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Today's Verse Analysis

Matthew 15:4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father

Pharisees complain about hand washing, Jesus addresses their violations

Spoken to
The Pharisees

Matthew 15 ὁ γὰρ θεὸς εἶπεν “Τίμα τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὴν μητέρα,” καί “Ὁ κακολογῶν πατέρα ἢ μητέρα θανάτῳ τελευτάτω:”

Septuagint versions:
Exo 20:12 τίμα τὸν πατέρα σου καὶ τὴν μητέρα 

Exo 21:17 ὁ κακολογῶν πατέρα αὐτοῦ ἢ μητέρα αὐτοῦ τελευτήσει  θανάτῳ

KJV Verse

Matthew 15:4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.

NIV Verse:

Matthew 15:4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’[fn] and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’

 

What His Listeners Heard:

Because the Divine said "Value that father and that mother;" and "The one abusing a father or a mother, he must end with death.

Lost In Translation:

Jesus is quoting the Old Testament here. We can see that his quotes match the Greek versions of the Old Testament (Septuagint) more closely than they match the original Hebrew. We have noted this as evidence that Jesus taught in Greek (see this article). In the Sermon on the Mount after Jesus teaches the Beatitudes, he goes through several of the ten commandments and raises the bar on morality. Not only shouldn't we kill, but we should turn the other cheek. In this commandment, he changes the verb from a statement about the future to a command.

KJV w/Translation Issues :

For (MW) God commanded(OS), saying, Honour thy (MW) father and mother: and, He(CW) that(IW) curseth(WF) father or mother, let him die the(IW) death.

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.