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”).

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 1:9)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 1:9:

  • Uma: “Uzia was the progenitor of Yotam, Yotam was the progenitor of Ahas, Ahas was the progenitor of Hizkia,” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Uzziah was the father of Jotham. Jotham was the father of Ahaz. Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Uzzias was the father of Joatam who was the father of Ahaz who was the father of Hezekias.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “And next Ozias was the father of Jotam. Jotam was the father of Acaz, and Acaz the father of Ezequias.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Uzziah was the father of Jotham. Jotham was the father of Ahaz. Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 1:8 – 1:9

Jehoshaphat is listed in 1 Chronicles 3.10, Joram in 3.11, and Azariah [=Uzziah] in 3.12. Where Matthew has the shorter text (“Uzziah was the father of Jotham”), 1 Chronicles has the longer, “Ahaziah was the father of Joash; Joash was the father of Amaziah; Amaziah was the father of Azariah [=Uzziah]; Azariah was the father of Jotham.” So then, for whatever reason, whether textual (the accidental omission of these three names) or thematic (the intentional omission of names to maintain the schematic arrangement of three groups of fourteen names), Matthew has omitted three names: Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah.

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 .