UTN uW Translation Notes:

Matthew 1 General Notes

Structure and Formatting

1. The birth of Jesus Christ and the beginning of his ministry (1:1-4:25) * The genealogy of Jesus (1:1–17) * Jesus’ parents and birth (1:18–25)Some translations set a quotation from the Old Testament farther to the right on the page than the rest of the text. The ULT does this in 1:23 with the quote from Isaiah 7:14.

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Chapter

Genealogy

A genealogy is a list that records a person’s ancestors or descendants. Genealogies were important to the Jewish people because family lineage is how they decided how someone functioned in society. For instance, if someone was a descendant of Aaron, they were able to become priests. Similarly, if someone was a descendant of King David, they were able to become a king. This genealogy shows that Jesus was clearly a descendant of King David, and therefore, was able to become king.

The word “fathered”

When Matthew uses the word “fathered,” he only means that the older man was an ancestor of the younger man. In most cases, the older man is the direct father of the younger man. However, sometimes the older man is a grandfather (for example, Josiah is the grandfather of Jechoniah) or a more distant ancestor (for example, Joram is the great-great-grandfather of Ozias). If possible, use a word that indicates that the older man is the ancestor of the younger man without stating that the older man is the father of the younger man. If you need to be more specific, the UST provides one way to do so.

Three groups of 14

Matthew concludes the genealogy by dividing it up into three groups of 14 generations. He divides the groups by using two key events in Israel’s history: David starting his dynasty and the Babylonians capturing Jerusalem. In order to count 14 generations from Abraham until David, both Abraham and David need to be included. To count 14 generations from David until the Babylonian deportation, David needs to be excluded but Jechoniah needs to be included. To count 14 generations from the Babylonian deportation until the Christ, both Jechoniah and Christ need to be included. The ULT and UST divide the section into paragraphs based on the divisions. Consider how you might show these divisions in your translation.

Translation Issues in This Chapter

Singular and plural forms of “you”

All of the forms of “you” in this chapter appear in instructions that an angel gives to Joseph. Because of that, all forms of “you” in this chapter are singular. (See: figs-yousingular)

Stating that Mary became pregnant

In 1:18, 1:20, and 1:23, Matthew refers to a woman becoming pregnant, but he excludes the involvement of a man in the process. He uses the phrases “to have in the womb” and “having been conceived in her” to avoid referring to the male role in conception. In your translation, you should not identify the Holy Spirit as the one who performed the normal male role, since the Holy Spirit did not have sex with Mary. Instead, the Holy Spirit performed a miracle. So, use a form that does not refer to the male role in conception or a form that denies that a man was involved.

Translating names

In the genealogy, Matthew uses specific Greek spellings of names. These spellings do not always match the Hebrew spellings of the names that you can read in the Old Testament. The ULT and UST spell out how these names sound as Matthew wrote them in Greek. In contrast, some translations spell out these names as they appear in the Old Testament. Consider spelling these names as do other translations that your readers might be familiar with. Otherwise, consider whether your team wishes to spell names in the same way throughout the Bible or whether you will spell them differently in different places. If you do spell them differently in different places, you may need to include footnotes that provide other spellings.