OET interlinear MAT 7:15

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

οἵτινες ἔρχονται πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐν ἐνδύμασι προβάτων, ἔσωθεν δέ εἰσιν λύκοι ἅρπαγες

who /are/_coming to you_all in clothing ˱of˲_sheep inside but ˱they˲_are wolves swindling

Here Jesus speaks of God’s people as if they were sheep. By the false prophets wearing sheep’s clothing, he means that the false prophets pretend to be part of God’s people. However, Jesus says that inwardly they are ravenous wolves. He means that they hurt and take advantage of God’s people, which is acting just like wolves that eat sheep. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the idea in simile form or state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [who pretend to be part of your group, as if they were dressed in sheep’s clothing. However, inwardly they want to harm you, as if they were ravenous wolves]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

ἐν ἐνδύμασι προβάτων

in clothing ˱of˲_sheep

Here, the phrase sheep’s clothing refers to disguising oneself to look like a sheep. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make this idea more explicit. Alternate translation: [disguising themselves as sheep] or [pretending to be sheep]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

λύκοι ἅρπαγες

wolves swindling

When wolves are ravenous, they want to capture and eat other animals, such as sheep. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make this idea more explicit. Alternate translation: [hungry wolves] or [wolves on the hunt]