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OET (OET-LV) And the Yaʸsous passing_by from_there, he_saw a_man being_called Matthaios sitting at the tax_office, and he_is_saying to_him.
Be_following after_me.
And having_risen_up, he_followed after_him.
OET (OET-RV) And as Yeshua was leaving there, he saw a man called Matthew (also known as Levi) sitting in the tax office. He said to Matthew, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.
In this section, Jesus asked a tax collector named Matthew to follow him and be his disciple. Most Jews considered tax collectors to be traitors and thieves. They were traitors because they were Jews who collected taxes for the conquering Roman government. They were thieves because they forced fellow Jews to give them more taxes than the Romans required. Then they kept the extra money and got rich.
Not only did Jesus ask a tax collector to be one of his disciples, he also ate and fellowshipped with other tax collectors and sinners. The Pharisees criticized him for doing this. Jesus responded by telling them that his purpose in coming into the world was to call such sinners to repent. He did not come for people who are righteous or for those who are well. Jesus showed his critics that associating with sinners in order to help them to repent was a proper attitude for believers.
Here are some other possible headings for this section:
Jesus Chooses Matthew (CEV)
The Call of Matthew (NRSV)
The Call of Matthew; Eating with Sinners (NET)
There are parallel passages for this section in Mark 2:13–17 and Luke 5:27–32.
In this paragraph, Matthew began another story concerning Jesus. This time he wrote about his own meeting with Jesus. There is movement to another location, and he introduced himself as a new participant. Use whatever is natural in your language for introducing another story in the life of Jesus.
Here are some other ways to introduce this new story:
Then
Next
After that happened
As Jesus went on from there,
¶ Jesus left that place, and as he walked along, (GNT)
¶ Then Jesus left that place. As he was walking,
As Jesus went on from there: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as went on can also mean “move along.” It probably indicates that Jesus left the town of Capernaum (where he had healed the paralyzed man) and was walking along the Sea of Galilee.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
As Jesus went on from there (NIV)
Jesus left that place, and as he walked along (GNT)
He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth.
he saw a man named Matthew sitting in the tax office.
he saw a man working in the tax collection place. His name was Matthew.
He saw a man named Matthew: Here Matthew, the author of this Gospel, wrote about himself. He was not trying to focus attention on himself, but rather to focus on Jesus. So he wrote about himself in the third person as if he were another person.
sitting at the tax booth: This expression indicates that Matthew was working as a tax collector when Jesus came by. He was not just sitting there waiting to pay his taxes. In some languages, it may be necessary to make this clearer. For example:
sitting in a booth collecting taxes
working in the tax collector’s booth
at the tax booth: The term tax booth probably refers to some sort of small table under a shelter. Matthew sat there to receive taxes from the people.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
in a tax office (GW)
at the place for paying taxes (CEV)
at the place where taxes are collected
“Follow Me,” He told him, and Matthew got up and followed Him.
He said to him, “Follow me.” Matthew rose and followed him.
Jesus said to him, “Come and follow me as my disciple.” So Matthew got up and followed him.
“Follow Me,” He told him: The BSB places the words He told him after what Jesus said. This is good English style. However, in some languages it may be necessary to put these words at the beginning of 9:9c. For example:
and he said to him, “Follow me.” (ESV)
Follow Me: When Jesus told Matthew to follow him, he meant two things:
He wanted him to literally go with him;
He wanted him to become his disciple.
If people in your area will think that this is only a literal command to walk behind Jesus, you may want to:
Include the figurative meaning in the text. For example:
Follow me and be my disciple (NLT)
Come, follow me as my disciple
Translate the figurative meaning:
Become my disciple
This clause also occurs in 4:19a and 8:22b. You should translate it here as you did there.
He told him: The pronoun He refers to Jesus and the pronoun him refers to Matthew. It may be more natural in your language to translate one of the pronouns as a noun. For example:
Jesus said to him
he told Matthew
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἐκεῖθεν
from_there
Here, the word there refers to the place where Jesus healed the paralytic man. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [from where he healed the man]
Note 2 topic: writing-participants
εἶδεν ἄνθρωπον καθήμενον ἐπὶ τὸ τελώνιον Μαθθαῖον λεγόμενον
˱he˲_saw ˓a˒_man sitting (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί παράγων ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐκεῖθεν εἶδεν ἄνθρωπον καθήμενον ἐπί τό τελώνιον Ματθαῖον λεγόμενον καί λέγει αὐτῷ Ἀκολούθει μοί Καί ἀναστάς ἠκολούθησεν αὐτῷ)
Matthew introduces a tax collector named Matthew as a new character in the story. Use a natural form in your language for introducing a new character. Alternate translation: [saw a man whose name was Matthew. Matthew was sitting at the tax collection office]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
Μαθθαῖον λεγόμενον
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί παράγων ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐκεῖθεν εἶδεν ἄνθρωπον καθήμενον ἐπί τό τελώνιον Ματθαῖον λεγόμενον καί λέγει αὐτῷ Ἀκολούθει μοί Καί ἀναστάς ἠκολούθησεν αὐτῷ)
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. Alternate translation: [who had the name Matthew]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
καθήμενον ἐπὶ τὸ τελώνιον
sitting (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί παράγων ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐκεῖθεν εἶδεν ἄνθρωπον καθήμενον ἐπί τό τελώνιον Ματθαῖον λεγόμενον καί λέγει αὐτῷ Ἀκολούθει μοί Καί ἀναστάς ἠκολούθησεν αὐτῷ)
Here we learn that Matthew worked as a tax collector. He would sit at the tax collection office and make sure that people paid their taxes to the Roman empire, who had control over this area. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [who worked to collect taxes for the Romans at the tax collection office]
Note 5 topic: writing-pronouns
λέγει αὐτῷ
˱he˲_˓is˒_saying ˱to˲_him
Here, the pronoun he refers to Jesus, and the pronoun him refers to Matthew. If this is not clear for your readers, you could use the people’s names here. Alternate translation: [Jesus says to Matthew]
Note 6 topic: translate-tense
λέγει
˱he˲_˓is˒_saying
To call attention to a development in the story, Matthew uses the present tense in past narration. If it would not be natural to do that in your language, you could use the past tense in your translation. Alternate translation: [he said]
Note 7 topic: writing-pronouns
ἠκολούθησεν αὐτῷ
˱he˲_followed ˱after˲_him
Here, the pronoun he refers to Matthew, and the pronoun him refers to Jesus. If this is not clear for your readers, you could use the people’s names here. Alternate translation: [Matthew followed Jesus]
9:9 Matthew was also called Levi (Mark 2:14). Matthew might have had two names, or he might have been given a new name by Jesus.
OET (OET-LV) And the Yaʸsous passing_by from_there, he_saw a_man being_called Matthaios sitting at the tax_office, and he_is_saying to_him.
Be_following after_me.
And having_risen_up, he_followed after_him.
OET (OET-RV) And as Yeshua was leaving there, he saw a man called Matthew (also known as Levi) sitting in the tax office. He said to Matthew, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.
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.