vineyard

The Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that is translated as “vineyard” in English is translated in Noongar as boodjer-djildjiyang, lit. “land for fruit.” (Source: Portions of the Holy Bible in the Nyunga language of Australia, 2018).

complete verse (Matthew 20:2)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 20:2:

  • Uma: “he said to them: ‘Go work in my field, I will give you each one silver coin as your wage/salary for one day.’ They said-yes-to his words, they went.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Their agreement was (lit. their-mutual-promising) that he would really pay them the wage for a days work, then he told them to go and work on his land.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “The first ones he got, they agreed that he would pay each one of them one piece of silver because that was the customary payment for one person for one day. And then those people whom he was going to pay to work in his grape field, he started them to work.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “He found some and he agreed-with them for one denario as their daily-wage, then he sent (them) to go work in the vineyard.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Having found some, he arranged with them for a wage which was the (usual) wage for a whole day’s work. Well since it was acceptable to those casual-workers, he sent them to his ubas-plantation.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “He made an agreement with the workers that for one day of work he would pay one money named the denario. He sent the workers to his field then.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 20:2

A denarius (Good News Translation “the regular wage, a silver coin”) was the wage generally paid a laborer for a day’s work (see RSV footnote). The word was first used in 18.28. Some translators have retained both the form and function with a phrase such as “a denarius, the wages for a day.” Others have followed Barclay with “a normal day’s wage.” It is best not to use a local currency term. For one thing, that would remove the story from its biblical context, and for another, modern currencies change value far too quickly.

After agreeing with the laborers is rather elliptical. In many languages translators will have to state what they agreed to: “He agreed to pay them the regular wage” (Good News Translation) or “He came to an agreement with the workmen to work for a normal day’s wage” (Barclay).

He sent them into his vineyard, that is, he sent them to work in his vineyard. Translators should not specify the kind of work, such as pruning or harvesting, but use as general a term as possible.

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 .