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OET (OET-LV) Then the mother of_the sons of_Zebedaios approached to_him with the sons of_her, prostrating and requesting something from him.
OET (OET-RV) Then Zebedee’s wife approached Yeshua with her two sons, Yacob and Yohan. She knelt in front of him, obviously wanting to ask for something.
In this section, Jesus again dealt with the issue of who is important. In 18:1–4, the disciples had asked Jesus “Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Jesus had answered them there. Here, the mother of James and John asked Jesus to give her two sons the most important positions in his kingdom. Jesus again responded to the disciples’ concern to become important people.
Jesus said that the most important person in his kingdom is the person who behaves like a servant rather than like someone in charge. He finished by saying that he himself came to help other people rather than to ask other to help him. He showed that the values in his kingdom are different than the values here on earth.
Here are some other possible headings for this section:
The Request of the Mother of James and John (NRSV)
The mother of James and John asks Jesus to make her sons the most people in his kingdom
Jesus Teaches about Serving Others (NLT)
There is a parallel passage for this section in Mark 10:35–45.
Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons
¶ Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons.
¶ After this the wife of Zebedee and her two sons came to Jesus.
Then: This verse is the beginning of a new section. The events in this section probably occurred immediately after the events in the preceding section. The Greek introduces this story with a word that the BSB translates as Then.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
Soon after that
After that
the mother of Zebedee’s sons: This woman was the mother of James and John. Her husband was Zebedee. She was probably Jesus’ aunt.The name of this woman was probably Salome (see 27:56 and Mark 15:40). It is possible she was the sister of Jesus’ mother (see John 19:25).
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
the wife of Zebedee (GNT)
the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee (NLT)
The mother of James and John (CEV)
Zebedee’s sons: In this section, Matthew does not mention the names of these two sons. From 4:21, we know that their names were James and John. They were the first disciples whom Jesus called.
In some languages, it will be natural to:
Include their names in the text. For example:
James and John, the sons of Zebedee (NLT)
Add a footnote explaining who these sons were. Here is a sample footnote:
The sons of Zebedee were James and John. They were the first disciples whom Jesus called. Their mother was probably named Salome and was possibly the sister of Jesus’ mother.
with her sons: In some languages, it may be more natural to put this phrase before the verb “came.” For example:
Then the wife of Zebedee and her two sons approached Jesus.
The mother was the one who asked Jesus a question, but James and John were also there at the time. In 20:22 Jesus spoke directly to those two men.
and knelt down to make a request of Him.
She got down on the ground before him and asked him to do something for her.
She knelt/bowed down in front of him and said to him, “Lord, I want to ask you a favor.”
and knelt down: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as knelt down is more literally “prostrating herself before him.” This indicates that the woman wanted to show Jesus great respect and honor. A person usually did that by bending over with his/her face toward the ground, or actually lying face down on the ground.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
she prostrated herself before him
bowed before him (GNT)
she put her face to the ground in front of him
she got on the ground in front of him
Even though the woman and her two sons approached Jesus, the form of this verb is feminine. This means that only the mother knelt in front of Jesus.
This same word, in the same sort of context, is in 18:26a. You should translate it the same way in both places.
to make a request of Him: This verb phrase is more literally “she asked something from him.”
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
she asked him to do something for her (NCV)
she begged him to do her a favor
In some languages, it may be more natural to translate this as direct speech. For example:
she said, “Please give me what I want.”
“Lord, I want to ask you for something.”
“Sir, I have a favor to ask you.”
Note 1 topic: writing-newevent
τότε
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Τότε προσῆλθεν αὐτῷ ἡ μήτηρ τῶν υἱῶν Ζεβεδαίου μετά τῶν υἱῶν αὐτῆς προσκυνοῦσα καί αἰτοῦσα τὶ πάρʼ αὐτοῦ)
Here, the word Then introduces the next major event in the story. It happened sometime soon after Jesus spoke the words recorded in the previous verses. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word or phrase that introduces the next event, or you could leave Then untranslated. Alternate translation: [Soon after that,] or [After Jesus said those things,]
Note 2 topic: writing-participants
προσῆλθεν αὐτῷ ἡ μήτηρ τῶν υἱῶν Ζεβεδαίου
approached ˱to˲_him the mother ˱of˲_the sons ˱of˲_Zebedee
Matthew is introducing the mother of the sons of Zebedee as a new character in the story. Use a natural form in your language for introducing a new character. Alternate translation: [the mother of the sons of Zebedee was there. She approached him]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
τῶν υἱῶν Ζεβεδαίου
˱of˲_the sons ˱of˲_Zebedee
Matthew refers to James and John, who were the sons of Zebedee. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [of James and John, the sons of Zebedee,]
Note 4 topic: translate-symaction
προσκυνοῦσα
prostrating
In the woman’s culture, bowing down to a person was a way to honor a greater person. If it would be helpful in your language, you could refer to a similar action from your culture, or you could explain what bowing down means. Alternate translation: [prostrating herself] or [bowing down to him in respect]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / quotations
αἰτοῦσά τι παρ’ αὐτοῦ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Τότε προσῆλθεν αὐτῷ ἡ μήτηρ τῶν υἱῶν Ζεβεδαίου μετά τῶν υἱῶν αὐτῆς προσκυνοῦσα καί αἰτοῦσα τὶ πάρʼ αὐτοῦ)
It may be more natural in your language to have a direct quotation here. Alternate translation: [asking, “Will you please do something for me?”]
20:20-28 Each prediction of Jesus’ suffering in Matthew is connected to instruction on the nature of discipleship in light of that suffering (see 16:24-28; 17:24–18:5). This teaching called the Messiah’s disciples to follow his example of service and sacrifice.
OET (OET-LV) Then the mother of_the sons of_Zebedaios approached to_him with the sons of_her, prostrating and requesting something from him.
OET (OET-RV) Then Zebedee’s wife approached Yeshua with her two sons, Yacob and Yohan. She knelt in front of him, obviously wanting to ask for something.
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.