complete verse (Matthew 27:8)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 27:8:

  • Uma: “That’s why that land is called Land of Blood until this time.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Therefore that (piece of) land is called ‘Blood Land’ until now, because the money for buying it was wages for killing.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Therefore they named that land Land of Blood, which is to say, Land Bought with money paid to kill a person.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Therefore that land, it is called/designated the Land that was Paid-for with Blood until today.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “That’s why that land is called by them Land/ground of Blood to this day.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Therefore this land was called Blood.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 27:8

That field has been called may have to be transformed into an active sentence: “People call that field.”

Field of Blood was the name given to potter’s field following its purchase with “blood money” received by Judas. For a different explanation of Field of Blood, see Acts 1.19, where the name is derived from the spilling of Judas’ blood on that field.

To this day refers to the time when Matthew was writing, but translators cannot say something like “up to the time this book was written,” since their task is to translate what Matthew said to his own audience.

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 .