altar

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The Greek, Latin and Hebrew that is translated as “altar” in English is translated in a number of ways:

  • Obolo: ntook or “raised structure for keeping utensils (esp. sacrifice)” (source: Enene Enene)
  • Muna: medha kaefoampe’a or “offering table” (source: René van den Berg)
  • Luchazi: muytula or “the place where one sets the burden down”/”the place where the life is laid down” (source: E. Pearson in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 160ff. )
  • Tzotzil: “where they place God’s gifts” (source: John Beekman in Notes on Translation, March 1965, p. 2ff.)
  • Tsafiki: “table for giving to God” (source: Bruce Moore in Notes on Translation 1/1992, p. 1ff.)
  • Noongar: karla-kooranyi or “sacred fire” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uma: “offering-burning table” (source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “place for sacrificing” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “burning-place” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tibetan: mchod khri (མཆོད་​ཁྲི།) or “offering throne” (source: gSungrab website )
  • Bura-Pabir: “sacrifice mound” (source: Andy Warrren-Rothlin)
  • Kalanga: “fireplace of sacrifice” (source: project-specific notes in Paratext)
The Ignaciano translators decided to translate the difficult term in that language according to the focus of each New Testament passage in which the word appears (click or tap here to see the rest of this insight

Willis Ott (in Notes on Translation 88/1982, p. 18ff.) explains:

  • Matt. 5:23,24: “When you take your offering to God, and arriving, you remember…, do not offer your gift yet. First go to your brother…Then it is fitting to return and offer your offering to God.” (The focus is on improving relationships with people before attempting to improve a relationship with God, so the means of offering, the altar, is not focal.)
  • Matt. 23:18 (19,20): “You also teach erroneously: ‘If someone makes a promise, swearing by the offering-place/table, he is not guilty if he should break the promise. But if he swears by the gift that he put on the offering-place/table, he will be guilty if he breaks the promise.'”
  • Luke 1:11: “…to the right side of the table where they burn incense.”
  • Luke 11.51. “…the one they killed in front of the temple (or the temple enclosure).” (The focus is on location, with overtones on: “their crime was all the more heinous for killing him there”.)
  • Rom. 11:3: “Lord, they have killed all my fellow prophets that spoke for you. They do not want anyone to give offerings to you in worship.” (The focus is on the people’s rejection of religion, with God as the object of worship.)
  • 1Cor. 9:13 (10:18): “Remember that those that attend the temple have rights to eat the foods that people bring as offerings to God. They have rights to the meat that the people offer.” (The focus is on the right of priests to the offered food.)
  • Heb. 7:13: “This one of whom we are talking is from another clan. No one from that clan was ever a priest.” (The focus in on the legitimacy of this priest’s vocation.)
  • Jas. 2:21: “Remember our ancestor Abraham, when God tested him by asking him to give him his son by death. Abraham was to the point of stabbing/killing his son, thus proving his obedience.” (The focus is on the sacrifice as a demonstration of faith/obedience.)
  • Rev. 6:9 (8:3,5; 9:13; 14:18; 16:7): “I saw the souls of them that…They were under the table that holds God’s fire/coals.” (This keeps the concepts of: furniture, receptacle for keeping fire, and location near God.)
  • Rev. 11:1: “Go to the temple, Measure the building and the inside enclosure (the outside is contrasted in v. 2). Measure the burning place for offered animals. Then count the people who are worshiping there.” (This altar is probably the brazen altar in a temple on earth, since people are worshiping there and since outside this area conquerors are allowed to subjugate for a certain time.)

See also altar (Acts 17:23).


In the Hebraic English translation of Everett Fox it is translated as slaughter-site and likewise in the German translation by Buber / Rosenzweig as Schlachtstatt.

brother (fellow believer)

The Greek that is translated in English as “brother” or “brother and sister” (in the sense of fellow believers), is translated with a specifically coined word in Kachin: “There are two terms for brother in Kachin. One is used to refer to a Christian brother. This term combines ‘older and younger brother.’ The other term is used specifically for addressing siblings. When one uses this term, one must specify if the older or younger person is involved. A parallel system exists for ‘sister’ as well. In [these verses], the term for ‘a Christian brother’ is used.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae)

In Matumbi is is translated as alongo aumini or “relative-believer.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)

In Martu Wangka it is translated as “relative” (this is also the term that is used for “follower.”) (Source: Carl Gross)

In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is often translated as Mitchristen or “fellow Christians.”

See also brothers.

complete verse (Matthew 5:24)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 5:24:

  • Uma: “first leave/let-go-of our worship-gift in front of the worship-gift burning table, go back to make-up [lit., make-reciprocally-good]. Only after that, come back to offer our worship-gift to God.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “go first and be reconciled with your companion, and then go back to worship.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “just leave that which you are sacrificing for a while and go and find your companion so that you (pl.) might settle it. And when you have settled it, come back, and then you will be able to sacrifice to God.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “you (sing.) must leave-behind your (sing.) offering in front of the altar (Eng./Ilo. loan) to first go make-peace-with your (sing.) companion, then you (sing.) return to offer your (sing.) gift to God.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “leave for now this which you have brought. Go first to him and you (pl.) get-fixed-up (i.e. put things right between you). If/when you (pl.) have become reconciled (to each other), then return to what you (sing.) brought which is your thank-offering to God.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Rather leave your sacrifice there at the altar, go back and make peace with your brother. Then you can return and present your sacrifice.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Scriptures Plain & Simple (Matthew 5:21-26)

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 5:21-26:

y´The Bible says, “Don’t murder!” and “Condemn a murderer!”
But I condemn you for being angry and hating someone
       or for calling anyone a worthless nobody —
Do this, and you will be doomed and in danger of hell!

When you kneel to worship God, try to remember —
       Is someone angry with you?
If so, forget about worship, until you run and make peace!

Has someone accused you of doing wrong?
Hurry and settle the matter
       before you are thrown into prison and impoverished.

Translation commentary on Matthew 5:24

Leave your gift must not be translated in a way that would give the impression it was left as a sacrifice. On the contrary, the instruction is to not complete the offering. This can be “put your gift aside in front of the altar” or “leave your gift in front of the altar without offering it to God.”

Go can be “go from there,” but it is probably better to combine it with the next clause, as in “go find your brother” or “first go to your brother.”

First … and then is translated “at once … and then” by Good News Translation, and “First … and only then” by New English Bible. Other ways translations can express this are to say “only after you have first reconciled yourself to your brother should you come and offer your gift” or “you should be reconciled to your brother first before you come back and offer your gift to God.”

Be reconciled to (New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible “be reconciled with”) is translated “make peace with” by Good News Translation and “make your peace with” by Phillips and New English Bible. The reference is to a broken relationship which must be healed; here it is the responsibility of the guilty person to take the initiative. Be reconciled to your brother can therefore be translated as “do what is necessary to be friends with your brother again” or “become friends again….”

And then come and offer your gift: again Good News Translation, Bible en français courant, and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch specify God as the one to whom the gift is offered (see verse 23).

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 5:24

5:24a–b

leave your gift there before the altar. First go: This clause indicates that you should wait to make your offering. Instead of presenting the offering at that time, you should put it down on the ground in front of the altar for a later time.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

leave your offering there before the altar (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
set down your gift on the ground by the altar
-or-
put your offering down in front of the altar

First go: Some English versions put the verb go at the end of 5:24a and before the word First in 5:24b. For example:

24aleave your gift there before the altar and go. 24bFirst be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. (English Standard Version)

However, the Berean Standard Bible and most English versions put the verb go in 5:24b after the word First. You should do whatever is most natural in your language.

5:24b

First: The word First indicates that before giving your gift, you should be reconciled.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

Before ⌊giving the gift⌋
-or-
at once (Good News Translation)

As mentioned in 5:24a, many English versions put the verb “go” here after the word First.

be reconciled: The word reconciled means “make peace between people or groups.” You must go to the person you have offended, settle the problem, and restore the relationship.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

make peace (Good News Translation)
-or-
find your fellowman and resolve your differences
-or-
make things right with each other
-or-
restore your friendship

5:24c

then come and offer your gift: After you have made peace with your fellowman, then you are permitted to come back to the temple and offer your sacrifice to God.

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