MAT 2:4 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.
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 brought together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired from them, “Where is the Christ being born?”

UST So, King Herod summoned all the Jewish ruling priests and teachers of the Jewish law. He asked them about where the Messiah’s mother would give birth to him.

BLB And having assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he was inquiring of them where the Christ was to be born.

AICNT and gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

OEB He called together all the chief priests and teachers of the Law in the nation, and questioned them as to where the Christ was to be born.

WEBBE Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he asked them where the Christ would be born.

WMBB Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he asked them where the Messiah would be born.

NET After assembling all the chief priests and experts in the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born.

LSV and having gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he was inquiring from them where the Christ is born.

FBV Herod summoned all the chief priests and religious teachers of the people, and asked them where the Messiah was supposed to be born.

TCNT So he assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people, and inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

T4T Then Herod gathered together all the ruling priests and men who taught the people the Jewish laws and he asked them where the prophets had predicted that the Messiah was to be born.

LEB and after[fn] calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired from them where the Christ was to be born.

2:4 *Here “after” is supplied as a component of the participle (“calling together”) which is understood as temporal

BBE And he got together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, questioning them as to where the birth-place of the Christ would be.

Moff so he gathered all the high priests and scribes of the people and made inquiries of them about where the messiah was to be born.

Wymth So he assembled all the High Priests and Scribes of the people, and anxiously asked them where the Christ was to be born.

ASV And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ should be born.

DRA And assembling together all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where Christ should be born.

YLT and having gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he was inquiring from them where the Christ is born.

Drby and, assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ should be born.

RV And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ should be born.
(And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he enquired of them where the Christ should be born. )

SLT And assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where Christ should be born.

Wbstr And when he had assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where Christ should be born.

KJB-1769 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.

KJB-1611 And when he had gathered all the chiefe Priests and Scribes of the people together, hee demanded of them where Christ should be borne.
(And when he had gathered all the chief Priests and Scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be borne.)

Bshps And when he hadde gathered all the chiefe Priestes and Scribes of the people together, he demaunded of them where Christe shoulde be borne.
(And when he had gathered all the chief Priests and Scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be borne.)

Gnva And gathering together all the chiefe Priestes and Scribes of the people, hee asked of them, where Christ should be borne.
(And gathering together all the chief Priests and Scribes of the people, he asked of them, where Christ should be borne. )

Cvdl and he gathered all the hye Prestes and Scribes of ye people, & axed of them, where Christ shulde be borne.
(and he gathered all the high Priests and Scribes of ye/you_all people, and asked of them, where Christ should be borne.)

TNT and he gathered all the chefe Prestes and Scribes of the people and axed of them where Christ shulde be borne.
(and he gathered all the chief Priests and Scribes of the people and asked of them where Christ should be borne. )

Wycl And he gaderide to gidre alle the prynces of prestis, and scribis of the puple, and enqueride of hem, where Crist shulde be borun.
(And he gathered to gidre all the princes of priests, and scribes of the people, and enqueride of hem, where Christ should be born.)

Luth Und ließ versammeln alle Hohenpriester und Schriftgelehrten unter dem Volk und erforschete von ihnen, wo Christus sollte geboren werden.
(And left/let gather/assemble all high_priest and scribes under to_him people and erforschete from to_them, where Christ should born become.)

ClVg Et congregans omnes principes sacerdotum, et scribas populi, sciscitabatur ab eis ubi Christus nasceretur.[fn]
(And gathering everyone leaders priests, and scribe/clerks of_the_people, sciscitabatur away to_them where Christ/Messiah nasceretur. )

2.4 Et congregans omnes principes sacerdotum. Nota diligentiam inquirentis, ut si invenerit faciat quod post se velle ostendit: sin autem, excusatus sit Romanis. Explorabat etiam, si rex eorum tristes vel lætos faciat Judæos. Ubi Christus nasceretur. A Judæis quærit locum, a Magis tempus, ut de utroque fiat certus.

2.4 And gathering everyone leaders priests. Note diligentiam inquirentis, as when/but_if found let_him_do that after himself to_want he_showed: sin however, excusatus be Romanis. Explorabat also, when/but_if king their tristes or lætos let_him_do Yudahos. Where Christ/Messiah nasceretur. From To_the_Jews seeks place, from Magis time/season, as from/about both fiat certus.

UGNT καὶ συναγαγὼν πάντας τοὺς ἀρχιερεῖς καὶ γραμματεῖς τοῦ λαοῦ, ἐπυνθάνετο παρ’ αὐτῶν ποῦ ὁ Χριστὸς γεννᾶται.
(kai sunagagōn pantas tous arⱪiereis kai grammateis tou laou, epunthaneto par’ autōn pou ho Ⱪristos gennatai.)

SBL-GNT καὶ συναγαγὼν πάντας τοὺς ἀρχιερεῖς καὶ γραμματεῖς τοῦ λαοῦ ἐπυνθάνετο παρʼ αὐτῶν ποῦ ὁ χριστὸς γεννᾶται.
(kai sunagagōn pantas tous arⱪiereis kai grammateis tou laou epunthaneto parʼ autōn pou ho ⱪristos gennatai.)

RP-GNT καὶ συναγαγὼν πάντας τοὺς ἀρχιερεῖς καὶ γραμματεῖς τοῦ λαοῦ, ἐπυνθάνετο παρ' αὐτῶν ποῦ ὁ χριστὸς γεννᾶται.
(kai sunagagōn pantas tous arⱪiereis kai grammateis tou laou, epunthaneto par' autōn pou ho ⱪristos gennatai.)

TC-GNT καὶ συναγαγὼν πάντας τοὺς ἀρχιερεῖς καὶ γραμματεῖς τοῦ λαοῦ, ἐπυνθάνετο παρ᾽ αὐτῶν ποῦ ὁ Χριστὸς γεννᾶται.
(kai sunagagōn pantas tous arⱪiereis kai grammateis tou laou, epunthaneto par autōn pou ho Ⱪristos gennatai. )

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

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 2:1–12: Wise men came and honored Jesus

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)

2:4a

And when he had assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people,

He called a meeting of all the leaders of the priests and all the teachers of the law
So he told/ordered all the leading priests and teachers of the law of Moses to meet with him.

Verse 2:4 is the result of Herod being disturbed (in 2:3b). Herod was disturbed (2:3b), so he called together some men and asked them where the Christ would be born (2:4). In some languages, it may be natural to introduce this result with a connecting word or phrase. For example:

So (JBP)

Therefore

he had assembled: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as assembled means “brought/gathered(people) together.”

Here are some other ways to translate this verb:

called together (NIV)

summoned

told to come to him

all the chief priests and scribes of the people: In this clause, the word all goes with both chief priests and scribes. The phrase of the people also goes with both chief priests and scribes.

chief priests: The Jewish priests were men who offered sacrifices to God on behalf of the people. They also performed other rituals for them. The phrase chief priests refers to the leaders among these priests.

Here are some other ways to translate chief priests:

Use a descriptive term that focuses on the function of a priest. For example:
the leaders of the sacrificers
the elders among the men who offer sacrifices to God
the leaders of those who represent people to God
Use a local word for priest. This option may be acceptable if the duties of a local priest are similar to those of a Jewish priest. You may need to indicate that the word refers to a Jewish priest. For example:
Jewish people’s leading priests/sacrificers

2:4b

he asked them where the Christ was to be born.

and asked them where the Christ would be born.
Then he asked them, “Where will the Christ/Messiah be born?”

he asked them where the Christ was to be born: This sentence indicates that Herod asked the chief priests and scribes a question. He wanted to know in what town or what place the Christ would be born.

Here are some other ways to translate this sentence:

As a direct question. For example:
and asked them, “Where will the Messiah be born?” (GNT)
As an indirect question. For example:
he asked them where the Christ was to be born. (NET)

Christ: Here the word Christ is a descriptive title. The word Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word “Messiah.” “Messiah” refers to the person whom God had appointed and promised to send as king and savior. The words Christ and Messiah have the same meaning.

Translate this word as you did in 1:1a. See also Christ in the Glossary.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

τοῦ λαοῦ

˱of˲_the people

Here, the phrase the people refers to the Jewish people. Matthew means that the chief priests and the scribes were part of the Jewish people. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [of the Jews] or [who belonged to the Jewish people]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / quotations

ἐπυνθάνετο παρ’ αὐτῶν ποῦ ὁ Χριστὸς γεννᾶται

˱he˲_˓was˒_inquiring (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί συναγαγών πάντας τούς ἀρχιερεῖς καί γραμματεῖς τοῦ λαοῦ ἐπυνθάνετο πάρʼ αὐτῶν ποῦ ὁ Χριστός γεννᾶται)

It may be more natural in your language to have a indirect quotation here. Alternate translation: [he inquired from them where the Christ would be born.]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

ὁ Χριστὸς γεννᾶται

the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί συναγαγών πάντας τούς ἀρχιερεῖς καί γραμματεῖς τοῦ λαοῦ ἐπυνθάνετο πάρʼ αὐτῶν ποῦ ὁ Χριστός γεννᾶται)

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: [is the place of Christ’s birth] or [is the Christ’s birthplace]

Note 4 topic: translate-tense

ὁ Χριστὸς γεννᾶται

Here Herod asks a question about the location of Christ’s birth using the present tense. You could use whatever tense is natural in your language for this kind of question. Alternate translation: [will the Christ be born]

Parallel MAT 2:4

Section 2:1–12: Wise men came and honored Jesus

2:4a

2:4b