high priest

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “high priest” in English is translated as “the ruler of the priests of our nation” in Yatzachi Zapotec, as “very great priest” in Chol (source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.), as “first over the priests” in Ayutla Mixtec, and “chief of the priests” in Desano (source for this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.).

In Uma it is translated as “Big Priest,” in Western Bukidnon Manobo as “high sacrificer,” and in Tagbanwa as “Most-important Priest of God.” (See here.)

See also priest and chief priest.

elder (of the community)

The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated as “elders” in English is translated in the Danish Bibelen 2020 as folkets ledere or “leaders of the people.”

Martin Ehrensvärd, one of the translators, explains: “The term ‘elder’ turned out to pose a particularly thorny problem. In traditional bibles, you can find elders all of over the place and they never pose a problem for a translator, they are just always elders. But how to find a contemporary term for this semi-official, complex position? This may have been our longest-standing problem. A couple of times we thought we had the solution, and then implemented it throughout the texts, only to find out that it didn’t work. Like when we used city council or village council, depending on the context. In the end we felt that the texts didn’t work with such official terms, and throughout the years in the desert, these terms didn’t make much sense. Other suggestions were ‘the eldest and wisest’, ‘the respected citizens’, ‘the Israelites with a certain position in society’, ‘the elder council’ –- and let me point out that these terms sound better in Danish than in English (‘de fremtrædende borgere,’ ‘de mest fremtrædende israelitter,’ ‘alle israelitter med en vis position,’ ‘de ældste og de klogeste,’ ‘ældsterådet’). In the end we just said ‘leaders of the people.’ After a lot of hand-wringing, it turned out that we actually found a term that worked well. So, we had to give up conveying the fact that they were old, but the most important point is that they were community leaders.” (Source: Ehrensvärd in HIPHIL Novum 8/2023, p. 81ff. )

The German das Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022) translates likewise as “leader of the people” (Anführer des Volkes).

complete verse (Matthew 26:3)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 26:3:

  • Uma: “At that time, the leading priests and the Yahudi elders gathered in the house of the Big Priest who was named Kayafas.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “So-then the leaders of the priests and the elders gathered there in the palace of Kayapas, the leading priest.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And then the chief priests and elders of the Jews, they got together in the palace of Caiaphas who was the high priest.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Right when Jesus was saying that, the leaders of the priests and the elders (lit. fathers) gathered at the house of Caifas the highest priest” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “At that time, there in the house of the Most-important Priest who was Caifas, all the chiefs of the priests and important tribal-leaders were gathered.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “The chief priests, and the teachers of the law and the men who lead the Jews all gathered at the house of Caiaphas, the one who was the first priest.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 26:3

The scene now shifts to the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, a detail not mentioned by Mark and Luke. John also notes that Caiaphas was High Priest at this time (11.49), but elsewhere Luke (3.2; Acts 4.6) states that Annas was the High Priest. The confusion is probably due to the fact that Annas was deposed as High Priest in A.D. 15 and replaced by Caiaphas in A.D. 18. However, Annas did not die until A.D. 36, and until his death he is said to have retained a great deal of power and influence among the Jews.

It is important that readers see that verse 3 is a new episode. Then is not Jesus still talking, nor does it relate what he said in verse 2 to the fact that the chief priests and elders met to plot to kill him. Barclay has “It was then,” but “At that time” may be good too.

The chief priests and the elders of the people differs slightly from Mark (14.1) and Luke (22.2), which have “the chief priests and the scribes.” See comment at verse 47. Chief priests was discussed at 2.4. For elders of the people, see 16.21, although there of the people does not appear. High priest can be translated as the “the leader of the priests.”

Palace poses a problem for some translators, since this word is often used only for the house of a king or chief. In that case one can say simply “the house of (or, for) the leader of the priests.”

The identification of the High Priest, who was called Caiaphas, may need to be a separate sentence: “The High Priest was (named) Caiaphas.”

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 .