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Today's Verse Analysis

Part of Jesus's response to the faith of the Roman Centurion.

Spoken to
audience
KJV Verse

Matthew 8:12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

NIV Verse:

Matthew 8:12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

 

What His Listeners Heard:

Those, however, sons of this realm will be tossed out into the darkness, the outside. In that place will be the lamentation and the mastication of those teeth.

Lost In Translation:

This verse uses a number of phrases associated Jesus. Christ often uses the phrase "children of the kingdom," but he usually uses it to refer to the "kingdom of the sky." Here it seems to refer to the children of Israel. This is atypical. The phrase usually means the "good seed" (Matthew 13:38).

This is the first time the phrase "outer darkness." It is used elsewhere in parables (Matthew 22:13, Matthew 25:30). However, it is not in the form of an adjective and a noun, but of two adjectives used as nouns, "the darkness" followed by "the outer." 

The word translated as "gnashing" means "biting" or chattering," not "grinding," which is the meaning of "gnashing." The weeping and chattering teeth phrase seems humorous in nature. Jesus speaks parable verses that use this phrase.  It is always used at the end of the verse as a punchline. "The weeping and gnashing of teeth" are not the common participle forms. They are a more unusual form that we might translate into English as "lamentation" and "mastication." The words are theatrical so they seem more like Jesus's humor than anger.  For more on this topic, see this article.

 

KJV w/Translation Issues :

But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into (MW) outer (MW) darkness: there(CW) shall be weeping and gnashing(CW) of (MW) teeth.

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.