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 15 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 V37 V38 V39
OET (OET-LV) by_no_means he_˓will˒_ not _be_honouring the father of_him.
And you_all_annulled the message of_ the _god because_of the tradition of_you_all.
OET (OET-RV) then you say that they’re not actually dishonouring their parents. So by saying that, you’re overriding God’s message with your own tradition.
Over the years, Jewish religious leaders added many oral rules to God’s written laws. The Pharisees and teachers of the law considered these oral rules (also called traditions) to be as important as God’s written laws. One of their rules was that a person must wash his hands a certain way before he ate food. If a Jew did not follow this rule before he ate, they considered him ceremonially “unclean.” This meant that they did not allow him to worship God in public for a certain amount of time. Jesus made it clear that there was something far more important than how a person washed his hands. The important thing was the condition of his heart.
Here are some other possible headings for this section:
Jesus Challenges the Pharisees’ Traditions (GW)
Jesus Teaches about Inner Purity/Cleanliness
There are parallel passages for this section in Mark 7:1–23 and Luke 11:37–39.
he need not honor his father or mother with it.
then you say that he must not honor his father or mother.
If he says that, then you teach that he is forbidden from honoring his parents with those things.
he need not honor his father or mother with it: There are two ways to interpret the clause that the BSB translates as he need not honor his father:
It means that he is forbidden from honoring his father. He must not give to his father the money/things that he vowed to give to God. This is because a vow is sacred and must not be broken. If a vow is made pledging money to God, then that money must never be used for anything else. He must not honor/help his father with it. For example:
must not honour his father or his mother (REB) (NIV, KJV, NASB, REB, NCV)
It means that he is not required to honor his father. He is free from the obligation to honor his father. He no longer needs to honor his father. For example:
they do not need to honor their father (GNT)
it is not necessary for him to honor his father (BSB, GNT, ESV, RSV, NJB, NET, CEV, NLT, JBP)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). This interpretation better fits the Greek. (The Greek is more literally “he shall not honor his father.”) It also fits the parallel passage in Mark 7:12 “you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother.”
Here are some other issues to consider when translating this clause:
This clause says that there are only certain ways that a person must not honor his parents. It applies only to the money, goods, or property that a person has already vowed to give to God. The Pharisees were not forbidding a person from honoring his parents in general. There were still many other ways they required a person to honor his parents. For this reason, the BSB adds the phrase with it. For example:
he is not to ‘honor his father’ with it (NIV)
he is forbidden from honoring his father with that money
This clause continues the teaching of the Pharisees. In some languages, it may be natural to make this more clear. For example:
You teach that person not to honor his father or his mother (NCV)
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
you say that he is forbidden from honoring his father and mother with those goods
you teach that person that he must not honor his parents with that money
his father or mother: Many Greek manuscripts have his father. Some Greek manuscripts add “and his mother.” Even in those manuscripts that have only his father, it is implied that the mother is included as well. In some languages, it may be more natural to include this implied information. For example:
his father or his mother (NCV)
your parents (CEV)
Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.
So, you make God’s word useless because of your tradition.
Therefore, you reject what God said in order to follow your own customs.
Thus: Verse 15:6b is the conclusion that Jesus made. The BSB introduces this conclusion with the conjunction Thus.
Here are some other ways to introduce this conclusion:
In this way (NJB)
Therefore
you nullify the word of God: The Greek word that the BSB translates as nullify also means “cancel out,” “reject,” or “disregard.” People could justify not helping their parents. But in doing so, they broke the command to honor one’s parents.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
You rejected what God said (NCV)
you have destroyed the authority of God’s word (GW)
You ignore God’s commands (CEV)
for the sake of your tradition: In Greek, this phrase is the same phrase as in 15:3. It means “because of” or “on account of.”
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
Because of your traditions (GW)
in order to follow your own customs
and follow your own teaching
by following your own customs
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
οὐ μὴ τιμήσει τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: οὒ μή τιμήσει τόν πατέρα αὐτοῦ Καί ἠκυρώσατε τόν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ διά τήν παράδοσιν ὑμῶν)
Here Jesus implies that the Pharisees and scribes mean that the person cannot honor his father by giving him the money or goods that he promised to give to God. The person could still honor his father in other ways. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [he will certainly not honor his father in that way] or [he will certainly not honor his father by giving him what he declared to be a gift for God]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / gendernotations
οὐ μὴ τιμήσει & αὐτοῦ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: οὒ μή τιμήσει τόν πατέρα αὐτοῦ Καί ἠκυρώσατε τόν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ διά τήν παράδοσιν ὑμῶν)
Although the terms he and his are masculine, Jesus is using the words in a generic sense that includes both men and women. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use phrases that make this clear. Alternate translation: [that person will certainly not honor his or her]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
οὐ μὴ τιμήσει
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: οὒ μή τιμήσει τόν πατέρα αὐτοῦ Καί ἠκυρώσατε τόν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ διά τήν παράδοσιν ὑμῶν)
Here Jesus could mean that the scribes and Pharisees taught that: (1) the person was not allowed to honor his father. Alternate translation: [he is certainly not allowed to honor] (2) the person did not have to honor his father. Alternate translation: [he does not need to honor]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / doublenegatives
οὐ μὴ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: οὒ μή τιμήσει τόν πατέρα αὐτοῦ Καί ἠκυρώσατε τόν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ διά τήν παράδοσιν ὑμῶν)
The words translated as certainly not are two negative words. In this construction, the second negative does not cancel the first to create a positive meaning. Instead, it gives greater emphasis to the negative. If your language can use two negatives that do not cancel one another to create a positive meaning, you could use a double negative here. If your language does not use two negatives in that way, you could translate with one strong negative, as the ULT does. Alternate translation: [by no means]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
πατέρα
father
Here Jesus implies that this person will also not honor his mother. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [father or his mother]
Note 6 topic: grammar-connect-words-phrases
καὶ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: οὒ μή τιμήσει τόν πατέρα αὐτοῦ Καί ἠκυρώσατε τόν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ διά τήν παράδοσιν ὑμῶν)
Here, the word And introduces the result of what the Pharisees and scribes tell people that they can do. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word or phrase that introduces a result. Alternate translation: [So,]
Note 7 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result
ἠκυρώσατε τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ διὰ τὴν παράδοσιν ὑμῶν
˱you_all˲_annulled (Some words not found in SR-GNT: οὒ μή τιμήσει τόν πατέρα αὐτοῦ Καί ἠκυρώσατε τόν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ διά τήν παράδοσιν ὑμῶν)
If it would be more natural in your language, you could reverse the order of these phrases, since the last phrase gives the reason for the result that the rest of the sentence describes. Alternate translation: [because of your tradition, you have set aside the word of God]
Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ἠκυρώσατε
˱you_all˲_annulled
Here Jesus speaks as if the word of God were an object that people could set aside and ignore. He means that they are ignoring the word of God and treating it like it is not important. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a comparable phrase or state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [you have nullified] or [you have ignored]
Note 9 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: οὒ μή τιμήσει τόν πατέρα αὐτοῦ Καί ἠκυρώσατε τόν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ διά τήν παράδοσιν ὑμῶν)
Jesus is using the term word to refer to the commands that God gave using words. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [what God said]
Note 10 topic: translate-textvariants
τὸν λόγον
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: οὒ μή τιμήσει τόν πατέρα αὐτοῦ Καί ἠκυρώσατε τόν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ διά τήν παράδοσιν ὑμῶν)
Many ancient manuscripts read the word. The ULT follows that reading. Other ancient manuscripts read “the commandment,” and some other ancient manuscripts read “the law.” If a translation of the Bible exists in your region, you may wish to use the reading that it uses. If a translation of the Bible does not exist in your region, you may wish to use the reading of the ULT.
Note 11 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
παράδοσιν ὑμῶν
tradition ˱of˲_you_all
If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of tradition, you could express the same idea in another way. Alternate translation: [what you were taught]
OET (OET-LV) by_no_means he_˓will˒_ not _be_honouring the father of_him.
And you_all_annulled the message of_ the _god because_of the tradition of_you_all.
OET (OET-RV) then you say that they’re not actually dishonouring their parents. So by saying that, you’re overriding God’s message with your own tradition.
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.