Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 6:29:
Uma: “But I say to you: even King Salomo with all of his riches/wealth, his clothes were not like the beauty of those flowers there.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “And I tell you for sure, even Sultan Sulaiman the richest one in old times, could not dress as beautifully as one of these flowers.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “But true is what I say to you, that even King Solomon long ago who was very rich and famous, the beauty of his clothing didn’t amount to one little fingernail beside the beauty of these flowers.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “but I tell you that even King Solomon whose riches were extreme, he had no clothing like the beauty of one of these flowers.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “But the truth is that even king Solomon who was highly-spoken-of for the greatness of his wealth, he couldn’t clothe himself to outdo these flowers.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “I tell you this word here, that like King Solomon, very good is the clothing he wore, yet he doesn’t approach the beauty of the flowers.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
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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 first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
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).
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 6:25-34:
I tell you not to worry about food, drink, or clothes!
Life is more than what you eat and wear.
Birds don’t plant or harvest,
yet your Father above takes care of them,
and you are worth much more than a flock of birds.
You may think the more you worry, the longer you live.
That’s simply not so.
Why worry about what you will wear?
Even royalty looks drab beside daffodils and regal lilies,
yet God colors and clothes the wild flowers,
even though they will wither in the summer heat.
Why do you have such little faith? God will take care of you.
Worry — wearisome worry about food, drink, and clothes —
Only a heathen would nurture such worries.
Put God first in everything you do and worry no more,
then all your needs will be met.
Why worry about tomorrow? Today is worrisome enough.
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
Solomon, son and successor to King David, was noted for his great wealth. Many readers will not know who Solomon was, so translators should say “King Solomon” or “the great King Solomon.” More information about him can be put in the glossary.
In all his glory can be “in all his wealth” or “who was so rich.”
Like one of these refers back to the noun translated “lilies” in verse 28. Good News Translation has “as one of these flowers” because “flowers” was used there by Good News Bible. The choice of a noun here will naturally be determined by the interpretation given in verse 28.
The text says that even Solomon was not arrayed like one of these. This means that “Even the clothing of King Solomon was not as splendid (or, as beautiful) as the clothing of one of these flowers” or “Even King Solomon didn’t have clothes as beautiful as any of these flowers.”
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 .
Yet I tell you: The words Yet I tell you emphasize the words that follow. Use an expression that emphasizes the importance of what Jesus said in the rest of 6:29.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
But I tell you this
-or-
yet I assure you (New Jerusalem Bible)
not even Solomon: The word Solomon is the name of one of Israel’s kings. King Solomon was the richest of all Israel’s kings (1 Kings 10:23). Solomon lived more than nine hundred years before Jesus’ time. If people in your area are not familiar with Solomon, you may want to include some implied information in the text or include a footnote.
Here are some examples of including implied information in the text:
⌊King⌋ Solomon
-or-
⌊the very wealthy⌋ ⌊King⌋ Solomon ⌊of long ago⌋
Here is an example footnote:
Solomon was the richest of all Israel’s kings (1 Kings 10:23). Solomon lived more than nine hundred years before Jesus’ time.
in all his glory: The word glory refers to the many beautiful things including clothes that Solomon owned. If your language has a word that refers generally to beautiful things and can include beautiful clothes, you should use that.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
in all his majesty (God’s Word)
-or-
with all his wealth (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
who had many beautiful things
6:29b
was adorned like one of these: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as was adorned like one of these means “was dressed as beautifully as one of these wild flowers.” This phrase compares the beauty of Solomon in his beautiful clothes to the beauty of the “lilies of the field.”
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
was not dressed as beautifully as they are (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
had clothes as beautiful as one of these flowers (Good News Translation)
-or-
dressed in his beautiful clothes did not look as beautiful as one of these flowers
General Comment on 6:29a–b
In some languages, it may be more natural to change the order of 6:29a and 6:29b. For example:
Yet I assure you (plur.) that one of these ⌊wild flowers⌋ is more beautiful than the most beautiful of ⌊King⌋ Solomon’s clothes.
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