Translation commentary on Matthew 9:18

While he was thus speaking to them is literally “While he was saying these things to them.” Good News Translation identifies he as “Jesus.”

Behold here serves to draw attention to the new participant in the narrative (see comments on 1.20). Perhaps here it can be “at that time” or “all at once.”

Ruler (Good News Translation “Jewish official”) is rendered “synagogue leader” by New American Bible and “president of the synagogue” by New English Bible. New Jerusalem Bible translates “one of the officials,” with a footnote indicating that this person was the head of the synagogue. Both Mark (5.22) and Luke (8.41) explicitly identify the person as Jairus, a synagogue official. The term used by Matthew, however, is a much broader term, denoting an official or leader of any kind. It seems unwise to adapt Matthew’s text to that of Mark and Luke, especially when there are so many obvious differences between the accounts, and it would have been simple enough for Matthew to have identified this person explicitly as a synagogue official had he so desired. In fact, the term may refer to either a Jew or a Gentile, but the presence of flute players (verse 23) would point to a Jewish household. Perhaps the best way to translate this ruler in Matthew is to say “a leader” or “one of the leaders of that place.” One can also say “one of the important men there.”

The leader came in. This can be “came into where Jesus was” or simply “came to Jesus.” “Went” will be better in some languages.

He knelt before him to show honor. See 8.2 for a discussion of this.

My daughter has just died is in agreement with Luke (8.42) but in contrast with Mark (5.23), which speaks of the girl as “very sick” though not dead.

We are not given the age of the daughter, although she was a young girl, as we see in verse 24.

Hand is translated by the plural “hands” in Good News Translation. Evidently the plural was chosen because of the Jewish custom of placing hands upon people for various reasons, including that of healing. It is impossible to say precisely where the hands would have been placed upon the girl, but if it is necessary to be specific in translation, then it seems quite probable that they would have been laid upon the girl’s forehead or head.

To lay a hand can be “put” or “place.” No term should be used that would be understood in a negative sense of doing harm to the girl.

And she will live may need to be translated “and she will come back to life.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch renders “then she will live again!” The verb live does occasionally mean “live again” (see Rev 2.8; possibly also Rev 13.14).

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 9:18

Section 9:18–26

Jesus healed a sick woman and raised a dead girl

In this section, Matthew continued to write about the power that Jesus has to heal people. In addition, he again showed that faith is important.

There are two stories in this section. In one story Jesus healed a woman who had a bleeding problem for twelve years. This story is told in the middle of another story. In that story, he raised to life a girl who had recently died.

According to the law of Moses, a woman who had a bleeding problem was unclean. If a normal Jew came in contact with such a woman, he became impure. Also, according to the law of Moses, a dead body was unclean. If a normal Jew touched a dead body, he became unclean. But these two women did not contaminate Jesus. Instead, power went out from Jesus to heal the bleeding woman, and his supernatural power caused the girl to become alive again.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

A Dead Girl and a Sick Woman (New International Version)
-or-
A sick woman is healed and a dead girl lives again
-or-
Jesus Heals in Response to Faith (New Living Translation (2004))

There are parallel passages for this section in Mark 5:21–43 and Luke 8:40–56.

Paragraph 9:18–19

9:18a

While Jesus was saying these things: The phrase these things refers to the words that Jesus spoke in 9:14–17.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

While Jesus was still speaking (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
while he was talking to John’s disciples (God’s Word)

9:18b

The Greek of 9:18b begins with a word that is often translated as “behold.” It indicates that something extraordinary will happen. Here, what is unexpected is that a religious leader arrived with sad news.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

suddenly (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
unexpectedly

a synagogue leader: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as synagogue leader is literally “ruler.” This word can refer to a political or religious leader. Mark and Luke refer to this person as “a ruler in the synagogue” (Mark 5:22, Luke 8:41). So you should use a term that refers to a religious leader.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

a Jewish religious leader
-or-
the leader of a synagogue (New Living Translation (2004))

See how you translated the word “synagogues” in 4:23.

knelt before Him: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as knelt before is more literally “prostrated himself before.” This word refers to kneeling and putting one’s face to the ground with arms outstretched. In Jewish culture, this position showed humility and an earnest desire for one’s request to be accepted.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

bowed low in front of him (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
knelt down before him (New Living Translation (1996))
-or-
prostrated himself before him

9:18c

has just died: The phrase has just died indicates that the girl died very recently, probably minutes before the ruler spoke to Jesus.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

has just now died (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
has died not long ago

9:18d

But come and place Your hand on her, and she will live: Verse 9:18d–e is a request. The ruler asked Jesus to make his daughter alive again.

There is also a contrast here. The contrast is between the daughter dying and the daughter living again. The Berean Standard Bible indicates this contrast with the conjunction But.

Some ways to connect 9:18d–e to the rest of the verse are:

• Make the contrast clearer by changing the order of the clauses in 9:18d–e. For example:

c“My daughter has just died,” he said, e“but you can bring her back to life again dif you just come and lay your hand on her.” (New Living Translation (2004))

• Make the request clearer and lessen the contrast. For example:

cThe man said, “My daughter has just now died! dPlease come and place your hand on her. eThen she will live again.” (Contemporary English Version)

come and place Your hand on her: This is a polite request. It is not a command. By first bowing down, the ruler showed that he respected Jesus and was politely asking him to come to his house and raise his daughter to life. In some languages, it may be necessary to add something to show that the ruler was politely asking Jesus to raise his daughter. For example:

Please come and place your hand on her. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-

⌊I beg you to⌋ come and touch her.

In some languages, it may also be necessary to indicate in 9:18c that the ruler was being polite. For example:

⌊Sir,⌋ my daughter has just died.

she will live: The daughter had died, but the father wanted her to live again.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

she will live again (Contemporary English Version)

-or-

she will return to life

The ruler believed that Jesus was able to cause his daughter to live again. So he used the future tense and not words of possibility such as “she might live.” Your translation should indicate or imply that the ruler believed that Jesus was able to cause his daughter to live again.

© 2023 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.