elder (of the community)

The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated as “elders” in English is translated in the Danish Bibelen 2020 as folkets ledere or “leaders of the people.”

Martin Ehrensvärd, one of the translators, explains: “The term ‘elder’ turned out to pose a particularly thorny problem. In traditional bibles, you can find elders all of over the place and they never pose a problem for a translator, they are just always elders. But how to find a contemporary term for this semi-official, complex position? This may have been our longest-standing problem. A couple of times we thought we had the solution, and then implemented it throughout the texts, only to find out that it didn’t work. Like when we used city council or village council, depending on the context. In the end we felt that the texts didn’t work with such official terms, and throughout the years in the desert, these terms didn’t make much sense. Other suggestions were ‘the eldest and wisest’, ‘the respected citizens’, ‘the Israelites with a certain position in society’, ‘the elder council’ –- and let me point out that these terms sound better in Danish than in English (‘de fremtrædende borgere,’ ‘de mest fremtrædende israelitter,’ ‘alle israelitter med en vis position,’ ‘de ældste og de klogeste,’ ‘ældsterådet’). In the end we just said ‘leaders of the people.’ After a lot of hand-wringing, it turned out that we actually found a term that worked well. So, we had to give up conveying the fact that they were old, but the most important point is that they were community leaders.” (Source: Ehrensvärd in HIPHIL Novum 8/2023, p. 81ff. )

The German das Buch translation by Roland Werner (publ. 2009-2022) translates likewise as “leader of the people” (Anführer des Volkes).

Judas (the disciple)

The term that is transliterated as “Judas” in English is translated in American Sign Language with the sign for the letter J and the sign signifying holding a bag of money, referring to John 12:6. (Source: RuthAnna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“Judas” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

In Spanish Sign Language it is translated with with the sign for “kiss,” referring to Matthew 26:49 et al. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)


“Judas” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

complete verse (Matthew 26:47)

Following are a number of back-translations of Matthew 26:47:

  • Uma: “While Yesus was still speaking, Yudas, one of his twelve disciples, arrived. And with him were many other people carrying swords and clubs. They had been ordered/sent by the leading priests and the Yahudi elders.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “While Isa was still talking, Judas arrived. He was one of the twelve disciples of Isa. Very many people came with Judas having swords (barung) and carrying clubs. The leaders of the priests and the elders had told them to go.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And while Jesus was still talking, Judas, one of the twelve apostles, arrived. With him were many people armed with bolos and clubs. They were sent by the chief priests and the elders of the Jews.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “While Jesus was still speaking, Judas arrived who was one of his twelve disciples. He had many accompanying-him whom the leaders of the priests and the elders of the Jews had sent who were carrying swords and clubs.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Jesus hadn’t yet finished speaking when that Judas arrived who was indeed one of those twelve disciples. Lots of people were with him, each one having a weapon (usually a blade), clubs being what some held. They had been sent by the chiefs of the priests and the important tribal leaders.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “While Jesus was speaking to his learners, Judas, one of the twelve learners, arrived accompanied with many people who carried machetes and clubs. These people were sent from the chief priests and those who led at the church.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Matthew 26:47

Both Mark and Matthew note that Judas arrived as Jesus was still speaking to his disciples. But Mark emphasizes the suddenness of his arrival, while Matthew shifts the focus to Judas himself, as a literal rendering of the transitional statements in the two Gospels will demonstrate: “And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve” (Mark 14.43) and While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve (Matt 26.47).

Since most translators have a section heading at the beginning of this verse, they find it necessary to replace he with “Jesus.”

As was the case at verse 14, the twelve is perhaps better “the twelve disciples.” It does seem odd to use this description here, since Judas has already been introduced into the story and his identity is known by the readers. Some translators have said “Judas, the one who was one of the twelve disciples.”

Came is often more naturally “arrived.” Whether this should precede or follow one of the twelve depends on the style of the receptor language.

Matthew has a great crowd in place of Mark’s “a crowd” (14.43).

Swords and clubs are mentioned again in verse 55. For the person who must depend upon hearing the Scriptures read, both Revised Standard Version (with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders) and New Jerusalem Bible (“men armed with swords and clubs, sent by the chief priests and elders”) may leave the wrong impression that the weapons, and not the men, were sent by the chief priests and the elders.

Whereas Matthew mentions only the chief priests and the elders (as in 26.3), Mark includes “the scribes” as well (14.43).

Finally, Matthew qualifies the elders by the phrase of the people, as he does in verse 3; Mark omits this detail in both places (14.1, 43). Good News Translation drops the phrase from explicit mention in the text on the grounds that it is unnecessarily repetitious. But one scholar suggests that it may well be Matthew’s way of “laying the groundwork for the people’s acceptance of responsibility for Jesus’ death (27.25).” It may then be best to retain the phrase in translation.

The whole verse may need to be restructured, and there are different ways that will be good in different languages. Examples include “While Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve disciples, arrived. With him was a large crowd of people who had swords and clubs. These people had been sent by the chief priests and the elders of the people” and “Jesus was still speaking when Judas arrived, the one who was one of the twelve disciples. With him was a large crowd that had been sent by the chief priests and the elders of the people. They had swords and clubs with them.”

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 .