9Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of the one on whom a price had been set, on whom some of the people of Israel had set a price,
Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 27:9:
Uma: “By doing that, what was fulfilled by the prophet Yeremia long ago was fulfilled, it goes like this [lit., like this its sound]: ‘According to the custom of the Israel people, the price of aslave is thirty silver coins. So, they took thirty silver coins,” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “So-then the words of Nabi Jeremiya were fulfilled which were written in the holy-book, it says, ‘They took the thirty pieces of hard money, that is the value the people of Isra’il agreed on,” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And that fulfilled the prophesy long ago of the inspired one of God, Jeremiah, because he said, ‘They took the thirty pieces of money which was his value agreed upon by the people who were descendants of Israel,” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “And that was the fulfillment of what Jeremias prophesied saying, ‘They took the thirty silver-coins agreed-on by some of the descendants of Israel as being their correct payment for him,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “In that what was said by a prophet in the past who was Jeremias was fulfilled, which said, ‘They took this thirty, which was the price the Israelita put on him,” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Thus happened according to the word spoken by the prophet Jeremiah who had said: ‘They took thirty monies of silver. This is the wage the Jews decided to pay.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Eugene Nida wrote the following about the translation of the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek terms that are typically translated with “prophet” in English:
“The tendency in many translations is to use ‘to foretell the future’ for ‘prophesy,’ and ‘one who foretells the future’ for ‘prophet.’ This is not always a recommended usage, particularly if such expressions denote certain special native practices of spirit contact and control. It is true, of course, that prophets of the Bible did foretell the future, but this was not always their principal function. One essential significance of the Greek word prophētēs is ‘one who speaks forth,’ principally, of course, as a forth-teller of the Divine will. A translation such as ‘spokesman for God’ may often be employed profitably.” (1947, p. 234f.)
Following is a list of (back-) translations from other languages (click or tap for details):
Ayutla Mixtec: “one who talks as God’s representative”
Isthmus Mixe: “speaker for God” (source for this and two above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
Mezquital Otomi / Paasaal: “God’s messenger” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff. and Fabian N. Dapila in The Bible Translator 2024, p. 415ff.)
Noongar: Warda Marridjiny or “News Traveling” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
Kutu: mtula ndagu or “one who gives the prediction of the past and the future” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
French 1985 translation by Chouraqui: inspiré or “inspired one” (“someone in whom God has breathed [Latin: in + spiro]) (source: Watson 2023, p. 45)
In Ixcatlán Mazatec a term is used that specifically includes women. (Source: Robert Bascom)
“In some instances these spiritual terms result from adaptations reflecting the native life and culture. Among the Northern Grebo people of Liberia, a missionary wanted some adequate term for ‘prophet,’ and she was fully aware that the native word for ‘soothsayer’ or ‘diviner’ was no equivalent for the Biblical prophet who spoke forth for God. Of course, much of what the prophets said referred to the future, and though this was an essential part of much of their ministry, it was by no means all. The right word for the Gbeapo people would have to include something which would not only mean the foretelling of important events but the proclamation of truth as God’s representative among the people. At last the right word came; it was ‘God’s town-crier.’ Every morning and evening the official representative of the chief goes through the village crying out the news, delivering the orders of the chief, and announcing important coming events. ‘God’s town-crier’ would be the official representative of God, announcing to the people God’s doings, His commands, and His pronouncements for their salvation and well-being. For the Northern Grebo people the prophet is no weird person from forgotten times; he is as real as the human, moving message of the plowman Amos, who became God’s town-crier to a calloused people.” (source: Nida 1952, p. 20)
In British Sign Language it is is translated with a sign that depicts a message coming from God to a person (the upright finger) and then being passed on to others. (Source: Anna Smith)
“Prophet” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah translates the same words used in 2.17; it is the last in the series of quotation formulas found in the Gospel (see 1.22). One way to express it here is “When this happened it made come true what the prophet Jeremiah had said would happen. He said….” The text is composite, and in this regard the New Jerusalem Bible footnote is instructive:
Actually this is a free quotation from Z[echariah] 11.12-13 combined with the idea of the purchase of a field, an idea suggested by J[eremiah] 32.6-15. This, plus the fact that Jeremiah speaks of potters (18.2f) who lived in the Hakeldama District (19.1f), explains how the whole text could by approximation be attributed to Jeremiah.
They took represents a form in Greek which may also be translated “I took” (New English Bible footnote), the meaning it has in the Septuagint of Zechariah 11.13. Except for the alternative wording of New English Bible, the third person plural form they took is preferred by all translations.
The price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel is a laboriously literal rendering. Many others also retain a form similar to that of the Greek text, but New American Bible (“a price set by the Israelites”) and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch (“what he was worth to the Israelites”) effectively eliminate the unnecessary repetition. New International Version has “the price set on him by the people of Israel,” which is close to Good News Translation: “the amount the people of Israel had agreed to pay for him.” Of course, the text says some of the sons, so that “some of the people” or “some of those people who were Israelites” may be better.
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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