Honorary "rare" construct denoting God ("is/be present")

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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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, o-rare-ru (おられる) or “is/be present” is used.

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

Scriptures Plain & Simple (Matthew 6:1-4)

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 6:1-4:

Do you accompany your good deeds with a toot on your own horn?
       Do you give to the poor in hope of praise from others?
Well, so do hypocrites who seek praise in church and in public.
       Earthly praise is their full reward.

Be secretive and silent when you give to the poor!
Your Father above knows everything —
       so be patient! Your reward is waiting for you.

Translation commentary on Matthew 6:1

Some Greek manuscripts begin chapter 6 with the conjunction “But,” which some scholars interpret as a scribal attempt to balance the preceding demand for absolute righteousness with the warnings that accompany the discussion of that righteousness. In any case, the use of the conjunction in translation will depend entirely upon the requirements of the receptor language.

The chapter is a continuation of the discourse begun in chapter 5, so it may not need any particular transition or introduction. But there are translators who have found it useful to say something like “Jesus continued by saying” or “Jesus continued to speak to the crowds.”

Beware of (so also Phillips) represents the translation of an imperative (Good News Translation “Make certain”) plus a negative (“not”). English translations represent the verb in a variety of ways: “Be careful” (New English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New International Version), “Take care” (Barclay, An American Translation, Moffatt), and “Be on guard” (New American Bible). Elsewhere in Matthew this verb is used in 7.15; 10.17; 16.6, 11, 12. This imperative may be expressed as “Be sure that you don’t,” “Don’t ever,” or “You must never.”

Piety (Good News Translation “religious duties”) translates the noun earlier rendered “righteousness”; see 3.15; 5.6, 10, 20. Here it serves as a summary term for almsgiving, prayer, and fasting, which were for Judaism the three most important expressions of one’s religious duties. Accordingly, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible translates “practice of your religion.” New English Bible translates the first sentence “Be careful not to make a show of your religion before men”; New American Bible has “Be on guard against performing religious acts for people to see.” Other translations tend to utilize more general terms for the noun: “good deeds” (An American Translation, Phillips, Jerusalem Bible), “righteous deeds” (Anchor Bible), and “acts of righteousness” (New International Version). In the Greek manuscript followed by King James Version, the word “alms” appears in place of “righteousness”; however, this wording is so poorly attested that it does not even appear as an alternative possibility in the UBS Greek text. Moreover, this would make “alms” in verse 2 almost redundant.

Practicing your piety has proved quite difficult for many translators, primarily because many languages do not have a convenient word for “religion” or “religious.” A common way to handle “religion” has been “way of worshiping God,” so that practicing your piety can be expressed as “doing the things you must as part of your worshiping God” or “doing the things that you have to do because your way of worshiping God requires them.”

Before men in order to be seen by them is presented somewhat more dynamically by Good News Translation: “in public so that people will see what you do.” Bible en français courant has “for all the world to notice you”; and Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition reads “to be admired by people.” Other ways to say it are “in front of people so they can see that you do these things” or “in front of people so they will notice what you are doing.” The first part of this sentence can be “Don’t make a public show of doing the things you must because of your way of worshiping God” or “It is wrong to perform the things that are a part of your worship of God in public just so people can see you.”

For then (New English Bible “If you do”) translates a series of four Greek particles, which Good News Translation fills out as “If you do these things publicly.” Translations employ a wide variety of literary devices, all of them designed to relate the second half of the verse to the first half.

Reward was first used in 5.12. Elsewhere in Matthew’s Gospel it is found in 5.46; 6.2, 5, 16; 10.41, 42; 20.8.

Father who is in heaven: see comments on 5.16.

Ways of expressing the last part of the verse include “If you do that, God your Father in heaven will have no great gift to give you,” “If you do, God your heavenly Father will not give you any reward (or, valuable gift),” and “Because then you will be unable to receive a great gift from God your heavenly 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 6:1

Section Cluster

6:1–18

Do not do good deeds for people to praise you

In 5:20 Jesus said that his disciples’ righteousness must surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees and the scribes. In 5:21–48 he gave examples of what he meant by this command. But now, beginning in 6:1, Jesus warned his disciples not to do righteous acts with the hope that others will see them and think how good they are. Instead, they are to do their righteous acts secretly, and then God will reward them.

In 6:1–18 Jesus talked about three acts of righteousness:

(a) giving to poor people (6:1–4)

(b) prayer (6:5–15)

(c) fasting (6:16–18)

Each of these acts of righteousness are discussed in separate sections below.

Section 6:1–4

Jesus taught about giving to poor people

In this section, Jesus taught his disciples that when they give money to poor people, they should do so secretly.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

Giving to the needy
-or-
Giving alms

Paragraph 6:1

Verse 6:1 is a summary of 6:1–18. It gives the general rule: Jesus’ disciples should want God’s approval, not human praise.

6:1a

Even though a new chapter begins at 6:1, Jesus continued “the Sermon on the Mount” which he began in chapter 5. In some languages, no introduction is necessary here. In other languages, it may be natural to begin this chapter with something like:

⌊Jesus continued,⌋
-or-

⌊Jesus continued to teach and said,⌋
-or-

⌊But Jesus warned them,⌋

Be careful not to perform: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Be careful not to perform is a strong way to say “Do not do.” The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Be careful refers to being alert or on guard about something. Here the warning is to be alert “not to do something.”

Some languages have other ways to strengthen a command. For example:

Make certain you do not perform (Good News Translation)
-or-
Be careful not to do (New International Version)
-or-
You must never do

your righteous acts: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as your righteous acts refers to right/good deeds that are done to honor and worship God. In this context, the phrase specifically refers to giving to the poor (6:2–4), praying (6:5–15), and fasting (6:16–18). It includes other good actions as well.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

your good deeds (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
-or-
your deeds which honor God
-or-
your religious duties (Good News Translation)
-or-
something good/upright

The word righteous also occurs in 5:6a.

Jesus expected his followers to do good deeds. His warning here was against doing good works for the wrong reason. In some languages, it may be more natural to first state what Jesus expected, and then state the warning. For example:

When you do good deeds, be careful never to do them only so that other people will see you.

before men: The phrase before men refers to doing something “openly” or “in an obvious way.”

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

in public (Good News Translation)
-or-
to attract attention (God’s Word)
-or-

⌊in order that⌋ people see you
-or-
to impress people

The word men is used in general way in this phrase and refers to people, both men and women.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

before other people (English Standard Version)
-or-
in front of others (New International Version)

6:1b

to be seen by them: The clause to be seen by them implies more than just being seen by other people’s eyes. It implies a desire to be praised by people. In some languages, it may be necessary to make this explicit. For example:

to be seen ⌊and honored/praised⌋ by them
-or-
to be admired (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
to impress people

The clause to be seen by them is passive.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

• Use a passive verb. For example:

in order that you are seen by them

• Use an active verb. For example:

so that they/people will see you

6:1c

If you do: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as If you do can also be translated as “for then” (as in the English Standard Version). It refers to doing good deeds in order that people will see you.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

If you do that (New Century Version)
-or-
In that case
-or-
because then (New Living Translation (1996))
-or-
If you do those deeds in that ⌊wrong⌋ way

you will have no reward from your Father in heaven: This clause is like a passive clause. In some languages, it is more natural to use an active clause. For example:

your Father in heaven will not give a reward to you

reward: The word reward refers to a gift given for behavior that God approves of. It could be a special honor or blessing that God gives to that kind of person.

In some languages, it is more natural to use a verb or clause to express this idea. For example:

your Father in heaven will not reward you. (God’s Word)
-or-
your Father in heaven will not honor/bless you

This word also occurs in 5:46a.

your Father in heaven: In this verse, Jesus spoke of God as your Father. Jesus further described God and distinguished him from our earthly father by saying in heaven.

In some languages, the phrase your Father 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.) heavenly father

-or-

⌊God⌋ our(incl.) father who lives in heaven

This phrase also occurs in 5:45a. You should translate it here as you did there.

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