ὅπως ᾖ σου ἡ ἐλεημοσύνη ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ· καὶ ὁ πατήρ σου ὁ βλέπων ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ ἀποδώσει σοι.
4so that your alms may be done in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
The Greek that is translated as “your Father” in English (when Jesus refers to the God as the Father of his followers) is rendered as “our Father” in Tzotzil “so as to not exclude Jesus.” (Source: Marin Cowan in Notes on Translation with Drill, p. 169ff.)
See also Father (address for God).
Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 6:4:
The Greek that is translated with the capitalized “Father” in English when referring to God is translated in Highland Totonac with the regular word for (biological) father to which a suffix is added to indicate respect. The same also is used for “Lord” when referring to Jesus. (Source: Hermann Aschmann in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 171ff. )
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. In the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017, God the Father is addressed with mi-chichi (御父). This form has the “divine” honorific prefix mi– preceding the archaic honorific form chichi for “father.”
If, however, Jesus addresses his Father, he is using chichi-o (父を) which is also highly respectful but does not have the “divine” honorific. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
See also Lord and my / our Father.
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 benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. Here, mukuite (報いて) or “reward/requite” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).”
(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
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, miteo-rare-ru (見ておられる) or “looking” is used.
(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
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.
So that your alms may be in secret, as Revised Standard Version indicates, is a continuation of the sentence begun in verse 3. Good News Translation begins a new sentence: “Then it will be a private matter.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch does not render this clause expressly in verse 4. However, the meaning is carried by the inclusion of “so inconspicuously that” in verse 3: “When you help someone, do it so inconspicuously that not even your best friend will know of it. Your Father, who sees even the most secret things, will reward you.”
The meaning of in secret (Good News Translation “a private matter”) is not altogether clear. It may refer to deeds that are known only to God and to the person who does them. Or it may refer to deeds that are done so naturally, without conscious effort, that only God knows them, since even the doer himself is unaware. The term apparently is repeated intentionally in verse 6, perhaps for emphasis, and the translator should take the expression there into account.
Translators will do well to work on verses 3 and 4 together so that the translation flows naturally. Some will construct verse 3 in such a way that the first phrase of verse 4, so that your alms may be in secret, does not need to be rendered explicitly. This is what Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, cited above, has done. Those languages that do express the phrase explicitly can follow Good News Translation or use a phrase like “then no one else will know about what you have given,” “then the fact that you gave will be a secret,” or “your giving won’t be something people know about.”
Father, as in 5.48, is God.
For comments on reward, see 5.12.
Although the text does not explicitly state when your Father … will reward you, it is best understood as a reference to the final judgment. Here again King James Version includes the word “openly” after will reward you; this inclusion, however, has no basis in the best Greek manuscripts.
Translators can express the last part of the verse in various ways: “And God your Father, who sees what you do in private, will give you a reward,” “God your Father sees these secret things and he will reward you,” or “It is God your Father who will reward you for the things you do in private.”
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 .
6:4a
so that: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as so that introduces the purpose of not letting your left hand know what your right hand is doing (in 6:3b).
3bDo not let one hand know what the other is doing, 4ain order that your giving may be in secret.
Another way to translate this conjunction is as the introduction of a result clause. For example:
Then (Good News Translation)
your giving: In some languages it is more natural to translate the phrase your giving with a clause. For example:
what you give
-or-
⌊the alms/help⌋ you give ⌊to the needy⌋
may be in secret: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as secret refers to something “hidden” or “unseen.” By not letting others know that you are helping the poor (6:3b), your “giving” is in secret. Other people do not see or know what you give because you are “giving” in a private way.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
it will be a private matter (Good News Translation)
-or-
no one will know/see what you have done
Use an expression that can be used both here and in 6:4b.
6:4b
And your Father: The phrase your Father refers to God.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
And your Father ⌊God⌋
-or-
Then your ⌊heavenly⌋ Father
-or-
Our(incl.) Father ⌊God⌋
The phrase your Father also occurs in 6:1c. See how you translated it there.
who sees what is done in secret, will reward you: The phrase in secret is the same phrase as in 6:4a, and refers to the same thing.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
who sees all that is done in secret will reward you (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
knows the deed that you have done when no one can see you, and he will reward you.
Be careful to translate the clause in a way that does not imply that you have two Fathers: one who sees in secret and another who does not see in secret. In some languages, it is more natural to translate this as two sentences. For example:
Your Father sees what you do in private. He will reward you. (God’s Word)
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