complete verse (Matthew 25:6)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 25:6:

  • Uma: “‘In the middle of the night, a person shouted out: ‘Here comes the bridegroom! Come on and meet him.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “When it was midnight someone called, he said, ‘The bridegroom comes, come and meet him.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And in the middle of the night, they heard someone calling, ‘Here is the bridegroom. Meet him now.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “‘In the middle of the night, someone shouted, ‘Here is the man-getting-married! Come to meet him!'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “When it was midnight, someone called out saying, ‘The man who is being married is arriving! Go and meet him now!'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “When it got to the middle of the night, a person was heard shouting: ‘Here comes the bridegroom now, get going and meet him,’ he said.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

The wise and the foolish virgins

Hand colored stencil print on momigami by Sadao Watanabe (1979).

Image taken with permission from the SadaoHanga Catalogue where you can find many more images and information about Sadao Watanabe. For other images of Sadao Watanabe art works in TIPs, see here.

The following artwork “Ten Virgins” is by Nyoman Darsane (1939-2024):

Nyoman Darsane was born and raised as a Hindu. Like many Balinese rice farmers, his father was also a musician who played in the orchestra of the local ruler. Darsane was brought up together with one of the princes and educated in the palace. That provided him with a deep knowledge of Hindu-Balinese religion and culture. It paved the way for him to become not only a painter but also a musician, dancer, and puppet player. An academic training at the college in Semarang, Java, finally made him familiar with the Western tradition as well. His early paintings are reminiscent of Gauguin, van Gogh, and Nolde. Darsane thus belongs to the heterogeneous group of the so-called academicians, those artists who have studied at one of the country’s art colleges. Although they are experimenting with Western influences in style, they have continuously been searching for their own Balinese identity. In Darsane’s case a special emphasis adds to this search: since he converted to Christianity he has been trying to mold this religion into a Balinese form.

Darsane was supported by the Bishop Wayan Mastra (b. 1931), who theologically comes from a more evangelical background. As a tiny minority among the Hindu-Balinese people, the Bali Church embraced inculturation. Churches are built in traditional Balinese temple style and local artists have been asked to design the decoration of the buildings. Balinese music and dance are used in the liturgy and the impact of these cultural traditionscan be seen in Darsane’s paintings.

As a result of his conversion at the age of seventeen, Darsane had been excluded from his family and ostracized by his village community. The Hindu-Balinese religion originated from the encounter between Hinduism and Balinese tribal religions, and it still has many features of this primal religion. Religion and community are closely intertwined; whoever turns away from the common religion also renounces the solidarity of the community. Darsane’s constant effort to give Christianity a Balinese shape finally convinced his family and the community that he stilt is one of them. Today he is again well respected and his advice even in religious matters is highly appreciated. (Source: Volker Küster in Pongracz / Küster / Cook 2007, p. 34; image: p. 113)

Translation commentary on Matthew 25:6

Midnight (so New English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Good News Translation, New International Version, New American Bible) means twelve o’clock at night for most English readers. This is too specific for the Greek text, which is better phrased as “in the middle of the night” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, An American Translation, Phillips, Barclay). One may also translate “late at night” or “very late at night.”

There was a cry is translated “a cry was heard” by New English Bible. Good News Translation does away with the passive (“when the cry rang out”), and New American Bible alters it to an impersonal form (“someone shouted”).

Behold: see comment at 1.20. The bridegroom is now near enough that his approach can be noticed, or else someone has run ahead to announce his arrival. In place of Behold, the bridegroom, several modern translations have “Here is the bridegroom” (Good News Translation, New English Bible) or “The bridegroom is here” (Jerusalem Bible). Of course, the bridegroom was not there yet, and “The bridegroom is coming” or “Here comes the bridegroom” may be better. For some translators the indirect form may be more natural, as in “someone shouted that the bridegroom was coming and they should go out to meet him.”

To meet him translates a Greek prepositional phrase (literally “for meeting him”), which is found also in Acts 28.15 and 1 Thessalonians 4.17, as well as in some manuscripts of Matthew 27.32.

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 .