Matthew, a former tax collector who wrote the first book of the New Testament, meticulously chronicles the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. His account, rich with references to the Old Testament, focuses on Jesus as the promised Messiah, and laid the foundational call for His followers: To go forth and teach them to obey all that Jesus commanded (Mt. 28:20).

In a nation where faith runs deep shaping the very contours of daily life, Philippines presents a unique landscape for the enduring endeavour of Bible translation. While the presence of a large Catholic population might suggest a widespread familiarity with Saint Matthew, the reality for many Filipinos, particularly those in remote and linguistically diverse communities, is far more complex. The true story lies in the largely unseen work of dedicated Bible translation teams striving to make God’s Word accessible in all 162 languages echoing across the archipelago.

The translation of Matthew’s Parables of the Sower (Mt. 13:3-9), clear and comprehensible to Jesus’s original crowd , may confuse various indigenous ethnic language groups living in the mountainous regions of Philippines. In areas with extreme rainfalls, rocky soils may be desirable in providing drainage, and in reducing soil erosion and thus, preventing deadly landslides. On the other hand, good and fertile soil that supports healthy pest population and invasive plant species is not always beneficial. Without Bible translators help to find relevant local analogies that could be intuitively understood, the impact of Jesus’ parables would be lost.