I will not implies an absolute refusal. New Jerusalem Bible has “I will not go,” and Luther 1984 “No, I will not go.” Other languages may require a fuller statement: “No, I will not go to work in the vineyard.” An indirect form may also be natural, as in “but he told his father he would not go” or “but he refused to go.”

Repented is repeated again in verse 32. Elsewhere in the Gospel it is used only of Judas (27.3); otherwise in the New Testament it appears only twice (2 Cor 7.8; Heb 7.21). It may also mean “regret” (Luther 1984, New American Bible); Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “regretted his answer.” A number of translations have “changed his mind” (Good News Translation, Moffatt, An American Translation, New English Bible, Phillips, Barclay).

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 .