And when he entered the temple is translated “Jesus came back to the Temple” in Good News Translation, which continues to follow the pattern of beginning each new section by identifying the pronominal referents of the Greek text by their proper names. Both Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch and Bible en français courant have done the same thing. In some languages it will be important to specify the sequence of events: “Jesus went back to the Temple. When he went in….”

Here again the Greek word for temple refers, not to the building proper, but to the large complex which was built around it. Jesus was probably on one of the porches that surrounded the court of the Gentiles at this time.

The chief priests and the elders confront Jesus again in 26.3, 47; the terminology is slightly different from “the chief priests and the scribes” (verse 15), who confront him during the cleansing of the Temple. The word elders is used first in 15.2. Here it is followed by the construction of the people, which Good News Translation leaves implicit, assuming that it is equivalent to “Jewish.” Elders can often be translated literally and be understood, especially in societies where the men (generally not the women) of a certain age and status are leaders of the community. But otherwise “leaders” can be used.

Came up to may better be “went up to” or “approached.”

As has sometimes been misunderstood by translators to mean “since” or “because,” but in this verse it is used to mean “while.”

As he was teaching: Matthew emphasizes the teaching ministry of Jesus here (see Mark “as he was walking”), although the following question relates specifically to the things that Jesus was doing. In languages where teaching requires an object, Jesus can be said to be teaching “about God.” It may also be necessary to say whom he was teaching. Some general phrase such as “the people” will serve well here.

By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority? though stated as two questions, actually are asking the same question: “Who gave you the right to do these things?” The men who raised the issue assumed that the answer was either God, Satan, Jesus himself, or some other human authority (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible (footnote)). Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition renders the two questions thus: “Who has given you the right to come in here like this? Who authorized you?”

These things may well refer to what Jesus had done the day before, when he chased the merchants and moneychangers from the Temple, but translators should probably not specify this in their translations. Barclay has “What right have you to act as you are doing?”

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 .