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Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)
OET (OET-RV) As they entered the house, they saw the child with his mother Maria. They bowed low and worshipped him, then they opened their chests and presented gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.![]()
OET-LV And having_come into the house, they_saw the little_child with Maria/(Miryām) the mother of_him, and having_fallen, they_prostrated before_him, and having_opened_up the treasures of_them, they_offered gifts to_him:
gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
![]()
SR-GNT Καὶ ἐλθόντες εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν, εἶδον τὸ παιδίον μετὰ Μαρίας τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ, καὶ πεσόντες προσεκύνησαν αὐτῷ, καὶ ἀνοίξαντες τοὺς θησαυροὺς αὐτῶν, προσήνεγκαν αὐτῷ δῶρα: χρυσὸν, καὶ λίβανον, καὶ σμύρναν. ‡
(Kai elthontes eis taʸn oikian, eidon to paidion meta Marias taʸs maʸtros autou, kai pesontes prosekunaʸsan autōi, kai anoixantes tous thaʸsaurous autōn, prosaʸnegkan autōi dōra: ⱪruson, kai libanon, kai smurnan.)
Key: khaki:verbs, 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 And having gone into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother. And having fallen down, they worshiped him, and having opened their treasures, they offered him gifts: gold and frankincense and myrrh.
UST They went into the house above which the star had stopped. There, they saw the child Jesus and his mother Mary. They bowed down and worshiped him. Then, they unpacked the valuable things that they had brought with them. They gave Jesus gold, incense, and valuable tree resin.
BSB [On] coming to the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary, and they fell down [and] worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures [and] presented Him with gifts [of] gold and frankincense and myrrh.
MSB [On] coming to the house, they saw[fn] the Child with His mother Mary, and they fell down [and] worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures [and] presented Him with gifts [of] gold and frankincense and myrrh.
2:11 Stephanus TR they found
BLB And having come into the house, they found the Child with His mother Mary, and having fallen down, they worshiped Him. And having opened their treasures, they offered to Him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
AICNT And entering the house, they {saw}[fn] the child with Mary his mother; and falling down, they worshiped[fn] him; and opening their treasures, they presented to him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
OEB Entering the house, they saw the child with his mother, Mary, and fell at his feet and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasure chests, and offered to the child presents of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
WEBBE They came into the house and saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him. Opening their treasures, they offered to him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
WMBB They came into the house and saw the young child with Miriam, his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him. Opening their treasures, they offered to him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
NET As they came into the house and saw the child with Mary his mother, they bowed down and worshiped him. They opened their treasure boxes and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
LSV and having come into the house, they found the Child with His mother Mary, and having fallen down they worshiped Him, and having opened their treasures, they presented to Him gifts, gold, and frankincense, and myrrh,
FBV They went into the house and saw the child with Mary his mother. They bowed and worshiped him. Then they opened their bags of treasure and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
TCNT As they came into the house and [fn]saw the child with his mother Mary, they fell down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
2:11 saw ¦ found ST
T4T They found the house and entered it and saw the child and his mother, Mary. They bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasure boxes [MTY] and they gave gold, costly frankincense, and myrrh to him.
LEB And when they[fn] came into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and[fn] worshiped him. And opening their treasure boxes, they offered him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.
2:11 *Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“came”) which is understood as temporal
2:11 *Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“fell down”) has been translated as a finite verb
BBE And they came into the house, and saw the young child with Mary, his mother; and falling down on their faces they gave him worship; and from their store they gave him offerings of gold, perfume, and spices.
Moff on reaching the house they saw the child with his mother Mary, they fell down to worship him, and opening their caskets they offered him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.
Wymth So they entered the house; and when they saw the babe with His mother Mary, they prostrated themselves and did Him homage, and opening their treasure-chests offered gifts to Him—gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
ASV And they came into the house and saw the young child with Mary his mother; and they fell down and worshipped him; and opening their treasures they offered unto him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
DRA And entering into the house, they found the child with Mary his mother, and falling down they adored him; and opening their treasures, they offered him gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
YLT and having come to the house, they found the child with Mary his mother, and having fallen down they bowed to him, and having opened their treasures, they presented to him gifts, gold, and frankincense, and myrrh,
Drby And having come into the house they saw the little child with Mary his mother, and falling down did him homage. And having opened their treasures, they offered to him gifts, gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
RV And they came into the house and saw the young child with Mary his mother; and they fell down and worshipped him; and opening their treasures they offered unto him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
SLT And having come into the house, they found the young child with Mary his mother, and having fallen, they worshipped him; and having opened their treasures they brought forward to him gifts, gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
Wbstr And when they had come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshiped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented to him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
KJB-1769 ¶ And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
KJB-1611 ¶ And when they were come into the house, they saw the yong child with Mary his mother, and fell downe, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they [fn]presented vnto him gifts, gold, and frankincense, and myrrhe.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation and footnotes)
2:11 Or, offered.
Bshps And went into the house, and founde the young chylde with Marie his mother, and fell downe, and worshypped hym, and opened their treasures, and presented vnto hym gyftes, golde, and frankensence, and mirre.
(And went into the house, and found the young child with Mary/Maria his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him, and opened their treasures, and presented unto him gifts, gold, and frankincense, and mirre.)
Gnva And went into the house, and founde the babe with Mary his mother, and fell downe, and worshipped him, and opened their treasures, and presented vnto him giftes, euen golde, and frankincense, and myrrhe.
(And went into the house, and found the babe with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him, and opened their treasures, and presented unto him gifts, even gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. )
Cvdl and went into the house, and found the chylde with Mary his mother, and kneled downe and worshipped hym, & opened ther treasures, and offred vnto hym gyftes: gold, franckynsence and myrre.
(and went into the house, and found the child with Mary his mother, and knelt down and worshipped him, and opened there treasures, and offered unto him gifts: gold, franckynsence and myrrh.)
TNT and went into the house and found the chylde with Mary hys mother and kneled doune and worshipped hym and opened their treasures and offred vnto hym gyftes gold frackynsence and myrre.
(and went into the house and found the child with Mary his mother and knelt down and worshipped him and opened their treasures and offered unto him gifts gold frackynsence and myrrh. )
Wycl And thei entriden in to the hous, and founden the child with Marie, his modir; and thei felden doun, and worschipiden him. And whanne thei hadden openyd her tresouris, thei offryden to hym yiftis, gold, encense, and myrre.
(And they entered in to the house, and found the child with Mary/Maria, his mother; and they fell down, and worshipped him. And when they had opened her treasuries, they offryden to him gifts, gold, incense, and myrrh.)
Luth und gingen in das Haus und fanden das Kindlein mit Maria, seiner Mutter, und fielen nieder und beteten es an und taten ihre Schätze auf und schenkten ihm Gold, Weihrauch und Myrrhen.
(and went in the house and found the little_child with Maria, his mother, and fell low/lowly and prayed it at/to and did their/her treasures(n) on/in/to and givesen him Gold, incense and Myrrhen.)
ClVg Et intrantes domum, invenerunt puerum cum Maria matre ejus, et procidentes adoraverunt eum: et apertis thesauris suis obtulerunt ei munera, aurum, thus, et myrrham.[fn]
(And enterings house/home, they_found boy when/with Maria mother his, and procidentes they_adored/worshipped him: and apertis treasures to_his_own they_offered to_him gifts, gold, thus, and myrrham. )
2.11 Et intrantes domum, etc. Tres Magi uno itinere Deum veniunt adorare: quia in uno Christo (qui est via) inseparabilis Trinitas ab eis erat adoranda. Puerum cum Maria matre ejus, etc. Sæpe puer nominatur, ut eum agnoscant, de quo dictum est: Puer natus est nobis. Cur non et Joseph cum Maria inventus est a Magis? Ne aliqua inde malæ suspicionis occasio daretur gentibus, quæ primitias suas statim nato Salvatore ad eum adorandum miserunt. Adoraverunt eum. Sic confitentes Deum, quem actum esse hominem intelligunt, et moriturum quod per myrrham ostendunt. Et apertis, etc. Fidem suam mysticis protestantur muneribus: Munera clausa, fides est cordis; munera aperta, etc., usque ad vel per hæc tria in eodem Christo intimantur, regia potestas, divina majestas, humana mortalitas.
2.11 And enterings house/home, etc. Three Magi one travel God they_come to_adore: because in/into/on one to_Christ/Messiah (qui it_is way/road) inseparabilis Trinitas away to_them was adoranda. Puerum when/with Maria mother his, etc. Often child is_named, as him lambscant, from/about where said it_is: Puer born it_is us. Cur not/no and Yoseph when/with Maria found it_is from Magis? Don't some therefore/from_there evil suspicionis occasio would_be_given nations, which first_fruits their_own immediately nato Salvatore to him adorandum they_sent. Adoraverunt him. So confessing God, which act to_be man they_understand, and he_diesum that through myrrham they_show. And apertis, etc. Faith his_own mysticis protestantur functions: Munera clausa, faith it_is of_the_heart; gifts open, etc., until to or through these_things three in/into/on the_same to_Christ/Messiah intimantur, royal canas, divine majesty, human mortality.
UGNT καὶ ἐλθόντες εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν, εἶδον τὸ παιδίον μετὰ Μαρίας τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ, καὶ πεσόντες προσεκύνησαν αὐτῷ, καὶ ἀνοίξαντες τοὺς θησαυροὺς αὐτῶν, προσήνεγκαν αὐτῷ δῶρα: χρυσὸν, καὶ λίβανον, καὶ σμύρναν.
(kai elthontes eis taʸn oikian, eidon to paidion meta Marias taʸs maʸtros autou, kai pesontes prosekunaʸsan autōi, kai anoixantes tous thaʸsaurous autōn, prosaʸnegkan autōi dōra: ⱪruson, kai libanon, kai smurnan.)
SBL-GNT καὶ ἐλθόντες εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν εἶδον τὸ παιδίον μετὰ Μαρίας τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ, καὶ πεσόντες προσεκύνησαν αὐτῷ, καὶ ἀνοίξαντες τοὺς θησαυροὺς αὐτῶν προσήνεγκαν αὐτῷ δῶρα, χρυσὸν καὶ λίβανον καὶ σμύρναν.
(kai elthontes eis taʸn oikian eidon to paidion meta Marias taʸs maʸtros autou, kai pesontes prosekunaʸsan autōi, kai anoixantes tous thaʸsaurous autōn prosaʸnegkan autōi dōra, ⱪruson kai libanon kai smurnan.)
RP-GNT Καὶ ἐλθόντες εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν, εἶδον τὸ παιδίον μετὰ Μαρίας τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ, καὶ πεσόντες προσεκύνησαν αὐτῷ, καὶ ἀνοίξαντες τοὺς θησαυροὺς αὐτῶν προσήνεγκαν αὐτῷ δῶρα, χρυσὸν καὶ λίβανον καὶ σμύρναν.
(Kai elthontes eis taʸn oikian, eidon to paidion meta Marias taʸs maʸtros autou, kai pesontes prosekunaʸsan autōi, kai anoixantes tous thaʸsaurous autōn prosaʸnegkan autōi dōra, ⱪruson kai libanon kai smurnan.)
TC-GNT Καὶ ἐλθόντες εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν, [fn]εἶδον τὸ παιδίον μετὰ Μαρίας τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ, καὶ πεσόντες προσεκύνησαν αὐτῷ, καὶ ἀνοίξαντες τοὺς θησαυροὺς αὐτῶν προσήνεγκαν αὐτῷ δῶρα, χρυσὸν καὶ λίβανον καὶ σμύρναν.
(Kai elthontes eis taʸn oikian, eidon to paidion meta Marias taʸs maʸtros autou, kai pesontes prosekunaʸsan autōi, kai anoixantes tous thaʸsaurous autōn prosaʸnegkan autōi dōra, ⱪruson kai libanon kai smurnan. )
2:11 ειδον ¦ ευρον ST
Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs (from our SR-GNT base).
2:11 The wise men offered extravagant gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the King (see Ps 72:10-17; Isa 60). The tradition that there were three wise men originated from the number of gifts, but the text does not specify how many wise men there were.
In this section, Matthew showed his readers that:
Jesus was indeed born in Bethlehem as scripture predicted (even though he would later move to Nazareth, and people considered him to be a Nazarene).
The Jewish religious teachers who knew the law did not go to worship the king of the Jews. It was the Gentile wise men who worshiped him.
Here are some other possible headings for this section:
The Visit of the Wise Men (NET)
Visitors from the East (GNT)
On coming to the house,
Then they went into the house, and
They entered the house.
they saw the Child with His mother Mary,
they saw the young child with his mother Mary.
There they saw the child Jesus with Mary, his mother.
and they fell down and worshiped Him.
Then they knelt down and worshiped him.
They quickly bowed down and honored/adored him.
fell down: The Greek word that the BSB here translates as fell down means “quickly lowered themselves to the ground to show great respect.” They did not fall down accidentally.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
knelt down (GNT)
quickly lowered themselves
bowed down (NIV)
and worshiped Him: The Greek word that the BSB translates as worshiped also occurs in 2:2c and 2:8d. This word usually includes the idea of kneeling or bowing down and putting one’s face to the ground to show great honor and submission. But in 2:11c, a separate Greek verb occurs first which indicates that the men “bowed down.” So you can translate this word as:
to honor him
to adore him
Then they opened their treasures
Then they opened their treasure boxes/chests
Next they unpacked their loads
Then they opened their treasures: In this context, the Greek word that the BSB translates as treasures refers to a strong box used for keeping valuable things. For example:
treasure chests (NRSV)
treasure boxes (NET)
If people in your area do not keep valuable things in boxes, you may want to translate this passage using another word. For example:
They opened their containers/bags
They unpacked their loads
and presented Him with gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.
and gave him gifts of gold, and of incense and of myrrh.
and gave to him their gifts. They gave him gold, expensive tree resin/sap called incense that is burned for a sweet smell, and an expensive perfume called myrrh.
presented Him with gifts: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as presented means “brought, offered.” The wise men may have placed the gifts in front of or near Jesus.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
offered to him gifts
brought gifts to him
gave gifts…to him
gold: The word gold refers to a shiny, yellow metal that is very valuable. The wise men’s gold may have been in its unworked or unshaped state. Or it may have been formed into a shape or made into coins.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
Use a descriptive phrase. For example:
valuable/yellow metal
Use a borrowed word.
Use a borrowed word plus a descriptive phrase. For example:
valuable metal called gold
frankincense: The Greek word that the BSB translates as frankincense is a type of incense. It comes from the sap of several similar kinds of trees. People made the sap into a dry powder. Then they burned the powder to make a sweet-smelling smoke. They often did this as a part of worship.
Here are some other ways to translate frankincense:
Use a descriptive phrase. For example:
tree resin/sap burned for a sweet smell
Use a borrowed word plus a descriptive phrase. For example:
sweet smelling tree resin/sap called incense
myrrh: The word myrrh also refers to a product made from the sap of a tree in Arabia. People made it into medicine and expensive perfumes.
Here are some other ways to translate this:
Use a descriptive phrase. For example:
an expensive perfume
a sweet smelling oil
Use a borrowed word plus a descriptive phrase. For example:
an expensive perfume called myrrh
myrrh tree sap made into perfume
sweet smelling thing called myrrh
You may want to explain “gold,” “frankincense,” and “myrrh” in a footnote instead of in the text. A sample footnote is:
gold: is a very expensive yellow metal. It is used as money and also in making jewelry.
frankincense: is an expensive product which is burned to give a sweet smell. It is made from the resin of several similar kinds of trees.
myrrh: is an expensive perfume made from the sap of a tree.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / go
ἐλθόντες
˓having˒_come
In a context such as this, your language might say “come” instead of gone. Alternate translation: [having come]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
πεσόντες
˓having˒_fallen
Matthew means that the learned men kneeled on the ground or bowed down very low. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [kneeling down] or [prostrating themselves]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
προσεκύνησαν
˱they˲_prostrated
Translate worshiped as you did in [2:2](../02/02.md) and [2:8](../02/08.md). Alternate translation: [they bowed before] or [they kneeled before him to honor]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
τοὺς θησαυροὺς αὐτῶν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἐλθόντες εἰς τήν οἰκίαν εἶδον τό παιδίον μετά Μαρίας τῆς μητρός αὐτοῦ καί πεσόντες προσεκύνησαν αὐτῷ καί ἀνοίξαντες τούς θησαυρούς αὐτῶν προσήνεγκαν αὐτῷ δῶρα χρυσόν καί λίβανον καί σμύρναν)
Here, their treasures refers to the boxes or bags they used to carry their gifts. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use an equivalent expression or plain language. Alternate translation: [the containers that held their treasures] or [their treasure boxes]