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Today's Verse Analysis

Matthew 21:34 And when the time of the fruit drew near...

This continues the lesson about authority and trust to a story about how not trusting those in power leads to a predictable result.

Spoken to
audience

Matthew 21:34 ὅτε δὲ ἤγγισεν ὁ καιρὸς τῶν καρπῶν, ἀπέστειλεν τοὺς δούλους αὐτοῦ πρὸς τοὺς γεωργοὺς λαβεῖν τοὺς καρποὺς αὐτοῦ.

KJV Verse

Matthew 21:34 And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.

NIV Verse:

Matthew 21:34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.

What His Listeners Heard:

When, however, it drew near, the time of the fruits/profits, he sent those slaves of his to the vine-dressers to get those fruits/profits of his.

Lost In Translation:

The word translated as "fruit" is a play on words. Its primary meaning is "fruit," "seed," or "offspring," but its secondary meaning is economic "returns," specifically, "profit," as we would say "fruit of our labors." In this verse, the first use means "fruits," while the second use, the meaning is clearly "profits" since transporting the grapes seems unlikely, especially since there was a wine vat on the property. Since the word "fruits" also means "produce" generally, it could also mean the wine that was produced.

Notice how this play on words is lost completely in the NIV, which translates "of the fruits" as "harvest." If I were Jesus, using all these clever plays on words, a lot of this Biblical translation would make me sad, but, in Jesus's case, he would probably laugh as his plays on words sail right over these translator's heads.

The economic assumption here is that ownership of land (or means of production, if you want to get all Marxian) deserves to profit from the produce of the land. The fact that the "husbandmen" do all the work does not mean that they should get all the benefits. The owner expects a profit.

KJV w/Translation Issues :

And(WW) when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his (MW) servants to the husbandmen, that [they might receive(IP,WF)] the fruits of it.

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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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.