Translation commentary on Matthew 3:7

Verses 7-10 agree word for word with Luke 3.7-9, except for the introduction in verse 7 and a few minor changes (Matthew “fruit” for Luke “fruits” in verse 8, and Matthew “do not presume to say” for Luke “do not begin to say” of verse 9). Both Matthew and Luke reproduce in the same way what John the Baptist said, but they direct his message to two entirely different audiences. According to Luke (3.7-9), God’s wrath is directed against all Israel, whereas Matthew makes a distinction within Israel: God’s wrath is directed against the Pharisees and Sadducees. The TEV word list provides a description of these two religious groups. For Matthew both are “representative of disbelief and opposition to Jesus.” And it is probably best to agree with those scholars who conclude that these two groups in Matthew’s Gospel represent the collective leadership of Israel in its opposition against Jesus.

The important thing in translating Pharisees is to indicate to readers that they were members of a group or sect. Too often the translation makes it seem they were people from some place called “Pharisee.” Thus translators can say “Many people from the group Pharisee” or “Many members of the religious group that is called Pharisee.” Where the Pharisees are mentioned several times in the passage, it should not be necessary to use such a complete translation in every place. After the first occurrence it may be sufficient to say “Pharisees” or “Pharisee people” in the rest of the passage.

Similarly with Sadducees, “members from the group Sadducee” or “people from the religious group Sadducee” are common translations.

For both Sadducees and Pharisees, it is important to have a fuller definition in a word list.

The Greek word construction for baptism means “in order to be baptized” or “in order to get themselves baptized.” It can be translated as “coming to him to be baptized,” “coming to him so he would baptize them,” or “coming to receive the baptism he was giving.” These phrases make it explicit that it was John’s baptism they were seeking.

You brood of vipers!: John addresses his audience in words that are sharper than those of any Old Testament prophet. So sharp are his words that elsewhere in Matthew’s Gospel (12.34; 23.33) only Jesus himself uses them. The employment of such a figure of speech is almost without parallel, although the group of pious Jews who withdrew to the desert did refer to the “dragon’s venom and viper’s poison” of unfaithful Israelites. According to the Old Testament and Israelite popular thought, the snake is the most cunning of all beasts, a demonic creature who leads people astray (Gen 3.1; Job 20.16; Psa 58.4; 140.3; Sirach 39.30).

Many translators try to translate brood of vipers literally as “family (or, group) of vipers.” If there are no vipers in their area, they substitute some other venomous snake. However, it is better to recognize that John is using a metaphor to call the Pharisees and Sadducees clever and wicked deceivers, hypocrites who lead people astray. It is more important in the translation to have something that is insulting and vivid than to have a literal translation of brood of vipers. It may be enough to say “You snakes” or “You deceiving snakes.” In some cases a simile can be used, as in “You are like a bunch of wicked (or, clever) snakes” or “You are as clever as snakes.”

Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? is rendered somewhat more dynamically by Good News Translation: “who told you that you could escape from the punishment God is about to send?” Both Who and you are emphatic, and “the tone is one of ironical surprise,” so one commentator notes, and he translates “Can it actually be the case that you have been persuaded to believe that the divine judgment is near, and stirred to endeavor to escape from it?” The notion of “could escape” (Good News Translation) or “endeavor to escape” is not explicitly marked out in the Greek text, but it is clearly implicit in the overall context.

It is important in translation to realize that Who warned you is a rhetorical question. It is not asking for information about who it was that actually warned the Pharisees and Sadducees, or how they came to learn of the impending judgment. Further, the literal expression in English can give the impression that someone told them that they should try to escape. Rather, as we pointed out above, the phrase is actually expressing ironical surprise: “Where did you get the idea God’s judgment is near? What roused you to escape it?”

Although the phrase the wrath to come does not mention God by name, the wrath refers to God’s wrath. All commentators agree that this is the meaning, and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has made it explicit: “the imminent judgment of God.” It is important not to speak of the wrath of God and the emotion of anger as if they were the same thing. Although God is totally and constantly opposed to evil, what is indicated is not God’s anger, but rather the reaction of a holy and loving God toward sin which defiles and destroys his creation. This always results in judgment. Thus the sentence can be translated “Where did you get the idea you needed to escape the punishment God will bring soon?” or “What? You, too, have decided you need a way to escape God’s judgment?” or “I’m surprised to see you have decided you need to escape the punishment God will carry out.”

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Matthew 3:7

Paragraph 3:7–10

In this paragraph, John the Baptist spoke to the Pharisees and Sadducees.

3:7a

But when John saw: Verse 3:7 introduces John’s reaction to the Pharisees and Sadducees. His reaction to them contrasts with his reaction to other people who came to be baptized. Some versions indicate this contrast with the word But. Other versions have no conjunction here. For example:

When John saw (Good News Translation)

the Pharisees: The word Pharisees refers to men who were members of a particular Jewish religious group. The Pharisees believed that it was necessary to strictly obey all the laws of the Old Testament. It was also very important to them to carefully obey many other religious laws that they added. They also said that other people must obey these laws.

The Pharisees along with the Sadducees were the two most influential religious groups of the time. There were many more Pharisees than Sadducees.

Some ways to translate Pharisees are:

• Transliterate the word Pharisees according to the sounds of your language and indicate that it refers to a group of people. For example:

Farisi members
-or-
Parise adherents

• Transliterate the word Pharisees and indicate that it refers to a group of people with certain beliefs. For example:

people belonging to the Farise religious sect/group
-or-
members of the Jewish group called the Farasi

You may also want to explain the word Pharisees in a footnote or glossary. A sample footnote is:

The Pharisees were a conservative Jewish religious group. They carefully followed the Old Testament laws and added other rules as well. They were the dominant religious group among the Jews and were highly respected by other Jews.

Sadducees: The word Sadducees refers to men who were members of another Jewish religious group. They believed that people must follow the laws in the Old Testament and not add other rules. They did not believe that God would bring people back to life again after they died (Matthew 22:23). They also did not believe that angels or spirits existed (Acts 23:8). They also accepted some ideas held by the Greeks. Many Sadducees were priests.

The Sadducees along with the Pharisees were the two most influential religious groups of the time. Even though they were a much smaller group than the Pharisees, the Sadducees were wealthy and more politically important.

Here are some ways to translate Sadducees:

• Transliterate the word Sadducees according to the sounds of your language and indicate that it refers to a group of people. For example:

Sadusi members
-or-
Saduce adherents

• Transliterate the word Sadducees and indicate that it refers to a group of people with certain beliefs. For example:

people belonging to the Sadusi religious group
-or-
members of the Jewish group called the Saduce

You may also want to explain the word Sadducees in a footnote or glossary. Here is a sample footnote:

The Sadducees were another Jewish religious group. They claimed to follow only the laws in the Old Testament because they added no other rules. But they did not believe in angels or spirits or in the resurrection from the dead. They also accepted some Greek ideas. They were a small group but had much political power. They usually were wealthy.

coming to his place of baptism: There are two ways to interpret the Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible literally translates as coming to his place of baptism:

(1) They were coming for John to baptize them. For example:

coming to him to be baptized (Good News Translation)

(Good News Translation, Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Standard Bible, New Living Translation (1996), Revised English Bible, God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

(2) They were coming to where John was baptizing, but they were not necessarily coming so that they themselves could be baptized. For example:

coming to watch him baptize (New Living Translation (2004))

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, New Century Version, NET Bible, English Standard Version, King James Version, New Living Translation (2004))

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) as do the majority of the English versions. The parallel passage in Luke 3:7 also supports this interpretation.

See also baptize, Meaning 1, in the Glossary for information on the word baptism.

3:7b

You brood of vipers: The word vipers refers to poisonous snakes. Another name for this type of snakes is “adders.” The phrase brood of vipers means “children/offspring of poisonous snakes.”

This phrase is a metaphor. In this metaphor, John compared the Pharisees and Sadducees to a brood of vipers. John used this metaphor to criticize the Pharisees and Sadducees.

The way that these men and snakes are similar is that both are evil and dangerous.

Here are some other ways to translate this metaphor:

• Use a simile. In some languages, it may be necessary to make the point of comparison clear. For example:

You (plur.) are ⌊as evil/dangerous as⌋ a group of vipers!

• Translate the metaphor but leave the word brood untranslated. John was not saying that the people were young or childlike. So some English translations do not explicitly translate the word brood. For example:

You snakes (Good News Translation)

• Translate the meaning without a simile or metaphor. For example:

You (plur.) dangerous hypocrites!
-or-
You (plur.) wicked people!

• Use a simile and explain the meaning. For example:

You evil people! You are like poisonous snakes.

If calling someone a poisonous snake is not an insult in your culture, you may also need to add a word to “John said to them.” For example:

John ⌊insulted/criticized⌋ them by saying

3:7c

who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?: This is a rhetorical question. John asked this question to rebuke the Pharisees and Sadducees. He implied that the only reason that they wanted to be baptized was so that God would not punish them in the future. John also implied that they did not really intend to repent of their sins.

Here are some other ways to translate this rebuke:

• As a rhetorical question. For example:

Who warned you to run away from God’s coming punishment? (New Century Version)
-or-

⌊Why are you here?⌋ Do you think that you can flee from the coming judgment?

• As a statement. For example:

⌊Ah ha!⌋ ⌊So⌋ someone has told you to try to escape God’s wrath!

Translate this rebuke in a way that is natural in your language.

flee: The word flee means “run away from something” or “try to avoid/escape something.” For example:

run from (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
run away from (New Century Version)
-or-
escape (Good News Translation)
-or-
try to avoid

the coming wrath: The word wrath means “anger” or “the punishment that comes as a consequence of someone’s anger.” In this context, the phrase the coming wrath refers to the fact that God will judge and punish people because of their rebellious attitudes and their sins.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

the coming judgment (Contemporary English Version)

-or-

God’s coming punishment (New Century Version)

In some languages, it may be necessary to translate this phrase as a clause. It may also be necessary to change the order of the words in 3:7c. For example:

God is angry at you and will punish you. Who warned you to flee from that?

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