complete verse (Matthew 20:13)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 20:13:

  • Uma: “‘The owner of the field retorted: ‘I did not do wrong to you, friends. Didn’t we (incl.) have a promise that you would receive a wage of one silver coin per day?” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But the owner of the land said to one, ‘Friend, I did not deceive you. Our (dual) agreement was (lit. our (dual) mutual promise was) that I would pay you (pl.) the wage for one day’s work.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And the man said to one of them he said, ‘Friend, I haven’t mistreated you because what we agree on was one piece of silver, and that’s what I gave you.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “”Listen (sing.) to this, comrade,’ said the land owner to one of them. ‘I did not cheat you (pl.), because we agreed-together for one denario, isn’t that so?” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “That owner said to one person, ‘Friend, it’s not like I’m tricking you (sing.). Isn’t it so that we (incl.) agreed that the (usual) wage for a whole day’s work is what I would pay you (pl.)?” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “The field-owner said to the work who was talking to him: ‘Listen, man, I haven’t cheated you. After all we agreed that for one day of work I would pay you one money of the denario.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 20:13

One of them is understood by some scholars to mean “a certain one of them,” referring to the one who was objecting the most. But no translation renders in this way, which is probably the wisest choice.

Friend is a polite way of addressing someone whose name is unknown (though it may also be used of one’s close companions); it indicates that the person who uses it is both friendly and approachable. The word occurs only two other times in the New Testament (Matt 22.12; 26.50), and in each of these three occurrences the person addressed is in the wrong. “My friend” will be better in some languages.

I am doing you no wrong is somewhat awkward for English speakers. Good News Translation has “I have not cheated you,” New English Bible “I am not being unfair to you,” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “I do you no injustice.”

Did you not agree with me for a denarius? translates a rhetorical question which expects the answer “Yes.” For speakers of English the question form and the word order (did you not) are somewhat difficult; but it is possible to do away with both the question and the unusual negative construction: “you agreed to do a day’s work for one silver coin” (Good News Translation). Other restructurings are also possible. For example, “you agreed” may be made to read either “you agreed with me” or “we agreed.” One may also translate “We agreed that you would work a full day, and I would pay you a full day’s wages.” Perhaps the most natural way in English is to add a negative question at the end of the statement, as in “You agreed to work for a denarius (or, a normal day’s pay), didn’t you? (or, isn’t that so?)”

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 .