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Today's Verse Analysis

Pharisee attack, casting demons

Spoken to
audience
KJV Verse

Matthew 12:26 And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?

NIV Verse:

Matthew 12:26   If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?

What His Listeners Heard:

Also, if the adversary tosses out the adversary from himself, he is divided.  How exactly will that realm of his stand?

Lost In Translation:

The word "satan" means "adversary." It is not a name. It is preceded by an article, "the adversary." Articles do not usually come before proper names when they are the subject of a sentence. they are used before non-Greek names to indicate their form when not subjects. The translators, however, wanted to reinforce their idea of "Satan" as a person, which was not a concept in Jesus's time. They eliminated the articles before this word twice to reinforce the idea that "Satan" is a personal name rather than a noun describing a concept, the adversary. (More about satanas and life's adversity in this article.)

Jesus is making light of the accusation against him. The part about "satan" is the setup. The punchline is a question: "How exactly will it stand, this realm of his?"

 

KJV w/Translation Issues :

And if (MW) Satan(UW) casts out (MW) Satan(UW), he is divided against(CW) himself; how shall then his (MW) kingdom stand?

KJV List (See full page for word-by-word analysis):
For analysis of each word of original Greek and biblical verses, click here.

Constantly Updated

My analysis standards and methods are constantly improving. New information on each verse is provided as articles are updated. It requires approximately two years for me to work through updating each of Jesus's verses.

What Jesus's Listeners Heard

The everyday meanings of the Greek words Jesus used were different than the definitions they have been given over time in biblical translation. The word translations here are based upon documents of his time such as the Greek Septuagint, not ideas unknown in his time.

About this Site

See what Jesus said in Greek and see how his words are changed in English translation. My goal is to translate Jesus's words as they were heard when he taught, not the way they are interpreted today. The work here resurrects the humor and cleverness of Jesus's words lost in translation.

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Do Your Own Research

Each article provides detailed information on all the Greek words in each verse with links simplifying your own research. It compares the Greek to popular translations to show where words are confused, changed, left out, and added. This site offers research available nowhere else, such as how often Jesus uses a specific Greek word and links to a list of every verse in which he uses a given word.