complete verse (Matthew 22:10)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 22:10:

  • Uma: “The servants went to the roads gathering all the people who passed by, it did not matter is their behavior/character was good or bad. Finally the house of the feast was very full with guests.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “So-then his servants went to the roads and brought all the people they found, bad and good without exception. Therefore the house where the wedding took place was full of people.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And his servants left, and they went along the paths, and all the people they saw whether their works were good or whether they were bad, they invited them. And the palace of the king was filled up with people.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “So they went and invited all that they found who had good and even bad behavior/character, and the big room for-the-wedding was full.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Those slaves then set out. They went to the trails where many people were. They caused all they met to go with them, nice and badly-behaved. What else but that feast was crowded-out with all those people.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “The servants went to the people, they brought good people. Therefore the people filled the house.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 22:10

Translators in areas where streets are not common can simply say “into the towns” or, better, “out on the public roads.”

Gathered all whom they found (a fairly literal rendering of the Greek text) may also be rendered “invited everyone whom they found” (Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition). The difficulty with a literal rendering is that the reader is left with the impression that the persons who were invited were first gathered together into a large group and then went as a group to the wedding. The text seems to mean rather that the people whom they invited came individually, but comprised a large crowd when they all arrived. “Brought to the wedding feast” may be a good translation.

Both bad and good: on the assumption that the order “bad … good” is purely a linguistic feature, having no theological significance, Good News Translation places the two adjectives in an order that is more natural for English speakers: “good and bad alike.” Note also Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition: “whether he was a good or bad man.” The statement is reminiscent of 13.24-30, 36-43, 47-50.

This sentence may need to be restructured slightly to be more natural; for example, “… invited everyone they met, both good people and bad, and brought them to the wedding feast.”

The wedding hall is the room or place where the feast was to be held. If there is no direct equivalent in a language, translators may simply use a descriptive phrase: “the room for the wedding feast.”

The wedding hall was filled with guests may need to be translated either “the people came in and filled the wedding hall” or “so many people came that the wedding hall was full of guests.”

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 22:10



22:10a

And those servants went out into the roads: The Greek word that the English Standard Version translates as roads is the same word as the word “roads” in the phrase “main roads” in 22:9a. The servants went to the roads that led out of the city. But here it is a general reference to “roads,” so other ways to translate it are:

into the streets (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
to the paths/trails

In some languages, it will not be natural to repeat the word roads here. So some other ways to translate this clause are:

So the servants went there
-or-
Then the slaves went

22:10b

and gathered all whom they found: The Greek verb that the English Standard Version translates as gathered is also means “brought together.” This clause indicates that the servants did just as the king commanded them to do.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

collected together (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
-or-
brought in (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
assembled

22:10c

both bad and good: The Greek word that the English Standard Version translates as bad is more literally “evil.” It indicates that some of the people whom the servants collected were people whom Jews would consider sinful (or unrighteous).

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

both evil and good (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
bad behavior/character as well as good

In this phrase the word bad is emphasized because it comes first. This is opposite the usual order.

22:10d

So: The Greek conjunction that the English Standard Version here translates as So is the ordinary conjunction that joins two events or things. Many English versions translate it as “and.” For example:

and (New International Version)

the wedding hall was filled with guests: The Greek word that the English Standard Version here translates as wedding hall is the same word translated as “wedding feast” elsewhere in this chapter (22:2b, 3b, 4f, 9b). However, because this word is together with the verb was filled here, it seems to indicate a place like a room or building where the wedding was celebrated, rather than the event itself.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

the banquet room (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
the place/house of the wedding

This is a passive clause. There are two ways to translate it:

• Use a passive verb. For example:

The banquet room was filled with guests (Contemporary English Version)

• Use an active verb. For example:

Many people came and filled the place of the wedding.

with guests: The Greek word that the English Standard Version translates as guests refers to people who actually came to the wedding. This is the second group of people whom the king invited to come.

Here is another way to translate this phrase:

with people (Good News Translation)

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