Behold (Good News Translation, Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible “Here is”) translates a particle frequently used as an attention-getter; see comments on 1.20. “Look” or “Listen now” are other possible ways to translate it. However, Good News Translation‘s “Here is my servant” is also a good model.

My servant may also be translated “my son.” It is the same word used in 8.6; see comments there. Generally languages have at least one word for servant, that is, for someone who is employed to work for another, and who works willingly, not as a slave. If there is not a good word, then “the one (or, person) who works for me” is acceptable.

Whom I have chosen (so most all English translations) differs from the Hebrew, which has “whom I uphold” (so Revised Standard Version and most other English translations). A construction like whom I have chosen is not possible in a large number of languages. One asks “chosen for what purpose?” This is solved when the phrase is restructured: “Here is the one I have chosen to be my servant” or “… to serve me.”

Beloved is the same word used in 3.17; here there is no doubt regarding the presence of the possessive pronoun my, which stands firm in the Greek text. The Hebrew has “my chosen” (so Revised Standard Version and most other English translations). Good News Translation expresses beloved as “the one I love,” which is a model many other translations will follow.

With whom my soul is well pleased agrees with the Hebrew and is a literal rendering of the text. Since in Hebrew one’s soul may represent the person himself, Good News Translation has “with whom I am well pleased.” Note also New English Bible (“on whom my favour rests”) and New American Bible (“in whom I delight”). To retain the idiomatic form of the Hebrew (as represented in the Greek) will certainly lead to a misunderstanding in many languages. Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition translates the line “I love him and I rejoice over him.” There is actually quite a variety of ways that translators have rendered with whom my soul is well pleased. Some have renderings like “I am very pleased with him” or “he is very pleasing to me.” Many languages seem to have idiomatic expressions such as “he cools (or, sweets) my heart,” common in West Africa, or “my heart rests on him.”

The statements in the first two lines are in apposition. That is, they refer to the same person, but they are linked only by a comma. In many languages this construction will make readers think there were two different people being referred to. In such cases translators must do something like this: “Here is the one I have chosen to be my servant. He is the one I love and who pleases me so much.”

I will put my Spirit upon him: here Matthew agrees with the Hebrew text, except for the verb tense in Hebrew, which is “I have put.” Good News Translation‘s use of the verb “send” in place of put cannot really be considered a dynamic improvement of the text. Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition is helpful: “I will give him my Spirit.” Both Jerusalem Bible and New American Bible are good, though at a somewhat higher level of language: “I will endow him with my spirit.” Translators should find a way to express I will put my Spirit upon him that is natural in the receptor language. Possibilities include “I will fill him with my Spirit,” “I will put my Spirit behind his back” (a common way in West Africa), “I will give him the power of my Spirit,” and “I will give him my Spirit.”

He shall proclaim justice differs from the Hebrew, which reads “He will bring forth justice.” In context the noun justice (Good News Translation “my judgment”) refers to the judgment which God will bring upon the people: “that I will judge them” (Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition). Barclay translates “that the time of judgment has come.” With the exception of Moffatt (“religion”) and Jerusalem Bible (“the true faith”), most English translations have either “judgment” or “justice” as the representation of the Greek noun. In support of its rendering, Jerusalem Bible provides a rather extensive footnote, indicating that this interpretation is derived from the meaning of the noun in both the Hebrew Old Testament and the Septuagint. One could accept this interpretation without reservation had Matthew here employed the word “righteousness,” which appears so often in the Gospel. But even then, on the basis of verse 21 it still seems quite probable that the judgment is primarily conceived of as a favorable one. For English speakers the noun “judgment” most generally conveys the negative meaning of “punishment,” which is not the emphasis in the context. As in the Old Testament, so with Matthew, the real emphasis is upon the saving work of the one whom God will send. Therefore either the more neutral term “justice” or the more specific term “salvation” will come nearer to expressing the intent of the passage.

To proclaim justice, then, means to announce the justice or salvation of God. This will be clear in a sentence like “He will announce to the Gentiles that the time of justice has come,” “He will tell the Gentiles how they will receive justice from me,” or “He will tell the Gentiles that they will receive salvation (or, justice) from my hand.”

Gentiles (Good News Translation “nations”) is a reference to the non-Jewish peoples of the world. See comments on 4.15. It can be translated as “people everywhere” or “all nations.”

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 .