he denied it before all of them

The Greek in Matthew 26:70 that is translated as “he denied it before all of them” or similar in English is translated in the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) with er stritt es laut ab, stellte sich dumm und behauptete… or “he denied it out aloud, played stupid and claimed….”

complete verse (Matthew 26:70)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 26:70:

  • Uma: “But Petrus denied it in front of them all, he said: ‘I don’t know what you (sing.) are saying!'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But he denied/argued in front of them all, he said, ‘I don’t know what you are saying there.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “But Peter denied it, and all heard it. He said, ‘I don’t know what you are talking about.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But he denied it in front of them all saying, ‘Oh come on now! I don’t know what you (sing.) are saying.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But Pedro denied it in the presence of them all. His answer was, ‘Expletive, no! I don’t know what you are saying.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Peter spoke in the hearing of all the people and said: ‘No, I don’t know what you are trying to say to me.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 26:70

But he denied it before them all is a fairly literal rendering of the Greek text, which is slightly restructured by Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch: “Peter denied it before all the people.”

Denied means “claimed it was not true.” But he made this denial by saying “I do not know what you mean” which can also be rendered “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

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 .