soldier

The Greek that is translated as “soldier” in English didn’t have a direct equivalent in Enlhet so it was translated with “those that bind us” (source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 24ff. ) and in Noongar it is mammarapa-bakadjiny or “men of fighting” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

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 28:12)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 28:12:

  • Uma: “The leading priests with the other elders of the Yahudi people took-counsel/made-plans. The decision of their words [was] that it would be better to give the soldiers lots of money to keep them quiet [lit., to cover their lips], so that they would talk around [about it].” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “So-then the elders and the leading priests gathered and they planned/discussed. When they had finished planning/discussing they gave much money to the soldiers” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And the chief priests, they discussed it with the elders, and then they gave the soldiers a large amount of money.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “So then the leaders of the priests and the elders had-a-meeting to make-an-agreement on what they were to do. What they decided to do, they bribed the soldiers with much money” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Those chiefs of the priests and important tribal leaders all got together to make arrangements. The outcome was that they gave those soldiers a lot of money.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “The priests then went to talk with the men who lead at the church to come to an agreement about what to do. They decided that they would give money to those soldiers who had seen that Jesus had resurrected.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 28:12

In Greek the subject of the verb had assembled is not indicated, though it is evidently “The chief priests” (Good News Translation) of verse 11. This information comes through clearly enough in Revised Standard Version, since the last persons mentioned in the previous verse happen to be the chief priests.

Taken counsel (Good News Translation “made their plan”) is the same construction used in 12.14.

A sum of money is translated “a large sum of money” by Good News Translation and New International Version, while New Jerusalem Bible has “a considerable sum of money.” With a slightly different but accurate emphasis, New English Bible translates “a substantial bribe,” and New American Bible “a large bribe.”

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 .