complete verse (Matthew 22:8)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 22:8:

  • Uma: “‘After that, he also called his servants, he said to them: ‘The wedding feast is ready, but the people whom I called are not fit to attend.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “After that, the sultan said to his servants, ‘The food is ready but the ones who had been invited are not worthy to come.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And the king gathered his servants, and he said, ‘The food is on the table, but those I asked to come, they are not worthy of this my gathering.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Then the king said to others of his slaves, ‘Everything is made-ready for the wedding, but the people I invited, they are not worthy to come.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “And he said next to others of his slaves, ‘This feast really is ready now, however as for those who were invited, they aren’t fit to join in. They are no longer acceptable.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Again he spoke to his servants: ‘I have already prepared for the wedding, but the people I have called to it do not deserve to come to it.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 22:8

This verse narrates another invitation sent out to invite guests to the wedding feast, but the guests who are now invited are not the ones who received the original invitation. Of the original guests the king says those invited were not worthy (see 10.10, 11, 13, 37, 38 for worthy in the sense used here). In the Lukan form of this parable, the servant goes out twice to invite new guests; he first is sent to the “streets and alleys of the town,” and since there is still room in the house, he is sent afterwards to the “country roads and lanes” (14.21-23). Although some scholars propose that verse 8 originally followed verse 5, this is not the form of the parable which Matthew transmits, and translation must reflect accurately the text as it exists.

The text has his servants, but for some readers that poses a problem, since in verse 6 the servants he sent out were killed. Therefore “his other servants” is sometimes necessary.

As in Good News Translation, The wedding may more naturally be translated as “The wedding feast,” using the same expression as in Matthew 22.2.

Those invited may have to be expressed as “those people I invited.”

Most translators will express were not worthy in a way similar to Good News Translation, possibly “did not deserve the invitations” or “did not deserve to be invited.”

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 .