complete verse (Matthew 20:10)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 20:10:

  • Uma: “It went on thus until the people who worked from early morning arrived. Those who worked from early morning said in their hearts: ‘Surely he will give us (incl.) [empathic] more, because we (incl.) worked all day long!’ But instead, it was still just also one silver coin that they received.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “When the people went who had been fetched as the first, they thought-mistakenly that they would be given more. But they also were given the wage worth for a whole day.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And when he came to pay those who were first, they expected that more would be paid to them than what was paid to those who came to work last. However, one piece of silver each also was what was paid to them.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Therefore when the first-ones who worked came, they expected that their daily-wage would be more, but surprisingly one-denario -each just the same is what was given to them.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Therefore when those who had gone to work early were reached, they assumed their wage would be much more. But no. They were given the same which was the wage for a whole day’s work.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Then it came the turn for wages to be given to the workers who had worked all day long. They thought that they would be given much more in wages because they had worked all day. But when they were given their wages, just one money of a denario was given to them.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 20:10

The first are further identified by Good News Translation as “the men who were the first to be hired.” In other languages an adequate translation of the first may be quite different. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “the men who had begun work the earliest,” and New English Bible has “the men who had come first.”

They thought they would receive more may be translated as direct discourse: “they thought, ‘He will pay us more money.’ ”

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 .