complete verse (Matthew 9:12)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 9:12:

  • Uma: “Yesus heard their words, that is why he said to them: ‘A person who is not sick does not need to be treated/medicated. It is just a sick person who needs to be treated/medicated.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “When Isa heard this, he said to them, ‘It is the sick people who go to the doctor. As for those who are well, they don’t have a need to go to the doctor.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Jesus heard this and he answered with a parable, he said, ‘He who has no sickness doesn’t need to have himself medicined, but rather only the ones who has a sickness.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But Jesus heard what-they -questioned and he said parabling, ‘It is not the healthy people who need someone-to-medicine-them but rather the sick.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Jesus heard that question of theirs, therefore he was the one who answered, saying, ‘The ones who have illnesses, they really are the ones who need a doctor. Not those who have no illness.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Jesus heard what was said to the learners and said to those who were talking with them: ‘It is the people who are sick to whom the doctor comes. He doesn’t come to the people who are healthy.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Honorary "are" construct denoting God (“say”)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, iw-are-ru (言われる) or “say” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Matthew 9:12

The pronoun he refers to Jesus. Some translators use the proper noun, “Jesus.”

Heard it: the Greek text does not indicate the object of the verb heard, but English structure requires one. New English Bible and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch follow Revised Standard Version in supplying it (New Jerusalem Bible “this”), with the question of the Pharisees as the antecedent. New American Bible has “Overhearing the remark.” Good News Translation provides “them,” which is actually an abbreviated form for “… them say this” or “… them ask this question.” For some languages it may be necessary to be even more specific: “heard the question of the Pharisees” or “heard the Pharisees ask his disciples this question.”

Jesus’ reply takes the form of a parable in which tax collectors and other sinners (verse 10) are described as those who are sick.

Those may need to be rendered “those people” or “people.” The sentence can be translated “People who aren’t sick (or, People who are healthy) don’t need a doctor, only sick people do.” The order can also be reversed, as in “It is sick people who need a doctor, not those who are healthy.”

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 .