For those who want to know what Jesus really said, how he said it, why crowds came to hear him, and shades of meaning lost or hidden in translation.

Home

Today's Verse Analysis

Matthew 21:32  For John came unto you in the way of righteousness,

This follows on a statement about how Jesus's opponents will be lead by tax collectors and prostitutes into the realm of the Divine.

Spoken to
group

Matthew 21:32 ἦλθεν γὰρ Ἰωάνης πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐν ὁδῷ δικαιοσύνης, καὶ οὐκ ἐπιστεύσατε αὐτῷ: οἱ δὲ τελῶναι καὶ αἱ πόρναι ἐπίστευσαν αὐτῷ: ὑμεῖς δὲ ἰδόντες οὐδὲ μετεμελήθητε ὕστερον τοῦ πιστεῦσαι αὐτῷ.

KJV Verse

Matthew 21:32 For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.

NIV Verse:

Matthew 21:32 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

 

What His Listeners Heard:

Because John made showed up before you with a path of virtue and you didn't trust in him. However, the tax collectors and the prostitutes trusted in him. You yourselves, however, seeing this, didn't change your minds afterward this trusting in him.

Lost In Translation:

The phrase translated as "the way of righteousness" is not "the way" but "a way" so Jesus is saying that John's way isn't the only way. 

The word translated as "believe" here has more the sense of trusting especially trusting a person's words. The final "believe" is in the form of an infinitive, not an active verb, so with the article before it, it acts like a noun,"the trusting."

The word translated as "repent" does not mean that. It seems the biblical translators assumed that it was a typo, because it looks like the word for "repented" in Matthew 21:30, which isn't the common word translated as repent, but this word isn't either of those words. This word starts the same, but changes only a single letter, which makes it means to "take care of." Both come from the root of "to care about" but one is the feeling and the other is the action or responsibility for doing it. This verb is in a form where the subject acts on themselves, the sense is "manage yourselves."

KJV w/Translation Issues :

For John came unto you in the(IW) way of righteousness, and(WW) ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when(IW) ye had(WT) seen(WF) it, repented(WW,WV) not(CW) afterward, that(WW) [ye might(IP)] believe(WF) him.

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.

Free Subscriptions

Regular emails from Substack, subscribe to Rediscovering Jesus's Words.

 

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.