Scriptures Plain & Simple (Matthew 5:13-16)

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 6:13-16:

For everyone on this earth, you and you alone are salt!
       But if salt is no longer salty, it’s good only for gravel.
For everyone on this earth, you and you alone are light.
       You are a city on top of a hill and cannot be hidden.
Only a fool would light a lamp and place it under a bucket
       instead of on a lamp stand.
Keep your light shining! Let everyone see what you do,
       so they will praise your Father above.

Translation commentary on Matthew 5:16

This verse is closely related to verses 13-15. Before men echoes “by men” of verse 13, while light is a central theme both here and in verses 14-15.

Let your light so shine translates a third person imperative, which is difficult to express in many languages. Most contemporary English translations use some structure with “must” (see Good News Translation “your light must shine”) rather than the traditional Let of King James Version and Revised Standard Version. In many languages it may be necessary to switch either to a second person imperative (“Shine your light”) or to some other less difficult form (for example, “Be sure that your light shines”).

Your light may be “the light you produce,” “the light that shines from you,” or “the light you are.”

So means “in such a way.” Here it refers back to the lamp on the lampstand in verse 15. Good News Translation makes this clear with “In the same way.” Translators can also say “Similarly,” “Just so,” or “The light you produce should also be like that. Let it shine before people….”

Before men can be translated “so everyone can see it” or “for all to see.”

That they may see is the purpose of letting your light shine before people. Translations may use “in order that (or, so that) people can see.”

The Greek noun construction your good works is represented as a verb construction by Good News Translation: “the good things you do.” The focus now shifts from the character of the disciples to their good works which result from this character. What the disciples are must be evident to all, but in such a way that it reveals the true origin of the good works that they do. These works may be characterized as deeds of mercy and of reconciliation, a conclusion supported both by the Gospel itself (see 5.38-48; 25.31-46) and by the Jewish concept of good works. The phrase good works is found only one other time in Matthew’s Gospel; it appears in 26.10 in the singular “good work.” More frequently the expression “good fruit” is used (3.10; 7.17-19; 12.33). Your good works may be translated “your good actions” or “your good deeds.” Barclay has translated “the lovely things you do.”

Give glory to (Good News Translation “praise”) is similar to the expression used in 9.8 and 15.31, where the meaning is clearly “give praise to.” The thought is parallel to Isaiah 49.3 (“Israel, you are my servant; because of you, people will praise me”) and to the Testament of Naphtali 8.1 (“Do what is good, my children. Then men and angels will praise you, and God will be honored among the heathen”). But it contrasts with the thinking of the hypocrites, who perform their religious duties to receive praise from people (6.2).

When men see your good actions, they will give glory to your Father who is in heaven. “Men will see the good things you do and therefore praise your Father in heaven.” If there is not a good way of saying give glory to or “praise” in a language, it may be necessary to say “so that men will say good things about (or, will honor) your Father in heaven.”

Your Father who is in heaven and related expressions with “my” or “our” is used some twenty times in Matthew, but only once in Mark (11.25) and not at all in Luke. Evidently this reflects a common usage in Jewish rabbinical literature, as the commentators note.

The expression your Father who is in heaven is not necessarily understood by all readers to refer to God. Translators can say “God, who is your Father in heaven” or “God, your Father who lives (or, stays) in heaven.” We have mentioned before that there are cultures where it would not be normal to use figures of speech such as “father” when speaking of God. The phrase is then understood literally, which may further disturb the readers who react against the idea of God having human offspring. Or they might assume that “father in heaven” refers to one’s dead ancestor. In either case, a simile may be helpful, as in “God who is like a father to you,” “God who created you and cares for you like a father,” or “God in heaven whom you call your Father.”

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 5:16

5:16a

In the same way: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as In the same way indicates that 5:16 is similar to what precedes. A lamp should be put on a stand so that everyone can see the light and be helped by it (5:15b). Similarly Jesus’ disciples should do good deeds so that everyone can see them and praise God (5:16a).

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

Like the lamp (Revised English Bible)
-or-
Likewise
-or-
Similarly

let your light shine before men: The clause let your light shine is a metaphor. In this metaphor, Jesus compared the good deeds of his disciples to the light of a lamp. One way that they are similar is that both should be seen. Neither should be hidden.

Here are some other ways to translate this metaphor:

• Keep the metaphor, but make explicit the meaning of light. For example:

let your good deeds shine out for all to see (New Living Translation (2004))

• Change the metaphor to a simile and make parts of it explicit. For example:

like a light that shines before people is visible/seen, let your good deeds be visible
-or-

⌊just as⌋ people see that light, in that same way make sure that people see the good way that you live/behave

• Translate the meaning without the figure of speech. For example:

do your good works/behavior openly

before men: The Greek preposition that the Berean Standard Bible translates as before can also be translated as “in the sight of” or “in the presence of.”

The word men is general and refers to people, both men and women as in 5:13c.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

in people’s sight (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
in the presence of others

5:16b

that: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as that here indicates that 5:16b is the purpose for believers to shine their light before men (5:16a).

Here are some other ways to translate this conjunction:

so that (English Standard Version)
-or-
in order that
-or-
for the purpose that

they may see your good deeds: The phrase your good deeds means “the good things that you have done.”

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

the good things you do (Good News Translation)
-or-
your good works (English Standard Version)

5:16c

and glorify: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as glorify means “speak well about someone” or “honor someone.” Here it refers to giving praise to God.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

give honor to (NET Bible)
-or-
praise (New International Version)

your Father in heaven: In this verse, Jesus speaks of God as your Father. In some languages, that would imply that God was only the Father of those to whom Jesus was speaking, but not Jesus’ Father. If that is so in your language, you may want to translate this phrase as:

our(incl.) Father who ⌊lives⌋ in heaven

-or-

our(incl.) Father. ⌊He lives⌋ in heaven.

© 2023 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.