3 and invited some guests to the feast. When it was time for the feast, he sent his servants to tell the guests to come.” On the other hand, another scholar notes the possibility that Matthew may have in mind a Semitic idiom which means “the guests to be invited.” This seems to be the interpretation of Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition: “He had sent his servants to invite the guests.” Other translations apparently prefer the traditional rendering.

But they would not come indicates a strong refusal on the part of the invited guests. New American Bible, Phillips, Barclay, and New International Version have “they refused to come.”

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 .