OET interlinear MAT 20:28

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / 123person

ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Ἀνθρώπου & αὐτοῦ

the Son ¬the ˱of˲_Man & ˱of˲_him

Here Jesus speaks about himself in the third person. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use the first person. Alternate translation: “I, who am the Son of Man, … my”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / infostructure

οὐκ ἦλθεν διακονηθῆναι, ἀλλὰ διακονῆσαι καὶ δοῦναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ λύτρον ἀντὶ πολλῶν

not came /to_be/_served but /to/_serve and /to/_give the life ˱of˲_him /a/_ransom for many

If your language would not naturally put the negative statement before the positive statement, you could reverse the two clauses here. Alternate translation: “came to serve, and to give his life as a ransom in exchange for many, not to be served”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

διακονηθῆναι

/to_be/_served

If your language does not use this passive form, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. If you need to say who did the action, you could use an indefinite subject. Alternate translation: “for people to serve him”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis

ἀλλὰ διακονῆσαι

but /to/_serve

Jesus is leaving out some of the words that in many languages a sentence would need in order to be complete. You could supply these words from earlier in the sentence if it would be clearer in your language. Alternate translation: “but he came to serve”

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

δοῦναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ λύτρον ἀντὶ πολλῶν

/to/_give the life ˱of˲_him /a/_ransom for many

Here Jesus speaks as if his life were a price or ransom he would give to free many from someone or something that owned or controlled them. He means that he will obtain forgiveness for his people’s sins and will keep those sins from controlling them. This is an important biblical image, so if possible preserve the figure of speech or express the idea in simile form. Alternate translation: “to offer his life as if it were a ransom to set many free from sin”

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

δοῦναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ

/to/_give the life ˱of˲_him

If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of life, you could express the same idea in another way. Alternate translation: “to allow himself to die”

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / nominaladj

πολλῶν

many

Jesus is using the adjective many as a noun to mean many people. Your language may use adjectives in the same way. If not, you could translate this word with an equivalent phrase. Alternate translation: “many men and women”