OET interlinear MAT 23:23

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result

οὐαὶ ὑμῖν, γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι, ὑποκριταί! ὅτι ἀποδεκατοῦτε τὸ ἡδύοσμον, καὶ τὸ ἄνηθον, καὶ τὸ κύμινον, καὶ ἀφήκατε τὰ βαρύτερα τοῦ νόμου: τὴν κρίσιν, καὶ τὸ ἔλεος, καὶ τὴν πίστιν & ταῦτα δὲ ἔδει ποιῆσαι, κἀκεῖνα μὴ ἀφιέναι

woe ˱to˲_you_all scribes and Pharisees hypocrites because ˱you_all˲_/are/_tithing ¬the mint and ¬the dill and ¬the cummin and ˱you_all˲_left the heavier ˱of˲_the law ¬the justice and ¬the mercy and ¬the faith & (Some words not found in SR-GNT: οὐαὶ ὑμῖν γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι ὑποκριταί ὅτι ἀποδεκατοῦτε τὸ ἡδύοσμον καὶ τὸ ἄνηθον καὶ τὸ κύμινον καὶ ἀφήκατε τὰ βαρύτερα τοῦ νόμου τὴν κρίσιν καὶ τὸ ἔλεος καὶ τὴν πίστιν ταῦτα δὲ ἔδει ποιῆσαι κἀκεῖνα μὴ ἀφεῖναι)

If it would be more natural in your language, you could reverse the order of these sentences, since the second and third sentences give the reason for the result that the first sentence describes. Alternate translation: “You, scribes and Pharisees, tithe the mint and the dill and the cumin, but you have neglected the weightier things of the law—justice and mercy and faith. But it was necessary to do these and those not to neglect. So woe to you, hypocrites!”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

ἀποδεκατοῦτε τὸ ἡδύοσμον, καὶ τὸ ἄνηθον, καὶ τὸ κύμινον

˱you_all˲_/are/_tithing ¬the mint and ¬the dill and ¬the cummin

Here Jesus refers to tithing mint, dill, and cumin because he wants to show that the scribes and Pharisees carefully tithe even the most insignificant things. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make that idea more explicit. Alternate translation: “you tithe even insignificant things like mint and dill and cumin”

Note 3 topic: translate-unknown

τὸ ἡδύοσμον, καὶ τὸ ἄνηθον, καὶ τὸ κύμινον

¬the mint and ¬the dill and ¬the cummin

These are the names of plants. People put just a little bit of their leaves or seeds into their food to give it flavor. If your readers would not know what mint, dill, and cumin are, you could refer to similar plants that they would know, or you could use a general expression. Alternate translation: “the plants that you use to season your food” or “your garden herbs”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

τὰ βαρύτερα

the heavier

Jesus is speaking as if the more important commandments in the law were literally weightier or heavier than others. If it would be clearer in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “the more significant things”

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

τὴν κρίσιν, καὶ τὸ ἔλεος, καὶ τὴν πίστιν

¬the justice and ¬the mercy and ¬the faith

If your language does not use abstract nouns for the ideas of justice, mercy, and faith, you could express the same ideas in another way. Alternate translation: “to act justly and mercifully and faithfully”

Note 6 topic: writing-pronouns

ταῦτα & κἀκεῖνα

these_‹things› & and_those

The pronoun these refers to doing justice and mercy and faith. The pronoun those refers to tithing the mint and the dill and the cumin. If it would be helpful in your language, you could refer to doing those things more directly. Alternate translation: “the latter and the former” or “justice, mercy, and faith and tithing”

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / doublenegatives

κἀκεῖνα μὴ ἀφιέναι

and_those not (Some words not found in SR-GNT: οὐαὶ ὑμῖν γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι ὑποκριταί ὅτι ἀποδεκατοῦτε τὸ ἡδύοσμον καὶ τὸ ἄνηθον καὶ τὸ κύμινον καὶ ἀφήκατε τὰ βαρύτερα τοῦ νόμου τὴν κρίσιν καὶ τὸ ἔλεος καὶ τὴν πίστιν ταῦτα δὲ ἔδει ποιῆσαι κἀκεῖνα μὴ ἀφεῖναι)

If it would be clearer in your language, you could use a positive expression to translate this double negative that consists of the negative particle not and the negative word neglect. Alternate translation: “those also to do”