complete verse (Matthew 25:24)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 25:24:

  • Uma: “‘After that, the ordered-one who had gotten a thousand arrived too, he said: ‘Noble, I knew you (sing.) were mean/strict. You (sing.) reap what is not your (sing.) planted-thing, you (sing.) get what you (sing.) did not work-hard-for.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then the one servant who had been given one thousand pesos also went and he said, ‘Sir, I know that you have no pity/mercy on people. You take what is not yours and you harvest what you have not worked for.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And the servant to whom he had given a thousand went there also. He said, ‘Chief, I know that you have no pity because you harvest what you did not plant, and you get gain from what you do not invest.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “‘After that the one who was entrusted with only-one talent went and said, ‘Sir, I know that you (sing.) are a cruel/harsh/unyielding person. You (sing.) are taking what you (sing.) didn’t work-for (lit. tire-for) and you (sing.) also are harvesting what you (sing.) didn’t plant.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “That one left in charge of one thousand also handed-over. He said, ‘Master, I know that you are strict. You harvest what it wasn’t you who put-in-the-hard-work. You take profit on what it wasn’t you who persevered.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “At the last there arrived the worker to whom he had given one thousand monies. He said to the boss: ‘Listen, boss, I know that you speak strongly. You ask for what you haven’t gained. You harvest where you haven’t worked.” (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 25:24

In the words of one commentator, this servant “shows as soon as he opens his mouth that he is not interested in his lord’s advantage but in saving his own skin.”

The adjective hard is used only here in the Gospel of Matthew; elsewhere in the New Testament it is found in John 6.60; Acts 26.14; James 3.4 (“strong” of wind); Jude 15 (“harsh”). The two illustrations (sowing and reaping; winnowing and gathering) probably reflect proverbial sayings (see Job 31.8; John 4.37); they are used to illustrate what the servant means by the accusation that his master is a hard man. Most translators describe the master here as “strict” or, as in Barclay, “a shrewd and ruthless businessman.”

The four verbs (reaping … sow … gathering … winnow) may require the explicit mention of objects, as for example, “reap harvests,” “sow (or, plant) seeds,” “gather crops,” and “winnow chaff.” But this is complicated by the observation that the final verb in this series is literally “scatter” and may mean either “scatter” (of seed) or “winnow” (of chaff). The Good News Translation rendering “scatter seed” probably is best in this context. In either case the idea of taking profits where someone else has done the work is clear.

It is possible to follow chronological order, shift to a comparison, and at the same time combine the two figures of speech into one: “You are a hard man. You are like someone who does not plant seeds but expects to gather a crop” or “You are like someone who expects to gather a crop from a garden (or, field) that someone else has planted.”

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 .