The Greek and Hebrew that is often translated into English as “(the two) shall become one flesh” is translated as “become just one” in Copainalá Zoque and San Mateo del Mar Huave or with existing idiomatic equivalents such as “become one blood” in Mitla Zapotec, “become the complement of each other’s spirit” in Tzeltal (source for this and above Bratcher / Nida), “become one body” in Uab Meto (source: P. Middelkoop in The Bible Translator 1952, p. 208ff. ), “tie with wife as one, so that they tie one insides” in Luang (source: Kathy and Mark Taber in Kroneman [2004], p. 539), or “become like one body-entity” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation).
In Tataltepec Chatino it is translated as “the two shall accompany each other so that they no longer seem two but are like one person,” in Choapan Zapotec as “when the man and woman live together in front of God, it is as if just one person,” and in Mezquital Otomi as “they aren’t two, it is as though they are one.” (Source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is translated with bilden eine neue Sippe or “form a new clan.” They explain (p. 417): “Usually ‘become one flesh.’ This is clearly not correct from a biological point of view. In the Old Testament, ‘flesh’ in such contexts means: ‘kinship, clan, family.’ So the idea is that the man gives up his clan and forms a new clan together with the married woman.”
Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 19:5:
Uma: “And after that he said: ‘A man must leave his mother and father, and must live in-harmony with his wife, so that those two become like one[-person].'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “and God said, ‘Therefore a man will leave from his mother-father and be one with his wife and who had been two are one body already.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And Jesus answered, ‘Evidently you haven’t read the written saying of God which says, ‘Long ago when he created everything, the Creator made man and woman. Because of this a man leaves his father and mother and married a woman, and then the two become one.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Then he said, ‘That is the reason that a man leaves his father and his mother to establish-residence-with his spouse, and they become one.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “After he had created them, he said, ‘Well since I have created them like this, that is why a man will leave his father and mother for they will live together now as a married couple. Well without anything further, they are now like one body-entity.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “God said: ‘Therefore the man will leave his father and mother to live with his wife. These two people then will love each other, therefore they will not be two people, rather it might be said that they are just one person.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
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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.
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
In place of and said, Good News Translation has “And God said.” Most readers will immediately recognize that the same being is referred to in both verses 4 and 5; for others it may be necessary to have either “the Creator … He” or “God … He.” It is important for verses 4 and 5 to flow together smoothly and naturally. If translators use a phrase such as “God’s word” in verse 4, for example, then here they may wish to say “God also said” or “And he said” (Barclay). Note that no matter how this is structured, it must not seem that Jesus is the subject of said.
For this reason … shall become one flesh is a quotation from Genesis 2.24. In the Genesis narrative the phrase For this reason is important, because it serves to connect verse 24 of Genesis 2 with verse 23 and to explain it. However, in the present context it serves no obvious function. Nevertheless most translators retain the phrase, since it was part of the quotation Jesus gave (see, for example, Good News Translation). The problem for some is that the phrase does not refer to anything in the immediate context and consequently poses problems to the readers. Many translators will have a footnote showing the reference to the Genesis passage, or even a note such as “In God’s word, that was what the first man said when God created woman as his companion.” Other translators have provided sufficient context by structuring verses 4 and 5 together, as for example “Surely you have read in God’s word about how God created mankind? He made both male and female, and that is why it also says, ‘For this reason a man … one flesh.’ ”
Be joined to translates a verb which may be used of sexual union (see 1 Cor 6.16) but may also be used of any type of close association. Barclay translates “joined inseparably to”; New English Bible has “be made one with”; Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates “live with.”
And the two shall become one flesh, a formal rendering of the Greek text, is representative of what most other translations have done. Slightly different are Jerusalem Bible (“and the two become one body”) and Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition (“The two are then one body”), while Good News Translation: (“and the two will become one”) and New American Bible (“and the two shall become as one”) make significant departures from a formal transfer. Barclay combines be joined to … shall become one flesh into a single statement: “and will be joined inseparably to his wife.” The restructuring of Good News Translation and New American Bible, though perhaps satisfactory for some levels of English readers, will be entirely unsatisfactory in a number of other languages. Readers will ask “Become one what?” All in all, it may be best to translate “will be like one body” or “… like one person.”
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 .
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