complete verse (Matthew 19:11)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 19:11:

  • Uma: “Yesus said: ‘Not all people can receive that word/speech. But there are people whom God has determined/made-certain, so that they do not marry.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But Isa said, ‘Not all can follow that, except only those who are given the strength by God.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And Jesus answered, ‘There are people whom God has decreed for them that they do not marry if they are a man, and they are not married if they are a woman. And it is good for them, but it is not good for all.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Jesus said further, ‘It is admittedly true that there are people to whom God has given the ability to not marry, but the ones he didn’t give it to, they are not able-to-endure this that you said.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Jesus replied saying, ‘That saying can only be received by those whom God has determined to be able to receive it.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “But Jesus again spoke to them and said: ‘Concerning this word I speak, it doesn’t mean that all people must be married. Rather the people whom God wants to be married are the ones of whom I speak.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Honorary "are" construct denoting God (“say”)

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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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) 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, iw-are-ru (言われる) or “say” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Matthew 19:11

But he said to them appears in Good News Translation with the pronominal subject he identified as Jesus (“Jesus answered”).

Not all men can receive this saying is transformed in Good News Translation to read “This teaching does not apply to everyone.” The precise meaning of Jesus’ words is disputed, and both the verb receive and the noun saying have multiple possibilities of interpretation. New American Bible and New International Version each translate “Not everyone can accept this teaching.” This would seem also to be the interpretation adopted by Phillips: “It is not everybody who can accept this principle.” Barclay (“This principle … is not practical for everyone”) follows Moffatt (“but this truth is not practicable for everyone”), which is similar in meaning to Good News Translation.

An alternative interpretation of Jesus’ words is represented in Traduction œcuménique de la Bible and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, where the verb receive is used of mental activity, a usage it has in some passages outside the New Testament. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates the verse “Not everyone can understand what I have just said, but only those to whom God has given this understanding.”

The antecedent of this saying may be either the remark of the disciples in verse 10 or Jesus’ teaching on marriage in verses 3-9 (especially verse 6). “This teaching” of Good News Translation, New American Bible, and New International Version, as well as “what I have (just) said” of New Jerusalem Bible and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch specifically link the remark to Jesus’ teaching on marriage, as seems also to be the case with “this truth” of Moffatt and “This principle” of Barclay and Phillips. Some translators have thought this saying was referring ahead to what Jesus was about to say, and so have had “what I will tell you now.” However, this does not seem as probable, and translators will do better to do something similar to Good News Bible or Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, cited above.

Those to whom it is given is transformed into an active statement, with subject identified by Good News Translation: (“to whom God has given it”) and Barclay (“for those whom God has enabled to accept it”). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch makes a similar restructuring.

In some languages it will be better to restructure the verse: “Only the people to whom God has given the understanding will be able to grasp the meaning of this saying” or “People to whom God has given the ability will be able to accept this principle—no one else.”

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 .