beget (was the father of)

The Greek that is translated as “beget” (or “begat” in the past tense) in older English versions and “was the father of” in more recent ones is translated into Latvian with dzemdināt: “make to give birth” (from dzemdēt “give birth”).

Abraham

The name that is transliterated as “Abraham” in English is translated in virtually all sign languages, including American Sign Language with the sign signifying “hold back arm” (referring to Genesis 22:12).


“Abraham” in American Sign Language (source )

In Tira it is transliterated as Abaram. The choice of this, rather than the widely-known “Ibrahim,” as used in the Tira translation of the Qu’ran, was to offset it against the Muslim transliteration which originates from Arabic. (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )

Click or tap here to see two short video clips about Abraham (source: Bible Lands 2012)

See also our ancestor Abraham and Abram.

genealogy in Matthew 1

Genealogies play an important role among many of Indonesian language groups and it’s important to follow the right format to make them recognizable as such. Daniel Arichea explains (in The Bible Translator 1986. p. 232ff. ):

“In translating the genealogies, we need to pay attention to the standard form of genealogical lists in the language of translation. Among the Bataks, it was discovered after some research that the genealogies are recorded in the form of a list of ancestors. Furthermore, this list almost always starts from the ancestor and goes down to the descendants. This seems to be true also for many other Indonesian groups, although there are some variations. For the genealogies to have meaning among the Bataks and other groups of similar cultures, these genealogies must be in a form which is appropriate.

“In Matthew 1:2-16, the biblical form is strange to many Indonesians. (…) The second edition of the Common Language Indonesian New Testament (Alkitab dalam Bahasa Indonesia Masa Kini) discarded the biblical form and came out with a series of ancestral lists. (…) When this was tested, however, many Indonesians did not recognize these lists as genealogical lists, but saw them simply as a list of names. In the light of such reactions, the new edition which is included in the recently published common language Bible has printed these lists as genealogical lists moving downward from the ancestors to the descendants. Thus, verse 2 reads: “From Abraham until David, the names of the ancestors of Jesus are as follows” [which is then followed by a list].”

You can see this in the following screen capture (available right here ):



In the Kölsch translation (publ. 2017), the genealogy is summarized: “From Abraham to David there were fourteen generations. There were another fourteen generations from David until the Jews were deported to Babylon and from Babylon to Jesus there were yet another fourteen generations. This shows that Joseph (Jupp), Mary’s husband, was a descendant of Abraham and David.” (Translation: Jost Zetzsche)

complete verse (Matthew 1:2)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 1:2:

  • Uma: “From Abraham to Daud, the names of the grandparents of Yesus are these: Abraham was the progenitor of Ishak, Ishak was the progenitor of Yakub, Yakub was the progenitor of Yehuda and his siblings,” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Abraham was the father of Isaac; Isaac, he was the father of Jacob. Now Jacob, his offspring were Juda and his brothers.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Abraham was the father of Isaac who was the father of Jacob who was in-turn the father of Juda and his siblings.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac was the father of Jacob, he being the father of Juda and his brothers.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac was the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Judah and others who were his brothers.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Judah, Judea

The name that is transliterated as “Judah” or “Judea” in English (referring to the son of Jacob, the tribe, and the territory) is translated in Spanish Sign Language as “lion” (referring to Genesis 49:9 and Revelation 5:5). This sign for lion is reserved for regions and kingdoms. (Source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. and Steve Parkhurst)


“Judah” and “Judea” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

See also Judah.

Jacob

The Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that is transliterated as “Jacob” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with a sign that signifies “lentil,” referring to the soup he gave his brother in exchange for his birthright (see Genesis 25:34). Note that another Spanish Sign Language sign for Jacob also users the sign for Jewish. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)


“Jacob” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

In German Sign Language it is a sign that shows the touching of the hip, described in Genesis 32:25:


“Jacob” in German Sign Language (source: Taub und katholisch )

In Finnish Sign Language it is translated with the signs signifying “smooth arm” (referring to the story starting at Genesis 27:11). (Source: Tarja Sandholm)


“Jacob” in Finnish Sign Language (source )

See also Esau.

Translation commentary on Matthew 1:2

Abraham was the father of Isaac: notice that Good News Translation restructures verses 2-16 (2-6a, 6b-11, 12-16) on the basis of the information given in verse 17: “So then, there were fourteen generations from Abraham to David, and fourteen from David to the exile in Babylon, and fourteen from then to the birth of the Messiah.” That is, at the beginning of each list (verses 2a, 6b, 12), Good News Bible provides a summary of the ancestors to be mentioned: “From Abraham to King David … From David to the time when the people of Israel were taken into exile in Babylon … From the time after the exile in Babylon to the birth of Jesus….” This has the advantage of presenting the lists in a way that is natural in English. However, if the reader looks for the fourteen generations (see verse 17) in each of these lists, he may still be at a loss as to what persons are to be included, because this information is still not immediately evident. Therefore the following restructuring may be helpful in making all the relevant information immediately evident for the reader:

• This is the list of the ancestors of Jesus Christ, who was a descendant of David, who was a descendant of Abraham.

There were fourteen generations from Abraham to David:
1. Abraham
2. Isaac
3. Jacob, the father of Judah and his brothers
4. Judah, the father of Perez and Zerah (their mother was Tamar)
5. Perez
6. Hezron
7. Ram
8. Amminadab
9. Nahshon
10. Salmon
11. Boaz (Rahab was his mother)
12. Obed (Ruth was his mother)
13. Jesse
14. King David

There were fourteen generations from David to the time when the people were carried away to Babylon:
1. David
2. Solomon (his mother had been Uriah’s wife)
3. Rehoboam
4. Abijah
5. Asa
6. Jehoshaphat
7. Jehoram
8. Uzziah
9. Jotham
10. Ahaz
11. Hezekiah
12. Manasseh
13. Amon
14. Josiah, the father of Jehoiachin and his brothers, at the time when the people of Israel were carried away to Babylon.

There were fourteen generations from the time the people were carried away to Babylon to the birth of the Promised Savior:
1. Jechoniah
2. Shealtiel
3. Zerubbabel
4. Abiud
5. Eliakim
6. Azor
7. Zadok
8. Achim
9. Eliud
10. Eleazar
11. Matthan
12. Jacob
13. Joseph, the husband of Mary, who was the mother of Jesus
14. Jesus, the Promised Savior (the Messiah).

In many societies it is common to give the lists of the ancestors of people. But even in those societies where it is not often done, there will generally be ways to do it that people can follow easily. When translating these lists in verses 2-16, it is important to keep in mind what is normal and what the readers will follow easily. It may be that putting a restatement of the summary in verse 17 at the beginning will be helpful. This can be done as in Good News Translation, or as we suggested above: “There were 14 generations from Abraham to King David.” Other suggestions are “The descendants Abraham had up to the time of King David are these” or “These are the names of the descendants of Abraham until the time of King David.”

This type of summary introductory statement may not be helpful or necessary in all languages. But those translators who do find it helpful will not only use one here in verse 2, but also in verses 6b and 12.

Some languages will normally use the formula “Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac was the father of Jacob…” throughout the genealogy, much as Matthew did it. Translators will then follow the text quite closely. Other languages have formulas that mention the sons, as in “Abraham, his son was Isaac. Isaac, his son was Jacob….” There are also languages that find it more natural to say “Isaac, his father was Abraham. Jacob, his father was Isaac….”

Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob: in 1 Chronicles 1.34 the Hebrew text has “Israel,” whereas the Greek translation has Jacob, which indicates that Matthew is following the Septuagint rather than the Hebrew text. Matthew then takes the name Judah from 1 Chronicles 2.1 and summarizes with the phrase and his brothers, whereas in the Septuagint the names are listed individually.

Judah and his brothers: readers who do not know the Old Testament at all find it strange to add “and his brothers.” These readers suggest that of course Jacob was also the father of Judah’s brothers, or they would not be his brothers! The important historical information is that the twelve of them founded Israel’s twelve tribes, and this information should be given in a footnote.

Some languages normally use a word which means “siblings,” which covers both brothers and sisters. Since the text is speaking here of twelve specific brothers, then in those languages translators need to say “his male siblings” or “Jacob was the father of Judah and of the other sons.”

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 .