MAT 11:2 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT Now John, having heard in the prison about the deeds of Christ, having sent through his disciples,

UST Meanwhile, John the Baptizer was in jail. People told him about what Jesus the Messiah was doing. So, he sent some of his apprentices

BLB And John, having heard in prison the works of the Christ, having sent two of his disciples,

AICNT Now when John heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent {by}[fn] his disciples

11:2, by: Later manuscripts read “two of.” BYZ TR

OEB Now John had heard in prison what the Christ was doing, and he sent a message by his disciples,

WEBBE Now when John heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples

WMBB Now when Yochanan heard in the prison the works of Messiah, he sent two of his disciples

NET Now when John heard in prison about the deeds Christ had done, he sent his disciples to ask a question:

LSV And John having heard in the prison the works of the Christ, having sent two of his disciples,

FBV While John was in prison he heard what the Messiah was doing, so he sent his disciples

TCNT Now when John heard in prison about the works Christ had done, he sent [fn]two of his disciples

11:2 two of ¦ — CT

T4T While John the Baptizer was in prison, he heard what Jesus, the man whom he thought was the Messiah, was doing. So he sent some of his disciples to him in order

LEB Now when[fn] John[fn] heard in prison the deeds of Christ, he sent word[fn] by his disciples

11:2 *Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“heard”) which is understood as temporal

11:2 That is, John the Baptist

11:2 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation

BBE Now when John had news in prison of the works of the Christ, he sent his disciples

Moff Now when John heard in prison what the Christ was doing, he sent his disciples

Wymth Now John had heard in prison about the Christ's doings, and he sent some of his disciples to inquire:

ASV Now when John heard in the prison the works of the Christ, he sent by his disciples

DRA Now when John had heard in prison the works of Christ: sending two of his disciples he said to him:

YLT And John having heard in the prison the works of the Christ, having sent two of his disciples,

Drby But John, having heard in the prison the works of the Christ, sent by his disciples,

RV Now when John heard in the prison the works of the Christ, he sent by his disciples,

SLT And John having heard in prison the works of Christ, having sent two of his disciples,

Wbstr Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples,

KJB-1769 Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples,

KJB-1611 Now when Iohn had heard in the prison the workes of Christ, he sent two of his disciples,
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above)

Bshps When Iohn being in prison heard the workes of Christe, he sent two of his disciples, and sayde vnto him:
(When Yohn being in prison heard the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, and said unto him:)

Gnva And when Iohn heard in the prison the woorkes of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, and sayde vnto him,
(And when Yohn heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, and said unto him, )

Cvdl Whan Ihon beinge in preson herde of the workes of Christ, he sent two of his disciples,
(When Yohn being in prison herd/heard of the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples,)

TNT When Ihon beinge in preson hearde the workes of Christ he sent two of his disciples
(When Yohn being in prison heard the works of Christ he sent two of his disciples )

Wycl But whanne Joon in boondis hadde herd the werkis of Crist, he sente tweyne of hise disciplis,
(But when Yohn in bonds had herd the works of Christ, he sent twain/two_or_both of his disciples,)

Luth Da aber Johannes im Gefängnis die Werke Christi hörete, sandte er seiner Jünger zwei.
(So but Yohannes in_the prison/jail the work Christi heard, sent he his disciple two.)

ClVg Joannes autem cum audisset in vinculis opera Christi, mittens duos de discipulis suis,[fn]
(Yoannes however when/with would_have_heard in/into/on chains works Christi, sendns two from/about students to_his_own, )

11.2 Joannes autem. Et dum Christus prædicaret, etc., usque ad quis ordinem rei gestæ teneat, non apparet.

11.2 Yoannes however. And while Christ/Messiah to_preacht, etc., until to who/any order of_the_thing gestæ hold, not/no appears.

UGNT ὁ δὲ Ἰωάννης, ἀκούσας ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Χριστοῦ, πέμψας διὰ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ,
(ho de Yōannaʸs, akousas en tōi desmōtaʸriōi ta erga tou Ⱪristou, pempsas dia tōn mathaʸtōn autou,)

SBL-GNT Ὁ δὲ Ἰωάννης ἀκούσας ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ τὰ ἔργα τοῦ χριστοῦ πέμψας ⸀διὰ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ
(Ho de Yōannaʸs akousas en tōi desmōtaʸriōi ta erga tou ⱪristou pempsas ⸀dia tōn mathaʸtōn autou)

RP-GNT Ὁ δὲ Ἰωάννης ἀκούσας ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ τὰ ἔργα τοῦ χριστοῦ, πέμψας δύο τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ,
(Ho de Yōannaʸs akousas en tōi desmōtaʸriōi ta erga tou ⱪristou, pempsas duo tōn mathaʸtōn autou,)

TC-GNT Ὁ δὲ [fn]Ἰωάννης ἀκούσας ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Χριστοῦ, πέμψας [fn]δύο τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ,
(Ho de Yōannaʸs akousas en tōi desmōtaʸriōi ta erga tou Ⱪristou, pempsas duo tōn mathaʸtōn autou, )

11:2 ιωαννης ¦ ιωανης WH

11:2 δυο ¦ δια CT

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 11:1–19: Jesus praised John the Baptist

Long before Jesus was born, God spoke of a messenger who would prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah (Malachi 3:1). John the Baptist was that messenger. When John’s ministry was ending, he began to doubt that Jesus was the Messiah. So John sent some of his disciples to verify that Jesus was the Messiah (11:3). Jesus indicated that his miracles and preaching were proof that he was the expected Messiah whom God spoke of (11:4–5).

Jesus then showed that John was very important in God’s eyes (11:7–14).

Jesus and John did God’s work in very different ways, but most people refused to listen to either person (11:16–19).

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

The question of John the Baptist

Jesus talked about John the Baptizer

Messengers from John the Baptist (NRSV)

Jesus and John the Baptizer’s actions prove who they are

There is a parallel passage for this section in Luke 7:18–35.

11:2a

Meanwhile John heard in prison about the works of Christ,

¶ While these things were happening, John was in prison. While there, he heard about the wonderful deeds that the Christ was doing,
¶ During that time, John the Baptizer heard about the things that the Christ/Messiah was saying and doing. Because John was in prison,

Meanwhile: Verse 11:2 begins a new paragraph. The BSB indicates the start of this new paragraph with the word Meanwhile.

John was already in prison in 4:12. It was while he was in prison that he heard about the teachings (chapters 5–7) and miracles of Jesus (chapters 8–9).

Here are some other ways to indicate that this new paragraph is beginning:

At that time

While these things were happening

John: The John that Matthew referred to here is John the Baptist, not the disciple named John. In some languages, it may be necessary to make this explicit. For example:

John the Baptist (GNT)

heard in prison: The word prison refers to a building where the government puts people and locks them in so they cannot leave.

Here is another way to translate this word:

jail

People are usually in prison because they have broken the law. But John was in prison because King Herod was upset at his preaching. Your translation should not indicate that John had broken the law.

about the works of Christ: This clause refers to the teaching, preaching, and miracles that Jesus was doing in chapters 5–9.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

about the wonderful deeds that the Christ was doing

about the things that the Christ was doing and saying

Christ: Here Matthew used the word Christ as a descriptive title for Jesus. Christ is not just a name for Jesus. It has meaning, and the meaning of the title is in focus in this context.

During the time when the New Testament was written, the Jews used the term “the Christ” or “the Messiah” to refer to the special person whom God had promised to appoint and send to them. They believed that when he came, he would save their nation from their enemies. He was to be their King, Redeemer, and Savior.

Note that Christ as a title means the same thing as “the Messiah.” Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word Messiah. So when Christ is used as a title, some English versions translate it as “the Messiah” to clearly show that it is a title for Jesus, not his name.

Here are some other ways to translate Christ:

Transliterate Christ and indicate in some way that it is a title. For example:
the Kristi
Transliterate Christ and include a phrase that explains the meaning. For example:
Karisiti, the appointed one
Cristo, the Savior whom God promised to send
Use a title or a descriptive phrase in your language that has the same meaning as Christ. For example:
the Messiah
the Promised Deliverer
the Rescuer-King whom God sent

If you do not indicate the meaning of Christ in the text, you may want to include a footnote to explain the meaning of Christ. Or you may want to explain the meaning in a glossary. For example:

The word/title “Christ” refers to the King and Savior whom God had promised to send.

11:2b

and he sent his disciples

so he sent some of his disciples to Jesus.
he sent some of his disciples to Jesus with a message.

and he sent his disciples: There is a textual issue here. Some Greek manuscripts have the word “two” here. For example, the KJV has “two of his disciples.” The earlier Greek manuscripts do not have the word “two.” Most English versions follow the earlier manuscripts.: This clause indicates that John sent some of his own disciples to Jesus with a message.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

sent his own disciples (REB)

he sent some of his disciples (GNT)

he sent some of his own disciples to Jesus with this message

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: writing-newevent

δὲ

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὁ Δέ Ἰωάννης ἀκούσας ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ τά ἔργα τοῦ Χριστοῦ πέμψας διά τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ)

The word Now introduces the next major event in the story. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word or phrase that introduces the next event, or you could leave Now untranslated. Alternate translation: [Then]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / extrainfo

ὁ & Ἰωάννης, ἀκούσας ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ

¬the & John ˓having˒_heard in the prison

Matthew has not yet told the story of why John was in prison. Since Matthew narrates this story in [14:4-5](../14/4.md), you do not need to explain it to your reader here. If it would be helpful in your language, you could clarify that John is in the prison when he hears about the deeds of Christ. Alternate translation: [John, who was in prison, having heard about]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / possession

τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Χριστοῦ

Matthew is using the possessive form to describe deeds that Christ did. If this is not clear in your language, you could express the idea in another way. Alternate translation: [the deeds that Christ had done]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

πέμψας διὰ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ

˓having˒_sent (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὁ Δέ Ἰωάννης ἀκούσας ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ τά ἔργα τοῦ Χριστοῦ πέμψας διά τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ)

Matthew means that John sent his disciples to Jesus and had them speak to Jesus for him. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make that idea more explicit. Alternate translation: [having sent his disciples to speak to Jesus for him]

Note 5 topic: writing-pronouns

αὐτοῦ

˱of˲_him

The pronoun his refers to John. If this is not clear for your readers, you could refer to him more directly. Alternate translation: [his own]

Parallel MAT 11:2

Section 11:1–19: Jesus praised John the Baptist

11:2a

11:2b