gnashing of teeth

Th Greek that is translated as “gnashing of teeth” or similar in English is translated as “gnashing their teeth in pain” in Estado de México Otomi for clarity purposes (source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.).

See also gnash / grind teeth.

weeping and gnashing of teeth

The now commonly-used German idiom Heulen und Zähneklappern (originally: Heulen und Zähneklappen), which today is used to express anger and outrage, often in a humorous context (literally “weeping and chattering of teeth”), was first coined in 1522 in the German New Testament translation by Martin Luther. (Source: Günther 2017, p. 79)

For other idioms or terms in German that were coined by Bible translation, see here.

complete verse (Matthew 13:50)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 13:50:

  • Uma: “The evil people are thrown into the fire of hell. There they will continually cry and suffer/groan.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “The bad people they will drop in the fire of hell. They will wail there and gnash their teeth because of their regret.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And the bad ones, they will throw into the fire. And the bad ones, they will yell and gnash their teeth because of their great remorse.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Then they will throw-them -away in the fire that doesn’t ever go-out, and they will cry-bitterly while-simultaneously they will also clench-(their) -teeth.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well, these who are not his people will be thrown by these angels into the fire which is burning very high and never dies down. They really will cry-loudly without restraint and their teeth will grind.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “The evil people will be thrown into the oven which has a great fire. There they will cry and gnash their teeth for the painful suffering they endure.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 13:50

This verse is a repetition of verse 42 and 8.12 (see comments at 8.12).

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 .