MAT 14:4 Interlinear View

1. Greek word
2. Greek lemma
3. OET-LV words
4. OET-RV words
5. Strongs
6. Role/Morphology
7. OET Gloss
8. VLT Gloss
9. CAPS codes
10. Confidence
11. OET tags
12. OET word #
1. ἔλεγεν
2. legō
3. was saying
4. saying
5. 30040
6. VIIA3··S
7. ˓was˒ saying
8. ˓was˒ saying
9. -
10. Y32; TJohn_the_Baptist_Imprisoned
11. 9356
1. Γάρ
2. gar
3. For/Because
4. -
5. 10630
6. C·······
7. for
8. for
9. S
10. Y32; TJohn_the_Baptist_Imprisoned
11. 9357
1. αὐτῷ
2. autos
3. to him
4. -
5. 8460
6. R···3DMS
7. ˱to˲ him
8. ˱to˲ him
9. -
10. Y32; TJohn_the_Baptist_Imprisoned; R9335
11. 9358
1. ὁ
2. ho
3. the
4. -
5. 35880
6. E····NMS
7. ¬the
8. ¬the
9. -
10. Y32; TJohn_the_Baptist_Imprisoned
11. 9359
1. Ἰωάννης
2. iōannēs
3. Yōannaʸs
4. -
5. 24910
6. N····NMS
7. Yōannaʸs
8. John
9. U
10. Person=John; Y32; TJohn_the_Baptist_Imprisoned
11. 9360
1. αὐτῷ
2. autos
3. -
4. -
5. 8460
6. R···3DMS
7. ˱to˲ him
8. ˱to˲ him
9. -
10. -
11. 9361
1. Οὐκ
2. ou
3. not
4. -
5. 37560
6. D·······
7. not
8. not
9. D
10. Y32; TJohn_the_Baptist_Imprisoned
11. 9362
1. ἔξεστιν
2. exeimi
3. It is permitting
4. -
5. 18260
6. VIPA3··S
7. ˱it˲ ˓is˒ permitting
8. ˱it˲ ˓is˒ permitting
9. -
10. Y32; TJohn_the_Baptist_Imprisoned
11. 9363
1. σοί
2. su
3. for you
4. -
5. 47710
6. R···2D·S
7. ˱for˲ you
8. ˱for˲ you
9. -
10. Y32; TJohn_the_Baptist_Imprisoned
11. 9364
1. ἔχειν
2. eχō
3. to be having
4. -
5. 21920
6. VNPA····
7. ˓to_be˒ having
8. ˓to_be˒ having
9. -
10. Y32; TJohn_the_Baptist_Imprisoned
11. 9365
1. αὐτήν
2. autos
3. her
4. -
5. 8460
6. R···3AFS
7. her
8. her
9. -
10. Y32; TJohn_the_Baptist_Imprisoned; R9349
11. 9366

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 14:1–12: The story about how John the Baptist died

In this section, Matthew wrote how John the Baptist was killed. This section can be difficult to translate because the events are not in chronological order.

Verses 1–2 refer to events that happened after John the Baptist died. But verses 3–12 refer back to events that had happened before John the Baptist died, and they include the story of his death. You will need to clearly indicate the change in time at 14:3.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

The Death of John the Baptist (GNT)

John the Baptist Beheaded (NASB)

There are parallel passages for this section in Mark 6:14–29 and Luke 9:7–9.

14:4a

because John had been telling him,

and because John was always telling Herod,
He also did those things because John had repeatedly told Herod

because: In this context, the Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as because indicates that 14:4 continues the explanation that began in 14:3c. Both 14:3c and 14:4 explain the reason that Herod put John in prison.

Here are some other ways to continue this explanation:

and because

He also did this because

John had been telling him: These words introduce what John said to Herod before Herod arrested John. The form of the Greek verb that the BSB translates as had been telling indicates that John said the following things to Herod more than once.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

John was always saying to him

John had repeatedly said to him

14:3–4

(reordered) He said that because some time earlier Herod had married the wife of his brother Philip. Her name was Herodias. Because of that John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” So, to please Herodias, Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison.

14:4b

“It is not lawful for you to have her.”

“It is against the/our^(incl) law for you to marry her.”
“You are not permitted/allowed to be married to her.”
that it was wrong for him to be married to his older brother’s wife.

It is not lawful for you to have her: The phrase not lawful means “not right according to the law.” Here, the reference is to the law that God gave to Moses. In this context, have her means to “be married to your brother’s wife.” It was against God’s law for a man to marry a woman who previously had been his brother’s wife while his brother was still living (Leviticus 20:21).

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

It’s not right for you to be married to her. (GW)

You are not permitted/allowed to have your older brother’s wife.

It is contrary to God’s laws/instructions to marry your older brother’s wife.

In some languages, it may be necessary to explain some of this information in a footnote. A sample footnote is:

This marriage was unlawful according to Jewish law (Leviticus 20:21) because Herod married Herodias while his brother Philip was still living.

General Comment on 14:3–4

14:3a–b occurred after 14:3c–4b. In some languages, it may be more natural to combine verses 3–4. In that way, you can change the order of the clauses and put them in the proper order. For example:

He said that ^3cbecause some time earlier Herod had married his brother Philip’s wife Herodias. ⁴So John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” ^3aAs a result, Herod had arrested John and bound him ^3band put him in prison.

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result

γὰρ

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἔλεγεν Γάρ αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰωάννης Οὐκ ἔξεστιν σοί ἔχειν αὐτήν)

Here, the word For introduces a reason why Herod put John in prison. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word or phrase that introduces a reason, or you could leave For untranslated. Alternate translation: [He did that because]

Note 2 topic: writing-pronouns

αὐτῷ

˱to˲_him

The pronoun him refers to Herod. If this is not clear for your readers, you could use the person's name here. Alternate translation: [to Herod]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / quotations

ἔλεγεν & αὐτῷ & οὐκ ἔξεστίν σοι ἔχειν αὐτήν.

˓was˒_saying & ˱to˲_him & (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἔλεγεν Γάρ αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰωάννης Οὐκ ἔξεστιν σοί ἔχειν αὐτήν)

It may be more natural in your language to have an indirect quotation here. Alternate translation: [was saying to him that it was not lawful for him to have her]

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

1. OET-LV words
2. OET-RV words
3. Strongs
4. Greek word
5. Greek lemma
6. Role/Morphology
7. OET Gloss
8. VLT Gloss
9. CAPS codes
10. Confidence
11. OET tags
12. OET word #
1. For/Because
2. -
3. 10630
4. S
5. gar
6. C-·······
7. for
8. for
9. S
10. Y32; TJohn_the_Baptist_Imprisoned
11. 9357
1. the
2. -
3. 35880
5. ho
6. E-····NMS
7. ¬the
8. ¬the
9. -
10. Y32; TJohn_the_Baptist_Imprisoned
11. 9359
1. Yōannaʸs
2. -
3. 24910
4. U
5. iōannēs
6. N-····NMS
7. Yōannaʸs
8. John
9. U
10. Person=John; Y32; TJohn_the_Baptist_Imprisoned
11. 9360
1. was saying
2. saying
3. 30040
5. legō
6. V-IIA3··S
7. ˓was˒ saying
8. ˓was˒ saying
9. -
10. Y32; TJohn_the_Baptist_Imprisoned
11. 9356
1. to him
2. -
3. 8460
5. autos
6. R-···3DMS
7. ˱to˲ him
8. ˱to˲ him
9. -
10. Y32; TJohn_the_Baptist_Imprisoned; R9335
11. 9358
1. It is
2. -
3. 18260
5. exeimi
6. V-IPA3··S
7. ˱it˲ ˓is˒ permitting
8. ˱it˲ ˓is˒ permitting
9. -
10. Y32; TJohn_the_Baptist_Imprisoned
11. 9363
1. not
2. -
3. 37560
4. D
5. ou
6. D-·······
7. not
8. not
9. D
10. Y32; TJohn_the_Baptist_Imprisoned
11. 9362
1. permitting
2. -
3. 18260
5. exeimi
6. V-IPA3··S
7. ˱it˲ ˓is˒ permitting
8. ˱it˲ ˓is˒ permitting
9. -
10. Y32; TJohn_the_Baptist_Imprisoned
11. 9363
1. for you
2. -
3. 47710
5. su
6. R-···2D·S
7. ˱for˲ you
8. ˱for˲ you
9. -
10. Y32; TJohn_the_Baptist_Imprisoned
11. 9364
1. to be having
2. -
3. 21920
5. eχō
6. V-NPA····
7. ˓to_be˒ having
8. ˓to_be˒ having
9. -
10. Y32; TJohn_the_Baptist_Imprisoned
11. 9365
1. her
2. -
3. 8460
5. autos
6. R-···3AFS
7. her
8. her
9. -
10. Y32; TJohn_the_Baptist_Imprisoned; R9349
11. 9366

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.