shut mouth / silence

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “shut mouth” or “silence” or similar in English is translated in the Catholic Mandarin Chinese Sigao version with an established Chinese idiom: wú suǒ bù néng (閉口無言 / 闭口无言) or “silence (lit. “shut mouth, no word”).” (Source: Toshikazu S. Foley in Hong Kong Journal of Catholic Studies, 2011, p. 45ff.)

The Protestant Union Version also uses this idiom, but only in Job 5:16 and Psalm 8:2.

See also silence (verb).

silence (verb)

The now commonly-used German idiom Maul stopfen, which now either refers to gluttonous eating or to silencing someone by proving or showing that despite them being big-mouthed (“großmäulig”) about something thatthey were wrong after all (literally “stuff one’s (animal-like) mouth”), was made popular in 1534 in the German Bible translation by Martin Luther. (Source: Günther 2017, p. 89)

For other idioms or terms in German that were coined by Bible translation, see here.

See also shut mouth / silence.

complete verse (Matthew 22:34)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 22:34:

  • Uma: “The Saduki people could no longer answer, for Yesus had defeated them. When the Parisi people heard that, they also met together to find a plan to trick/outsmart Yesus.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “When the Pariseo heard that the Sadduseo could not answer Isa, they gathered and went to Isa.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And when the Pharisees learned that there was nothing the Sadducees could do with Jesus to trap him, they gathered together.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had defeated the Saducees, they gathered and they went to where Jesus was.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well since it was like that, the Pariseo gathered together there when they heard-news of what Jesus had done, that he’d as-it-were rendered-speechless the Saduceo.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “The Pharisees heard that Jesus had conquered the word of the Saducees. They made plans then about what to say to Jesus.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Pharisee

The Greek that is a transliteration of the Hebrew Pərūšīm and is typically transliterated into English as “Pharisee” is transliterated in Mandarin Chinese as Fǎlìsài (法利賽 / 法利赛) (Protestant) or Fǎlìsāi (法利塞) (Catholic). In Chinese, transliterations can typically be done with a great number of different and identical-sounding characters. Often the meaning of the characters are not relevant, unless they are chosen carefully as in these cases. The Protestant Fǎlìsài can mean something like “Competition for the profit of the law” and the Catholic Fǎlìsāi “Stuffed by/with the profit of the law.” (Source: Zetzsche 1996, p. 51)

In Finnish Sign Language it is translated with the sign signifying “prayer shawl”. (Source: Tarja Sandholm)


“Pharisee” in Finnish Sign Language (source )

In British Sign Language it is translated with a sign that depicts “pointing out the law.” (Source: Anna Smith)


“Pharisee” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)

In French Sign Language it is translated with a sign that depicts the box of the phylacteries attached to the forehead:


“Pharisees” in French Sign Language (source: La Bible en langue des signes française )

Scot McKnight (in The Second Testament, publ. 2023) translates it into English as Observant. He explains (p. 302): “Pharisee has become a public, universal pejorative term for a hypocrite. Pharisees were observant of the interpretation of the Covenant Code called the ‘tradition of the elders.’ They conformed their behaviors to the interpretation. Among the various groups of Jews at the time of Jesus, they were perhaps closest to Jesus in their overall concern to make a radical commitment to the will of God (as they understood it).”

See also Nicodemus.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Pharisees .

Translation commentary on Matthew 22:34

Matthew once again identifies the Pharisees as the most hostile of Jesus’ opponents. According to Mark, it was “one of the scribes” who approached Jesus, and it is not necessary to assume that he was a member of the Pharisaic party. Moreover, in Mark the man presents his question to Jesus because he is impressed with Jesus’ reply to the Sadducees (12.28). Matthew specifically states that the purpose of the question is “to test” Jesus (verse 35).

The But at the beginning of this verse can be seen to contrast the reaction of the Pharisees to how Jesus had dealt with the Sadducees with the reaction of the crowd in verse 33. However, since most translators do have the section heading at the beginning of the verse, it is often more natural to drop But and start with “When” (Good News Translation).

Pharisees and Sadducees were discussed at 3.7.

Had silenced translates the same verb used in verse 12; it occurs nowhere else in Matthew’s Gospel. In this verse it may best be rendered as “had answered the Sadducees in such a way they could not say anything” or “had made the Sadducees stop asking him questions.”

Together translates a construction used several times in Luke’s writings (Luke 17.35; Acts 1.15; 2.1, 44; 4.26); it also occurs in 1 Corinthians 11.20; 14.23. It may mean either “at the same place” (Acts 2.1) or “together” (so most translations), a usage well attested by the papyri. Some translators have said “they met together,” but the idea is really more that they went to Jesus in a group. Thus “met and went together to Jesus” or “went to Jesus in a group” is better. Of course, translators will use either “came” or “went,” depending on the receptor language.

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 22:34



Section 22:34–40 A question about the most important commandment

In this section, one of the Pharisees asked Jesus to name the most important commandment in the Law of Moses. This type of question was a common one that scribes and Pharisees dealt with, and different teachers might give different answers. Jesus gave a definite answer about which law is most important. The he went beyond the question and gave an equally important second commandment.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

Which is the great commandment of the Law?

There are parallel passages for this section in Mark 12:28–34 and Luke 10:25–28.

Paragraph 22:34–36

22:34a

But: The Greek conjunction that the English Standard Version here translates as But often indicates a change. Here the change is a change of people. In the previous section, the Sadducees asked Jesus a question. In this section, one of the Pharisees asked Jesus a question.

Many English versions do not translate this conjunction.

when the Pharisees heard: For help in translating the word Pharisees, see the Note in 3:7a. The word Pharisees last occurred in 22:15a. Translate it the same way here.

that he: The pronoun he refers to Jesus. Since this is the beginning of a new section, you may want to make that explicit. For example:

that Jesus (God’s Word)

had silenced: The Greek verb that the English Standard Version translates as had silenced is more literally “had muzzled.” It refers to something tied over an animal’s or person’s mouth to prevent it from opening. Here it is used in a figurative sense. Jesus did not actively stop the Sadducees from speaking, but his argument was so clear and strong that they could make no response. (This same verb is in 22:12b.) Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

had tied/shut their mouths
-or-
had made them speechless
-or-
had won the argument

the Sadducees: The name Sadducees is the same as in 22:23a. Translate it the same way here.

22:34b

they gathered together: This clause in Greek contains a phrase that means “in the same place.” This implies that the Pharisees came together to plan their next attempt to trap Jesus. Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

they gathered together in one place

-or-

they met together

There is some implied information here. Verse 22:35 shows that the Pharisees were with Jesus. So some time between 22:34 and 22:35 they went to Jesus. In some languages, it may be natural to make this information explicit. For example:

and then went to Jesus

© 2023 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.