Let your word be 'Yes - Yes' or 'No - No'

The Greek in Matthew 5:37 that is translated as “Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’, or ‘No, No'” or similar in English is translated in Enga as “When you say that you will do something, just say that you will do it. When you say that you will not do something, just say that you will not do it.”

Adam Boyd (on his blog) explains: “In Enga, it is even more complex because there is no word for ‘Yes’; there is only a word for ‘No.’ So, to say ‘Yes,’ Engans restate the action of the verb in the affirmative. For example, if I were to ask Martha in Enga, ‘Did you go to the store?’ she would reply, ‘I went.’ If she wanted to reply, ‘No,’ she could either say ‘I didn’t go,’ or ‘No, I didn’t go.’ Engans also have shortcuts for the word ‘Yes.’ One shortcut is to utter something in between a grunt and a sigh; the other is to raise one’s eyebrows. I still have trouble with the raising of the eyebrows. Often I find myself repeating a question over and over again when I forget that raised eyebrows means ‘Yes.’ Instead, I think that people have just misunderstood me or perhaps did not hear me.

“This makes things difficult when translating Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:37, ‘Let your word be ‘Yes, yes,’ or ‘No, no.’’ This is further complicated by the fact that the context of Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:37 is his command not to swear any oaths at all. Not only does Enga have no word for ‘yes,’ but Enga also has no proper word for ‘oath.’ At first, we translated the idea of swearing an oath as ‘say that you are speaking very truly,’ but we soon discovered that such a translation would not work as Jesus himself frequently says, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you.’ So after much consideration, we translated ‘swear an oath’ as ‘say the name of something and then say very truly that you will do something.’ We found this to be an acceptable translation because swearing an oath usually requires invoking the name of God or something else (such as the saying, ‘I swear on my mother’s grave’). Having solved the problem of translating ‘swear an oath,’ we were then able to translate Jesus’ words, ‘Let your word be ‘Yes, yes,’ or ‘No, no,” as ‘When you say that you will do something, just say that you will do it. When you say that you will not do something, just say that you will not do it.'”

See also swear / vow.

complete verse (Matthew 5:37)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 5:37:

  • Uma: “If it is our (incl.) intention to say yes, say ‘Yes.’ If it is our (incl.) intention to say no, also say ‘No.’ It is not good if we (incl.) strengthen our (incl.) word with an oath/swearing, because behavior like that appears from the King of Evil-ones.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Say simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. Whatever you add so that you will be believed, that is already from the leader of demons.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “‘Yes’ only, and if not that, then ‘No’ is what you say, because anything you say to substantiate your promises comes from Satan.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “It’s-preferable if you only say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ not adding an oath. Because even whatever oath you add, it comes-from Satanas.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “What is good for you (pl.) to say is, if it’s yes, (then) yes. If no, no. That’s sufficient provided it’s the truth, because whatever you add in the way of a vow is evil, because Satanas is the source.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “When you want to speak a word, straightly say whether you can do something or can’t do it. Because the person who is a companion of the devil, who isn’t believed in what he says, is the one who must look for witnesses for what he says.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Scriptures Plain & Simple (Matthew 5:33-37)

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 5:33-37:

You know what the Bible teaches about promises —
       “Don’t make a promise in the Lord’s name,
              unless you intend to keep it!”

But I tell you not to swear by anything when you make a promise —
       not by heaven — it’s God’s throne,
       not by the earth — it’s God’s footstool,
not by Jerusalem — it’s the city of the great king,
not by your own head — you can’t grow white or black hairs at will.

When you make a promise, just give your word!
       Anything else comes from the devil.

Translation commentary on Matthew 5:37

Let what you say be simply “Yes” or “No” is literally “But let your word be ‘yes, yes’ or ‘no, no.’ ” In light of a similar passage in James 5.12 and the interpretation given this verse in the early church, the meaning is that every “Yes” must be simply “Yes,” every “No” simply “No.” The translations concur with this conclusion: New International Version (New International Version) “Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’ ”; Barclay “when you mean yes, say yes—nothing more; when you mean no, say no—nothing more”; New Jerusalem Bible “All you need say is ‘Yes’ if you mean yes, ‘No’ if you mean no.”

The examples of Barclay and New Jerusalem Bible have proved particularly helpful as models to translators. But it is important that the translation does not seem to be talking about ways of answering questions. Rather, Jesus is still discussing affirming that one will or will not do something. Therefore one possible translation is “When you are going to do something, just say yes, you will do it, or no, that you are not going to do it.”

Evil (Anchor Bible “of evil origin”) translates a noun which may be either neuter or masculine (Good News Translation “the Evil One”; so also New Jerusalem Bible, Barclay, New American Bible, New International Version, RSV footnote; New English Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “the devil”). The same ambiguity exists in 5.39; 6.13; and 13.38. Scholars argue in both directions. For example, one commentator believes “evil” to be the more likely translation, even though in 13.19 the reference must be to “the Evil One” in light of the parallel with Mark 4.15, which has “Satan.” Another commentator argues in favor of “the Evil One” on the basis of 19.17, where God is referred to as “the Good One.” This interpretation, “the Evil One,” seems to satisfy best the demands of the present context.

The words anything more refer to adding to your declaration any confirmation or guarantee beyond your own word. The feeling that you need to do this comes from, that is, “is inspired by the Evil One,” “is caused by…,” or “has as its source….”

“The Evil One” is not always easily understood. Translators may say “that One who is the source of evil” or “the Devil, who is the Evil One.”

The last part of this verse may be restructured as “The idea that you need to say any more (or, do more than give your word) comes from the Devil, the Evil One,” “It is the Devil, who is the Evil One, who makes you think you need to do more than that when you declare something true,” or “Any statement more than that is caused by the Evil One, the Devil.”

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 5:37

5:37a

Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’: This clause indicates that believers are to say only Yes when they truly mean Yes. In the same way, they are to say only No when they truly mean No. They must not use oaths to persuade people to believe what they say. In both cases Jesus emphasizes that believers must be perfectly truthful in their answers.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

Just say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ (Good News Translation)
-or-
All you need say is ‘Yes’ if you mean yes, ‘No’ if you mean no (New Jerusalem Bible)

5:37b

Anything more: The phrase Anything more refers to any kind of words that are stronger or in addition to a simple “yes” or “no.” This phrase includes using oaths.

Here are some other ways to translate these words:

Anything more than that (God’s Word)
-or-
If you say more than yes or no (New Century Version)

comes from: The phrase comes from indicates the origin or source of such oaths. In this verse, it is “the evil one” (that is, the devil) who causes or inspires the oath taking. It is not of God.

the evil one: There are two ways to interpret the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the evil one:

(1) It refers to the evil one, Satan. For example:

the devil (Contemporary English Version)

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, NET Bible, Revised English Bible, New Century Version, New Living Translation (2004))

(2) It refers to evil. For example:

anything more than this comes from evil (Revised Standard Version)

(Revised Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, King James Version, English Standard Version, New Living Translation (1996))

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) and the majority of English versions and commentators.

Here are some other ways to translate this entire clause:

Any statement more than that comes from the Evil One, the Devil.

-or-

If you add an oath ⌊to your “yes” or “no”⌋ ⌊so that people will believe you⌋, it comes from ⌊the Devil, who is⌋ the Evil One.

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