The Greek in Matthew 27:52 that is translated as “many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep” in English is translated in Matumbi as “many of those who died being accepted by God, they were raised.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
saint
The Greek that is translated as “saint” in English is rendered into Highland Puebla Nahuatl as “one with a clean hearts,” into Northwestern Dinka as “one with a white hearts,” and into Western Kanjobal as “person of prayer.” (Source: Nida 1952, p. 146)
Other translations include:
- Ixcatlán Mazatec: “follower of Jesus” (source: Robert Bascom)
- Tzeltal: “whom God possesses”
- Highland Totonac: “child of God”
- Isthmus Zapotec: “person of God”
- Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “one who believes in God”
- Yatzachi Zapotec: “clean-hearted person” (source for this and four above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
- Garifuna: “person consecrated to God”
- Isthmus Mixe: “one who believe God’s words”
- Ayutla Mixtec: “one of God’s”
- Tepeuxila Cuicatec: “person God has cleansed” (source for this and three above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
- Isthmus Zapotec: “God’s person”
- Mezquital Otomi: “God’s believer”
- Huehuetla Tepehua: “servant of God”
- Tzeltal: “one who belongs to God” (source for this and three above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
- Highland Totonac: “chosen” (Source: Herman Aschmann in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 171ff. )
- Kituba: “person of God” (if referring to a person) (source: Donald Deer in The Bible Translator 1973, p. 207ff. )
- Chichewa “(person with a) white heart” since “white” is the word that is used in Chichewa for the translation of “holy.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
complete verse (Matthew 27:52)
Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 27:52:
- Uma: “Many graves opened up, and many people with upright behavior long ago were made to live again.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “The burial caves also opened and many dead people who had believed in God lived again.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And there were burial caves that opened up at that time, and many believers in God came back to life.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “While-simultaneously the cemetery caves were-opened and many holy people of God who had died in the past came-to-life” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “Graves opened and many who had died who were straight/righteous in the sight of God were made alive.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
- Tenango Otomi: “The tombs in which the dead were, broke open. Many people who had believed in God resurrected.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Sung version of Matthew 27
Translation commentary on Matthew 27:52
This verse continues the sequence of events from verse 51. If translators have made God the agent of the earth shaking and rocks splitting, then for the tombs also were opened they may have either “and God also opened the tombs” or “and the tombs opened.”
Bodies is to be understood of the total person, viewed as a “body,” a meaning the noun “body” frequently has in Jewish thought. The translation must not suggest that a group of unanimated bodies came floating up out of the ground! Many bodies of the saints are then “the saints.”
Saints is literally “holy ones,” and the term may refer either to God’s people in general (Good News Translation “many of God’s people”) or else to a special category of devout Israelites who had died before Jesus’ day. Both Barclay and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch have the equivalent of Good News Bible, while several other translations specifically employ the other interpretation: “God’s saints” (New English Bible), “holy men” (Jerusalem Bible), and “holy people” (New International Version).
Fallen asleep may be used figuratively of “the sleep of death,” which is the basis for Good News Translation‘s “died.” In 28.13 the verb is used in its literal sense, though it is also used figuratively in other New Testament passages (for example, Acts 7.60; 1 Cor 7.39; 1 Thes 4.13, 14, 15).
Were raised also translates a Greek passive verb, which further suggests the activity of God himself. The full meaning is “were raised to life” (Good News Translation) or “God raised to life many of his chosen people who had died and were in their graves.”
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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