Open Bible Data Home About News OET Key
OET OET-RV OET-LV ULT UST BSB MSB BLB AICNT OEB WEBBE WMBB NET LSV FBV TCNT T4T LEB BBE Moff JPS Wymth ASV DRA YLT Drby RV SLT Wbstr KJB-1769 KJB-1611 Bshps Gnva Cvdl TNT Wycl SR-GNT UHB BrLXX BrTr Related Topics Parallel Interlinear Reference Dictionary Search
InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Mat C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24 C25 C26 C27 C28
Mat 13 V1 V3 V5 V7 V9 V11 V13 V15 V17 V19 V21 V23 V25 V27 V29 V31 V33 V35 V37 V39 V41 V43 V47 V49 V51 V53 V55 V57
OET (OET-LV) Furthermore the kingdom of_the heavens is similar to_a_ merchant _man seeking beautiful pearls,
In this section, Jesus told three more parables. Each parable teaches something about the kingdom of God. The first parable tells a story about a treasure, and the second parable tells a story about a pearl. Both parables show that being in God’s kingdom is worth much more than all a person has. The third parable tells a story about a fishing net. Its meaning is similar to the parable of the weeds. It shows that good and bad people will live together for a while. But in the end, God will judge all people.
If the major language translation in your area breaks each parable into a separate section, you may want to follow that example. For example: 13:44 is “The parable of the hidden treasure,” 13:45–46 is “The parable of the pearl,” and 13:47–50 is “The parable of the fish net.”
Here are some other possible headings for this section:
Three parables
Parables about a treasure, a pearl, and a fishing net
These three parables occur only in Matthew.
In this paragraph, Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to a pearl of great value (in 13:46a). The comparison is not to the merchant in the next phrase (13:45b).
In order to make the comparison clear, it may be necessary in some languages to change the order of some of the clauses in 13:45–46. For example:
45aAgain, the kingdom of heaven is like 46aa pearl of great value. 45bWhen a merchant who was searching for one 46afound one, 46bhe went and sold all that he had and bought it.
This parable teaches us the same lesson as the parable of the hidden treasure: the most important thing in a person’s life is to belong to God’s kingdom. A person should seek to belong to God’s kingdom at all cost.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like
¶ “Also, the kingdom of heaven is like this:
¶ “Here is what God’s rule/chieftaincy is also like.
Again: This word refers to the fact that Jesus spoke another parable about God’s kingdom. The teaching of this parable is similar to the teaching of the parable of the treasure. It does not mean that he repeated what he had already said.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
Also (GNT)
Furthermore
the kingdom of heaven is like: This clause begins a simile. This simile compares the kingdom of heaven to a pearl of great value (in 13:46a). (As mentioned above, the comparison is not to the merchant.) The point of similarity is that both the kingdom of heaven and a valuable pearl are worth much more than everything that a person owns. A person should do anything necessary to get them.
Here are some other ways to begin this simile:
the Kingdom of heaven is like this: (GNT)
Here is what the kingdom of heaven can be compared to:
a merchant in search of fine pearls.
A trader was searching for beautiful little stones called pearls.
A man was looking for beautiful beads to buy.
merchant: This word refers to someone who buys and sells goods.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
trader
businessman
man (GNT)
fine pearls: The word pearls refers to round, stone-like beads about 5–10 millimeters across. Pearls are found in a kind of shellfish called an “oyster.” Pearls are often very beautiful, and good ones are very valuable. People wear them in necklaces and as other jewelry.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
Use a descriptive phrase. For example:
expensive beads
precious/costly stones
Use the major language word for “pearl” and explain it in the text. For example:
expensive jewels called pearls
This word also occurs in 7:6b.
fine: This word means “beautiful” or “free from defects” here.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
beautiful
choice (NLT)
Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-words-phrases
πάλιν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Πάλιν ὁμοία ἐστίν ἡ Βασιλεία τῶν Οὐρανῶν ἀνθρώπῳ ἐμπόρῳ ζητοῦντι καλούς μαργαρίτας)
Here, the word Again introduces another parable or short story. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word or phrase that introduces another story, or you could leave Again untranslated. Alternate translation: [Also] or [Even further]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / parables
ὁμοία ἐστὶν ἡ Βασιλεία τῶν Οὐρανῶν ἀνθρώπῳ
similar (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Πάλιν ὁμοία ἐστίν ἡ Βασιλεία τῶν Οὐρανῶν ἀνθρώπῳ ἐμπόρῳ ζητοῦντι καλούς μαργαρίτας)
To teach the disciples, Jesus offers another story or illustration. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could indicate that explicitly. Alternate translation: [listen to this story: the kingdom of the heavens is like a man]
Note 3 topic: translate-unknown
ἀνθρώπῳ ἐμπόρῳ ζητοῦντι
˱to˲_˓a˒_man merchant seeking
A merchant is a trader who buys merchandise and sells it to people. If your readers would not be familiar with this occupation, you could use the name of something similar in your area or you could use a more general term. Alternate translation: [a man, a shopkeeper, seeking] or [a man, a seller of goods, who was seeking]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ζητοῦντι καλοὺς μαργαρίτας
seeking (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Πάλιν ὁμοία ἐστίν ἡ Βασιλεία τῶν Οὐρανῶν ἀνθρώπῳ ἐμπόρῳ ζητοῦντι καλούς μαργαρίτας)
Jesus implies that the man is seeking fine pearls because he wants to buy them. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [seeking to buy fine pearls]
Note 5 topic: translate-unknown
καλοὺς μαργαρίτας
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Πάλιν ὁμοία ἐστίν ἡ Βασιλεία τῶν Οὐρανῶν ἀνθρώπῳ ἐμπόρῳ ζητοῦντι καλούς μαργαρίτας)
The word pearls refers to beautiful and valuable mineral balls that people use as jewelry. When pearls are fine, they are particularly beautiful and valuable. If your readers would not be familiar with pearls, you could use the name of something similar in your area or you could use a more general term. See how you translated pearls in [7:6](../07/06.md). Alternate translation: [beautiful jewelry] or [very valuable stones]
13:1-53 In the third major discourse recorded by Matthew (see study note on Matt 5:1–7:29), Jesus here recognized the separation of his followers from others (13:14, 16) and began to reveal the secrets of the Kingdom privately to them through parables.
OET (OET-LV) Furthermore the kingdom of_the heavens is similar to_a_ merchant _man seeking beautiful pearls,
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.
Open Bible Data site copyright © 2023–2026 Freely-Given.org.
Python source code for creating these static pages is available on GitHub under an open licence.
For Bible data copyrights, see the details for each displayed Bible version.
The Open English Translation (OET) main site is at OpenEnglishTranslation.Bible or OET.Bible.