complete verse (Matthew 23:32)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 23:32:

  • Uma: “So then, just go ahead and do the same kind of sins that your ancestors did!” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Go ahead, finish off the work of your ancestors.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “You’d better finish the bad doing that you ancestors didn’t finish.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Go-ahead then, continue to finish what your ancestors began!” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Go ahead! Complete the wickedness which was begun by your ancestors.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “What are you waiting for now? Go ahead and do just like your ancestors did long ago.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

2nd person pronoun with low register (Japanese)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.

In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also first person pronoun with low register and third person pronoun with low register.

Translation commentary on Matthew 23:32

Fill up (Good News Translation “Go on … and finish up”) has the meaning of “bring to completion” or “finish off” (New English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible).

The measure of your fathers is more clearly translated “what your fathers began” (New English Bible), assuming that fathers is correctly understood to mean “ancestors.”

Traduction œcuménique de la Bible believes the reference to be to the murder of Jesus, though this information may not be allowed in the text.

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 .