widow

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “widow” in English is translated in West Kewa as ona wasa or “woman shadow” (source: Karl J. Franklin in Notes on Translation 70/1978, pp. 13ff.) and in Newari as “husband already died ones” or “ones who have no husband” (source: Newari Back Translation).

The etymological meaning of the Hebrew almanah (אַלְמָנָה) is likely “pain, ache,” the Greek chéra (χήρα) is likely “to leave behind,” “abandon,” and the English widow (as well as related terms in languages such as Dutch, German, Sanskrit, Welsh, or Persian) is “to separate,” “divide” (source: Wiktionary).

See also widows.

complete verse (Matthew 22:25)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 22:25:

  • Uma: “So, there were seven brothers. The eldest married, he died without any children. His widow married his younger sibling.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “So-then there were seven brothers who lived here with us. The oldest one married but he died without having children. Then his younger brother married the widow.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “,” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Now then, there were reportedly seven male siblings. The oldest got-married but died without their having any children. Therefore his younger-sibling took-his-place and married the widow,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well, we say that because recently there were here with us (excl.) seven siblings who were all male. Well, the oldest married. He died without any children. That’s why his wife was inherited by the one who followed him.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “So now suppose that where we live there are seven brothers. The eldest brother marries. But there comes the day when he dies and there were no children. Therefore the brother of the dead man who had been born next marries the widow.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Matt. 22:25)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, translators typically select the inclusive form (including the seven brothers). (Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.)

In Huautla Mazatec, however, the translators selected the exclusive we. SIL International Translation Department (1999) notes that as a possibility.

Translation commentary on Matthew 22:25

Now serves as a transitional from the quotation to the story of the seven brothers who, one after the other, married the same woman. It is not a temporal marker, therefore, but a way of starting a story.

Among us may better be represented as “who used to live here” (Good News Translation). Phillips has “Now, we had a case of seven brothers,” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “Now, at one time there were seven brothers here.” The story is told as though it narrates a genuine life situation, though the use of the number seven suggests they added something to make the story more interesting and simultaneously to emphasize the absurdity of belief in the resurrection.

The first … died … left his wife to his brother may give the impression that the man had at death willed his widow to his brother. Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition relieves the difficulty by translating “The oldest brother married and died without children. 26 So the second married his widow….”

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 .