fast (verb)

The Aramaic, Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated as “fast” in English is translated in Isthmus Mixe as “going without food to worship God,” in Lacandon as “leaving eating in order to talk to God” (source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.), in Vidunda as “resting to eat” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext), and in Kankanaey as “endure hunger” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation).

See also fast (Luke 5:33).

put oil on your head / comb your hair

The Greek in Matthew 6:17 that is often translated as “comb your hair” in translations for languages of people with predominantly type 1 – 3 hair (straight, wavy, curly — see Hair Typing System ) if the translators are attempting to communicate the importance of looking one’s best in this verse (see complete verse (Matthew 6:17)). It is more easily translatable directly as “put oil on your head” in many languages for people in regions of sub-Saharan Africa, Melanesia, and Australia with type 4 hair (see kinky hair ) where it is more common to use oil in hair care. This is the case in Matumbi, whose speakers’ “hair becomes brittle when they wash it without oil, because their hair isn’t naturally oily.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)

fat, oil

The different Hebrew and Greek terms that are translated as “(olive) oil” and “(animal) fat” in English are translated in Kwere with only one term: mavuta. (Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

complete verse (Matthew 6:17)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 6:17:

  • Uma: “So, if/when we (incl.) fast, we (incl.) [should] wash-face, and comb-hair,” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But when you fast, wash (your face) and comb” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “As for you, when you abstain from eating, wash your face and comb your hair” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “So if you fast, wash-(your) -faces and comb-(your) -hair” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But as for you (sing.), when you fast, you must wash-your-face and do-your-hair,” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “But you, when you fast, do not appear to be sad, rather comb your hair and wash your faces.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Scriptures Plain & Simple (Matthew 6:16-18)

Barclay Newman, a translator on the teams for both the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version, translated passages of the New Testament into English and published them in 2014, “in a publication brief enough to be non-threatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and un-believers alike.” The following is the translation of Matthew 6:16-18:

When worshiping God, don’t pretend to be pious!
       No need to give up eating and inform others,
       or leave your clothes unkept and your hair uncombed.
Your Father above sees through the veneer,
       so be patient! Your reward is waiting for you!

Translation commentary on Matthew 6:17

But when you fast: the meaning is “When you go without food for a period of time in order to worship God in a special way.”

When can be “whenever” or “on those occasions that.”

Good News Translation rearranges the two commands in a manner that is more natural for American readers: “wash your face and comb your hair.” Bible en français courant and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch follow Good News Translation in this, whereas most English translators retain the literal anoint your head. Some few attempt to update “anoint” by rendering “put oil on your head” (Jerusalem Bible, New International Version), while New American Bible renders “groom your hair,” and An American Translation has “perfume your hair.” One commentator observes that when the disciples fast, they are to give the impression of persons going to a feast. But it may be, as other commentators suggest, that the disciples are simply commanded to look the same when they are fasting and when they are not fasting.

Many translations that have retained anoint your head have in fact misled their readers, who have identified this anointing with that done to those chosen to be kings in the Old Testament, or even to Christ. (“Christ” means “anointed.”) It is better to do something similar to Good News Translation or New American Bible and use a normal term for grooming or combing hair.

In translation it is not necessary to make a distinction between the use of the plural “you” in the Greek text of verse 16 and the singular “you” in verses 17 and 18.

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 .