complete verse (Matthew 25:22)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 25:22:

  • Uma: “‘The ordered-one who had gotten two thousand gold coins also arrived, he said: ‘Noble, you (sing.) turned over to me the other day two thousand. Look, here is its increase [child], two thousand more.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then the servant who had been given two thousand pesos also went to him. He said ‘Sir, you gave me two thousand pesos. I was able to gain also two thousand.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And the one to whom he gave two thousand pesos went to him also, and he said, ‘Chief, you gave me two thousand pesos. See, here also is the gain of two thousand pesos!'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “‘Then the one who was entrusted with two talents went also and he said, ‘Sir, two talents are what you (sing.) entrusted to me. Here also are the two that it earned (lit. gave-birth-to).'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “That one also handed-over who had been left in charge of two thousand. He said, ‘Master, here is your two thousand which you left. I was able to increase it by another two thousand which I got in profit.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Then arrived the worker to whom he had given two thousand monies. This one said to the boss: ‘Listen, boss, two thousand monies you gave me, but here are two more thousand monies I have gained, now there are four thousand,’ he said.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

formal 2nd person pronoun (Spanish)

Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Spanish uses a formal vs. informal second-person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Spanish Bibles all use only the informal second-person pronoun (tú), with the exception of Dios Habla Hoy (third edition: 1996) which also uses the formal pronoun (usted). In the referenced verses, the formal form is used.

Sources and for more information: P. Ellingworth in The Bible Translator 2002, p. 143ff. and R. Ross in The Bible Translator 1993, p. 217ff.

See also the use of the formal vs. the informal pronoun in the Gospels in Tuvan.

formal pronoun: Jesus addressing his disciples and common people

Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.

As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator 2002, p. 210ff.), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.

Here, Jesus is addressing his disciples, individuals and/or crowds with the formal pronoun, showing respect.

In most Dutch translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and common people with the informal pronoun, whereas they address him with the formal form.

Translation commentary on Matthew 25:22

The problems of interpreting and translating this verse are similar to those of verse 20. See discussion there.

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 .