The Greek and Hebrew that is translated in English as “grain” (or: “corn”) is translated in Kui as “(unthreshed) rice.” Helen Evans (in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 40ff. ) explains: “Padddy [unthreshed rice] is the main crop of the country and rice the staple diet of the people, besides which [grain] is unknown and there is no word for it, and it seemed to us that paddy and rice in the mind of the Kui people stood for all that corn meant to the Jews.” “Paddy” is also the translation in Pa’o Karen (source: Gordon Luce in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 153f. ).
Other translations include: “wheat” (Teutila Cuicatec), “corn” (Lalana Chinantec), “things to eat” (Morelos Nahuatl), “grass corn” (wheat) (Chichimeca-Jonaz) (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), or ntimumma lujia / “seeds for food” (Lokạạ — “since Lokạạ does not have specific terms for maize and rice that can be described as grains”) (source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )
Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 13:25:
Uma: “One night while the person was asleep, an enemy of that gardener came, he sowed the garden with seeds of grass that is almost like rice in its leafing, and then left.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “One night while all people were asleep, his enemy went there and he scattered seeds of weeds on top of the seeds (lit. following) and then he left.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “One night while he was sleeping, his enemy arrived and scattered in the field the seeds of a bad plant, and he went home.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “One night when they were sleeping, his enemy went to broadcast weed seeds to mix with the rice.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “One night when people were asleep, his opponent came, who scattered-seed of a poisonous weed there in that field which had been planted with wheat.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “But while all the people slept, the enemy of the owner of the field entered the wheat field at night. He planted seeds which appear like wheat. Then he left.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
But while men were sleeping is reproduced in a somewhat natural story-telling style by Good News Translation: “One night, when everyone was asleep.” Men are best interpreted as people in general (Good News Translation, New English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible) rather than as a specific reference to the men who were responsible for the care and cultivation of the field, as with Phillips (“But while his men were asleep”).
His enemy (so also New Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible) is literally “the enemy,” but in such constructions “the” has the force of the possessive his; Good News Translation has “an enemy,” which is also acceptable. One may translate “someone who did not like the man” or “someone who wanted to do harm to the man.” When the parable is allegorized, “the enemy” becomes “the devil” (verse 39).
Came may have to be “went.” Further, some languages will require a destination, as in “went to the fields.”
Weeds is more specifically “darnel” (Barclay, New Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible), a poisonous plant which frequently grows in wheat fields. In the early stages of growth this weed is difficult to distinguish from wheat.
In some languages sowed weeds will have to be “sowed the seeds of weeds” or “sowed the seeds of a poisonous plant.”
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 .
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