16“And whenever you fast, do not look somber, like the hypocrites, for they mark their faces to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.
The Greek and Hebrew terms that are translated as “hypocrite” in English typically have a counterpart in most languages. According to Bratcher / Nida (1961, p. 225), they can be categorized into the following categories:
those which employ some concept of “two” or “double”
those which make use of some expression of “mouth” or “speaking”
those which are based upon some special cultural feature
those which employ a non-metaphorical phrase
Following is a list of (back-) translations from some languages:
Mazahua: “have a swollen mouth” (from too much speaking)
Tai Dam: “have a straight mouth and a crooked heart”
Kongo: “the bitterness of white” (an idiom based on the fact that white-wash looks nice but tastes bitter)
Merina Malagasy: “spread a clean carpet” (an expression used in Madagascar to describe one who covers up the dirt of an unswept floor just before the arrival of guests)
Zanaki: “those who make themselves out to be good”
Tetelcingo Nahuatl: “those who deceive” (this and all examples above acc. to Bratcher / Nida 1961, p. 225)
Kafa: “one who makes as if his belly is clean” (source: Loren Bliese)
Bauzi: “good on top person” (source: David Briley in Kroneman (2004), p. 502)
Tibetan: kha chos pa (ཁ་ཆོས་པ།), lit. “mouth + religion + person” (used for instance in Matt. 7:5) or sgyu zog can (སྒྱུ་ཟོག་ཅན།), lit. “deception + fraud + person” (used for instance in Matt. 24:51) (source: gSungrab website )
Low German: “actor in a comedy” (translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006)
Lélé: ne kub so or “make mouth two” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
The Latvian term liekulis was likely coined by the Bible translation of Ernst Glück (1654–1705) in the late 17th century and is still being used today (source ).
The English version of Sarah Ruden (2021) uses “play-actor.” She explains (p. li): “A hupokrites is fundamentally an actor. The word has deep negativity in the Gospels on two counts: professional actors were not respectable people in the ancient world, and traditional Judaism did not countenance any kind of playacting. I write ‘play-actor’ throughout.”
The Aramaic, Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated as “fast” in English is translated in Isthmus Mixe as “going without food to worship God,” in Lacandon as “leaving eating in order to talk to God” (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.), in Vidunda as “resting to eat” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext), and in Kankanaey as “endure hunger” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation).
The Greek that is often translated in English as “truly, truly, I tell you” or similar is translated in the Russian BTI translation (publ. 2015) as Поверьте Мне (Pover’te Mne) or “trust me.” (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 6:16:
Uma: “‘When fasting, don’t act-glum like the people who are just good on the outside. When they fast, they act-glum and purposely do not wash-their-faces or comb-their-hair, so that others see that they are fasting. Remember: because they have already received the praise of others/companions, they will no longer receive anything from God.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “‘When you fast do not give the appearance of being sad like the people who pretend. For when they fast they do not wash (their faces) or comb so that the people see that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, when the people praise them, they are already rewarded and that is their reward.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And when you abstain from eating because you are praying to God, don’t let it be known through the appearance of your face like the people who want other people to praise them. They wander around and they don’t wash their face and they don’t comb their hair so that people might know they are abstaining from eating. I tell you that they have already received people’s praise of them, and there is no, other reward which they will receive from God.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Then Jesus continued saying, ‘In your fasting (lit. restraining your hunger), don’t show that (you) are sad like the hypocrites. Because they like people to know that they are fasting, therefore they don’t wash-their -faces and comb-their -hair. This that I tell you is true: they have already gained their reward.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Something else also that I will say to you (pl.) is, when you are fasting, don’t make your face like you are grieving, as is the custom of the people who are pretending that they are obeying the will of God. For what they do is, they don’t fix-up their bodies, so that others will know that they are fasting. It’s really true that they have already received their reward.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “when you want to fast, do not go about looking sad like the people do who do not do what they are doing from the heart. These appear to be sad while they fast, wanting people to see what they are doing. But truly I tell you that in that people look well on what they are doing, that is all the wages they get.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.
As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator2002, p. 210ff. ), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.
Here, Jesus is addressing his disciples, individuals and/or crowds with the formal pronoun, showing respect.
In most Dutch translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and common people with the informal pronoun, whereas they address him with the formal form.
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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 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).
For the Jewish community of Jesus’ day, the three primary expressions of piety were charity, prayer, and fasting. In verses 16-18 the matter of fasting is discussed. The only official Jewish day of fasting was the Day of Atonement, when eating, drinking, bathing, and anointing with oil were forbidden. The Jews would also fast in connection with the celebration of days of national disaster, and it was frequently done on a private and individual basis as well.
As we said in the discussion of 4.2, fast means to deliberately go without food, usually as a way of honoring God or as part of a period of meditation and prayer. The custom is known in many parts of the world and poses no translation problem in such places. Where it is not known, translators can say “Whenever you go without food to honor God” or “On those occasions when you do not eat so you can worship God.”
Dismal (Good News Translation “sad face”) translates a word used in the New Testament only here and in Luke 24.17. It may be used of one who looks angry, sullen, or sad. In the Septuagint it is used to describe the chief baker and the wine steward of the king (Gen 40.1). A number of translations render it with the meaning “gloomy” (New Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, An American Translation, Moffatt, Barclay). To look dismal can be “to go about looking pitiful (or sad, or gloomy).”
The word hypocrites is first used in Matthew 6.2 (see comments there). The real point is that the hypocrites are intentionally acting in such a manner as to draw attention to themselves. Translators may say “that is what the hypocrites do” or “that is how the hypocrites show (or, present) themselves.”
Disfigure their faces (so also New International Version, Barclay) is translated “neglect their appearance” by Good News Translation and “neglect their personal appearance” by An American Translation. Jerusalem Bible renders “pull long faces” and New English Bible “make their faces unsightly.” One commentator notes that the Greek verb translated disfigure appears not to be used elsewhere with “face” as its object, and he suggests that it was chosen here because it rhymes with the Greek verb rendered may be seen. For other occurrences of the Greek verb for disfigure, see verses 19, 20 (“consume”) and Acts 13.41 (“perish”). Some commentators limit disfigure their faces to the matter of leaving them unwashed. Others extend the meaning to include leaving their faces unwashed and their hair uncombed and the strewing of ashes on their heads. For English speakers the problem with disfigure is that it may imply a permanent action, whereas the reference is limited to things done during days of fasting.
It is important to show that when the hypocrites disfigure their faces, it is a deliberate thing. Thus the phrase can be rendered “they deliberately go with dirty faces (or, unkempt appearances),” “they make themselves appear to be suffering,” or “they allow themselves to look terrible.”
That their fasting may be seen by men is inverted by Good News Translation: “so that everyone will see that they are fasting.” In the context men is used inclusively of “people,” and so New English Bible translates “so that other people may see that they are fasting” (New American Bible “so that others may see they are fasting”).
Some translations make this a new sentence, as in “They do that so everyone can see they are fasting” or “They do that to make sure people know they are fasting.”
Truly, I say to you: see 5.18, where almost the precise form is used; see 5.20 for the exact words.
They have received their reward: see comments on Matthew 6.2.
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 .
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