UTN uW Translation Notes:

Matthew 14 General Notes

Structure and Formatting

7. Further opposition to Jesus and misunderstanding of the kingdom of God (13:53–17:27) * Herod hears about Jesus (14:1–2) * Flashback: Herod executes John the Baptist (14:3–12) * Jesus feeds 5,000 men (14:13–21) * Jesus walks on water (14:22–33) * Jesus heals people in the region of Gennesaret (14:34–36)

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Chapter

Herod and Herodias

The man named “Herod the tetrarch” (14:1) was a son of King Herod, the man mentioned in 2:1–22. Herod the tetrarch ruled over the area to the northwest of the Sea of Galilee, which is where Jesus spent much of his ministry. Herodias was married to Herod’s brother Philip, and the two of them had a daughter. However, Herodias divorced Philip and married Herod, who had also divorced his previous wife. Since the Jewish law condemned anyone who married his brother’s wife while his brother was still alive (see Leviticus 20:21), John the Baptist rebuked Herod for doing this. It was in response to this rebuke that Herod had John the Baptist put in prison and eventually executed. Make sure that your translation accurately refers to the relationships between Herod, Herodias, and Herodias’ daughter.

The miracle of multiplying food

In 14:13–21, Matthew tells a story in which Jesus provides 5,000 men and even more women and children with food. All these people were in a place where no people lived, and all the food that Jesus and his disciples had were five loaves of bread and two fish. Despite that, Jesus used the five loaves of bread and the two fish to feed everyone who was there. Matthew does not tell us exactly how Jesus did this, but he does say that there were more leftovers than what they started with. Your translation should not explain how Jesus multiplied the food, but it should be clear that he did a miracle.

The miracle of walking on water

In 14:22–33, Matthew tells a story in which Jesus walks on top of the Sea of Galilee, even though there was a storm. Later, Jesus allows Peter to walk briefly on the water, and when Jesus and Peter climb into the boat that the rest of the disciples were in, the storm miraculously stops. Your translation should not explain exactly how Jesus or Peter walked on the water, but it should be clear that Jesus walking on the water, Peter walking on the water, and the storm stopping were all miracles.

Translation Issues in This Chapter

The flashback to John’s death

In this chapter, Matthew includes a story that happened before the stories that appear before and after it in his narrative. The previous chapter includes much of Jesus’ teaching, and this chapter begins by describing Herod Antipas’ response to Jesus (see 14:1–2). Then, to explain what Herod said about Jesus, Matthew includes a story that happened earlier. This type of storytelling is called a flashback. Here, the flashback tells about how John the Baptist died (see 14:3–12). In 14:13, Matthew returns to the main narrative and tells what happened after the events recorded in chapter 13 and 14:1–2. While the story that begins in 14:13 is linked to the flashback by the phrase “Now having heard,” Matthew does not indicate how long it took for Jesus to hear about John’s death from John’s disciples. So, you should use a form that shows your readers that 14:3–12 is a flashback that describes something that happened previously, and 14:13 continues with the main narrative. (See: writing-background)

Singular and plural forms of “you”

Most of the forms of “you” in this chapter appear in dialogue between characters. Because of this, most forms of “you” in this chapter are singular. You should assume forms of “you” are singular unless a note specifies that the form is plural. (See: figs-yousingular)