OET interlinear MAT 7:16

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / exmetaphor

ἀπὸ τῶν καρπῶν αὐτῶν ἐπιγνώσεσθε αὐτούς. μήτι συλλέγουσιν ἀπὸ ἀκανθῶν σταφυλὰς, ἢ ἀπὸ τριβόλων σῦκα?

by the fruits ˱of˲_them ˱you_all˲_/will_be/_knowing them surely_not ˱they˲_/are/_gathering from thorns grapes or from thistles figs

Here Jesus speaks of people as if they were plants that produced fruits. Just as thorny plants do not produce fruits, so evil people who do not trust God do not do what is right. Jesus uses this metaphor for several verses, so you should preserve the figure of speech or use simile form. Alternate translation: [You will know who people are by what they do, just as you know what plants are by their fruits. They do not gather grapes from a thornbush or figs from thistles, do they? Similarly, evil people do not do what is right, do they]

Note 2 topic: writing-pronouns

ἀπὸ τῶν καρπῶν αὐτῶν ἐπιγνώσεσθε αὐτούς

by the fruits ˱of˲_them ˱you_all˲_/will_be/_knowing them

The pronouns their and them refer to any people, but particularly people like the “false prophets” Jesus mentioned in the previous verse. If this is not clear for your readers, you could refer directly to the false prophets or to any people who claim to be believers. Alternate translation: [You will recognize the false prophets by their fruits] or [You will recognize anyone who claims to believe by his or her fruits]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion

μήτι συλλέγουσιν ἀπὸ ἀκανθῶν σταφυλὰς, ἢ ἀπὸ τριβόλων σῦκα?

surely_not ˱they˲_/are/_gathering from thorns grapes or from thistles figs

Jesus is using the question form to to show that grapes do not come from a thornbush and figs do not come from thistles. If you would not use the question form for this purpose in your language, you could translate this as a statement or an exclamation. Alternate translation: [They do not gather grapes from a thornbush or figs from thistles.] or [No one gathers grapes from a thornbush or figs from thistles!]

Note 4 topic: writing-pronouns

μήτι συλλέγουσιν

surely_not ˱they˲_/are/_gathering

The pronoun they refers to people in general. If this is not clear for your readers, you could use a form that refers to any person or group of people. Alternate translation: [People do not gather … do they]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

ἀπὸ ἀκανθῶν σταφυλὰς, ἢ ἀπὸ τριβόλων σῦκα

by from thorns grapes or from thistles figs

These two phrases mean basically the same thing. The second emphasizes the meaning of the first by repeating the same idea with different words. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could combine the two phrases. Alternate translation: [grapes or figs from thorny plants] or [fruits from scrub plants]

Note 6 topic: translate-unknown

τριβόλων

thistles

Here, the word thistles refers generally to plants that have points or spikes on their stems or leaves. These plants do not produce fruit. If your readers would not be familiar with this type of plant, you could use the name of something similar in your area or you could use a more general term. Alternate translation: [spiky plants]