Scriptures Plain & Simple (Matthew 5:2-12)

Barclay Newman, a translator on the teams for both the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version, translated passages of the New Testament into English and published them in 2014, “in a publication brief enough to be non-threatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and un-believers alike.” The following is the translation of Matthew 5:2-12:

Trust God absolutely — though you have nothing to offer —
       God is the Great Rewarder!

Hurt with those who hurt — God is the Gracious Comforter!

Humility is the pathway to victory –- God is the Generous Giver!
       And the earth will be given to those who are humble.

Above all else, hunger and thirst to obey God — you will be satisfied.

Mercy for mercy — Show mercy, and God will be merciful to you.

Purity of heart and mind opens eyes to see God —
       and this perfect vision can be yours.

Do you want to become a child of God? Make peace, not war!

Don’t give up, even if you’ve been mistreated for doing right!
       God remains the Great Rewarder!

When others insult you or mistreat you or tell evil lies about you,
       because you belong to God, don’t worry or whimper!
In heaven God will reward you greatly — after all, don’t you recall
       this was the fate of prophets long ago?

Translation commentary on Matthew 5:10

Theirs is the kingdom of heaven occurs in both the first and the eighth beatitudes. This signals the beginning and the end of a section, and it is an example of a literary device known as “inclusion,” found elsewhere as well in Matthew. One can easily see the differences between the form of these beatitudes and the form of the last one, verses 11-12.

Are persecuted translates a perfect participle in Greek, which suggests that as Matthew writes, the church of his day is suffering persecution. Most translations, such as Good News Translation: (“who are persecuted”), give something of a timeless force to the participle; only Phillips and New English Bible take seriously the perfect tense (“who have suffered persecution”). Are persecuted is often translated “receive suffering,” so that this phrase can be “the people whom other people make suffer (or, persecute).” (Of course, any of these can be rendered as past or future if translators prefer those interpretations.)

For righteousness’ sake is translated “because they do what God requires” by Good News Translation. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch and Bible en français courant translate as Good News Translation does, and Barclay renders “for their loyalty to God’s way of life.” Other translations are similar: New English Bible “for the cause of right”; New American Bible “for holiness’ sake” (with note: “fidelity to the divine precepts through which holiness is attained is deepened by the test of persecution”); Jerusalem Bible “in the cause of right” and Moffatt “for the sake of goodness!” (Phillips “for the cause of goodness”). See comments at 3.15 and 5.6 on “righteousness.” Many translations have had “because they do what is right” as a translation of for righteousness’ sake. But as we pointed out above, what is right is in fact that which conforms to God’s will, so that the phrase can also be as in Good News Translation, “because they do what God requires,” or “because their lives are right before God,” or “because they live as God wants people to.”

See Matthew 5.3 for comments on theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

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 5:10

5:10a

Blessed are: For help in translating the word Blessed, see the note at 5:3a.

those who are persecuted because of righteousness: This clause refers to people who do what God says is right, and for that reason other people persecute them.

persecuted: The word persecuted means “deliberately harm someone,” “mistreat someone” or “cause someone to suffer.”

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

mistreated
-or-
caused to suffer
-or-
oppressed
-or-
harmed on purpose

because of righteousness: The phrase because of righteousness indicates the reason for the persecution. It is because God’s people do what is good or right.

Here are some other ways to translate because of righteousness:

for doing good (New Century Version)
-or-
because they do what is right
-or-
for doing what God approves of (God’s Word)
-or-
because they do what God requires (Good News Translation)

The word righteousness also occurs in 5:6a. You should translate it in a similar way here.

Here is another way to translate this verse part:

God blesses those people who are treated badly for doing right (Contemporary English Version)

5:10b

for: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as for introduces the reason that the “those who are persecuted because of righteousness” are blessed. They are blessed because the kingdom of heaven belongs to them. For example:

because the kingdom of heaven belongs to them (New Century Version)

In some languages, no conjunction is necessary here. For example:

The kingdom of heaven belongs to them. (God’s Word)

In other languages, it will be more natural to put 5:10b before 5:10a. For example:

Those who are persecuted because of righteousness have the kingdom of heaven, ⌊so⌋ they are blessed.
-or-
The kingdom of heaven is for those who are persecuted because of righteousness, ⌊so⌋ they are blessed.

theirs is the kingdom of heaven: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as theirs is the kingdom of heaven is exactly the same clause as in 5:3b. You should translate this clause here as you did there.

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