The Greek magoi originally referred to Persian Zoroastrian “priests who were experts in astrology and in the interpretation of dreams. But the word may also be used in a derogatory sense of ‘magician’ or ‘charlatan,’ a meaning which it has in its only other New Testament occurrences outside Matthew’s nativity narrative (Acts 13:6,8). Matthew most likely has Babylonian astrologers in mind.” (Source: Newman / Stine; see also this interview .)
While most English translations either transliterate this as “magi” or translate it as “wise men,” most German versions (with the exceptions of Luther and Menge [publ. 1909]) use Sterndeuter, an old-fashioned term for astrologer. The Pfälzisch translation by Walter Sauer (publ. 2012) uses Sternegugger, also an old-fashioned term for astrologer with the verbatim meaning of “star watchers.”
In Luxembourgish, it is translated as weis Astronomen or “wise astronomers.” (Source: Zetzsche)
In Kwakum it is translated as “guardians of religious rites who look up at the starts to see the things to come” or “guardians of religions rites.” (Source: Stacey Hare in this post )
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 2:7:
Uma: “When Herodes heard those words, he quietly called those people who knew how to look at stars to meet with him, so that other people would not know. He asked them when that star had first appeared.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “When Herod heard this, he sent word and told those men from the east to come, and he talked to them privately (lit. just them). He asked them as to when they had seen the star appear. They told him.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Then after he had heard this, Herod called the star-gazers who had arrived. And when the only ones with him were the star gazers, he asked when that star which they had seen appeared.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Then Herod had-(someone)-call those-aforementioned wise/skilled-ones in telling the meaning of the stars so that they could talk with him alone, and he found-out from them the exact time that the star appeared (lit. came-out).” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “When those ones he’d called together had left, the next ones Herodes caused to go to him without anyone knowing were those wise-people/thinkers who had arrived. For he asked them privately just when that star they mentioned had risen.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Now this Herod secretly called to himself the men who had been asking the question, those who said that they knew how the stars moved. Herod asked them what time the star first appeared.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Barclay Newman, a translator on the teams for both the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version, translated passages of the New Testament into English and published them in 2014, “in a publication brief enough to be non-threatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and un-believers alike.” The following is the translation of Matthew 2:1-12:
They came from the east when Herod was king in Judea.
They were authorities themselves, authorities about stars, and they asked in Jerusalem,
“Where is the child born to be king of your nation?
In the east we saw the star that signaled his birth,
and we have come to worship him.”
This news worried King Herod and everyone else in town.
So Herod called together the religious authorities and asked,
“Where is this new king supposed to be born?”
They replied, “In Bethlehem, just as the prophet wrote:
‘Bethlehem — so important in Judea—from you will come
One with absolute authority over God’s flock.’”
Herod was sly, and after he had sent for the star-authorities,
he said, “Go to Bethlehem and return with all the details,
so I can worship this new king.”
The eastern authorities followed the star
until it had settled over the child’s home —
they were overwhelmed with joy…
When they entered the house,
they saw him with Mary his mother.
So they knelt down and worshiped the child,
placing at his feet the treasures they had brought.
Later — after being warned in a dream –
they returned home by a different route.
Then (Good News Translation “So”) translates a particle which Matthew uses some ninety times. It is usually translated “then” but has a number of different functions, depending upon the context in which it is used. New English Bible translates “Next,” while New American Bible leaves the force of the particle implicit in the text. There are languages where one of these English solutions to Then will be acceptable, but many others will need a transitional phrase such as “When (or, After) Herod heard that….”
The wise men is here translated “the visitors from the East” by Good News Translation, though it was translated in verse 1 by Good News Bible as “some men who studied the stars.” This is merely an attempt to avoid the use of the technical term “astrologers” and at the same time to find a phrase which fits in naturally with English discourse structure. Similarly other translators should use a phrase that is natural in the discourse of their language, one that clearly shows these are the same wise men as in verse 1. It may be necessary to repeat the phrase used there, but translators may also say “those wise men,” “those men who were seeking the newborn king,” or “those men who studied the stars.”
Summoned … secretly is restructured by Good News Translation to read “called … to a secret meeting.” New Jerusalem Bible translates “Then Herod summoned the wise men to see him privately,” and New English Bible has “Herod next called the astrologers to meet him in private.” Summoned … secretly has been translated by some in such a way that it seems Herod called the wise men to a meeting no one else knew about. This may be true, but generally the emphasis is on the fact that no one else was there, as in “Herod asked the wise men to come to a meeting at which no one else was present” or “… to meet with him by himself.”
Ascertained (so also New English Bible) translates a Greek verb used only here and in verse 16 in the New Testament. As Revised Standard Version indicates, the time is object of the verb, and since the idea of “exactness” is actually contained in the verb itself, Good News Translation renders “found out … the exact time.” Barclay translates “carefully questioned them” without stating explicitly that Herod learned the information. An American Translation, Phillips, New American Bible have the same wording as Good News Bible. One standard lexicon suggests the meaning “inquire carefully” for this passage. Some translators will use a phrase such as “asked them about what time the star appeared” or “about the time when the star appeared.” But others will be closer to Good News Bible with phrases such as “learned from them when the star appeared.”
In many languages it will be more natural to use direct discourse, as in “Herod asked them, ‘Exactly when did the star appear?’ ” or “… ‘Tell me all about the time when the star appeared.’ ”
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 .
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