InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEUT JOB YEHO (JOS) HERO (JDG) RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG YOEL (JOEL) MIC ISA ZEP HAB YIR (JER) LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBAD DAN EZEK EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL 2 PS WIS TOB MAN BAR G DAN G ESD L ESD ESG JDT 3 MAC SIR 1 MAC 2 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL LAOD 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
InterlinearVerse Mat C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24 C25 C26 C27 C28
Mat 14 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V24 V25 V26 V27 V28 V29 V30 V31 V32 V33 V34 V35 V36
People tagged in the matching LV passage: Herodias
OET-LV But for_the_birthday_celebrations of_ the _Haʸrōdaʸs having_become, the daughter of_ the _Haʸrōidias danced in the midst and brought_pleasure to_ the _Haʸrōdaʸs,
OET (OET-RV) However at Herodes’s birthday celebration, Herodias’s daughter had danced in front of them all and had pleased Herodes so much
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.
On Herod’s birthday, however,
¶ But some time later, at Herod’s birthday feast,
¶ Months later, Herod celebrated the day of the year on which he had been born. During the party
On: Between the events of 14:3–5 and this paragraph, John has been in prison for several months to a year. Here are some other ways to indicate this:
some time later, when it was
months later, when it was
Herod’s birthday: The Greek term that the BSB translates as birthday means a “birthday celebration.” Herod was celebrating the day of the year when he had been born. He celebrated by having a feast. In Roman culture, these feasts often included wine to get drunk and women for sex. The family of Herod followed much of the Roman culture.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
Herod’s birthday feast/celebration
the day when another year of Herod’s life was finished
the day of the year on which Herod had been born
however: There is a contrast here. In the previous paragraph, even though Herod wanted to kill John, he did not do it. But in this paragraph, he does have him killed. The BSB introduces this contrast with the conjunction however.
Some English versions do not begin this paragraph with the conjunction however. In some languages, a conjunction like “but” will not be necessary either.
the daughter of Herodias danced before them
the daughter of Herodias danced in front of the people whom he invited.
the daughter of Herodias danced while/and Herod and his guests watched.
the daughter of Herodias: This was the daughter of Herodias by her previous husband. She was not the daughter of Herod. She was of marriageable age in that culture, probably between thirteen and eighteen years old.
danced: The daughter danced to entertain the people at the celebration. In that culture, it could have been a kind of dance that was sensual.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
entertained them by dancing
danced to please Herod
before them: This phrase indicates that the daughter of Herodias danced “in front of the people at the celebration.” She danced so that the people at the celebration could watch her. This included Herod’s guests, and also Herod.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
in front of the whole group (GNT)
for the people whom Herod invited
while the people watched her
and pleased Herod
She made Herod very happy,
Herod liked her dance very much.
and pleased Herod: Herod thoroughly enjoyed the dancing of the young woman. The subject of the verb pleased is either “the daughter of Herodias” or “the dancing.”
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
she pleased Herod (NRSV)
Herod was so delighted with her (GW)
a dance that greatly pleased him (NLT)
Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-words-phrases
δὲ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: γενεσίοις Δέ γενομένοις τοῦ Ἡρῴδου ὠρχήσατο ἡ θυγάτηρ τῆς Ἡρῳδιάδος ἐν τῷ μέσῳ καί ἤρεσεν τῷ Ἡρῴδῃ)
Here, the word But introduces the next thing that happened. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word or phrase that introduces the next event, or you could leave But untranslated. Alternate translation: [Then,]
Note 2 topic: writing-participants
γενεσίοις & γενομένοις τοῦ Ἡρῴδου, ὠρχήσατο ἡ θυγάτηρ τῆς Ἡρῳδιάδος
˱for˲_˓the˒_birthday_celebrations & ˓having˒_become ¬the ˱of˲_Herod danced the daughter ¬the ˱of˲_Herodias
Matthew introduces the daughter of Herodias as a new participant in the story. If your language has its own way of introducing new participants, you could use it here in your translation. Alternate translation: [Herodias had a daughter and, the birthday of Herod having come, she danced]
Note 3 topic: grammar-connect-time-simultaneous
γενεσίοις & γενομένοις τοῦ Ἡρῴδου
˱for˲_˓the˒_birthday_celebrations & ˓having˒_become ¬the ˱of˲_Herod
Here, the phrase the birthday of Herod having come gives the time period in which the following events occur. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a form that gives the time period in which something happens. Alternate translation: [when it was the birthday of Herod] or [while Herod was celebrating his birthday]
Note 4 topic: translate-unknown
γενεσίοις & τοῦ Ἡρῴδου
˱for˲_˓the˒_birthday_celebrations & ¬the ˱of˲_Herod
In some cultures, people celebrate a birthday, the day that someone was born. If your readers would not be familiar with this type of celebration, you could use the name of something similar in your area, or you could use a more general term. Alternate translation: [Herod’s birthday celebration] or [the celebration of the anniversary of Herod’s birth]
Note 5 topic: translate-kinship
ἡ θυγάτηρ τῆς Ἡρῳδιάδος
the daughter ¬the ˱of˲_Herodias
Matthew implies that this woman was the daughter of Herodias by a previous husband, probably Philip. She was not the daughter of Herod. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make this relationship more explicit. Alternate translation: [the daughter of Herodias and Philip] or [Herod’s step-daughter, the daughter of Herodias,]
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἐν τῷ μέσῳ
in the midst
Here, the phrase in the midst indicates that the daughter of Herodias danced so that Herod and the guests at his party could all see her. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [before all of Herod’s guests] or [in front of everyone]
OET-LV But for_the_birthday_celebrations of_ the _Haʸrōdaʸs having_become, the daughter of_ the _Haʸrōidias danced in the midst and brought_pleasure to_ the _Haʸrōdaʸs,
OET (OET-RV) However at Herodes’s birthday celebration, Herodias’s daughter had danced in front of them all and had pleased Herodes so much
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.
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