Luke 7:22 Go your way, and tell John

Spoken to: 

audience

John's followers came to Jesus and asked if he was the one.

KJV: 

Luke 7:22 Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.

NIV : 

 Luke 7:22 Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.

LISTENERS HEARD: 

Departing, report to John what you have seen and heard. Blind ones receive sight. Lame ones walk around. Scaly ones are cleansed, and deaf ones hear. Dying ones are awakened. Beggars are brought the good news.

MY TAKE: 

Trust is based on evidence of what we see and hear.

GREEK (Each Word Explained Bottom of Page): 

GREEK ORDER: 

Πορευθέντες ἀπαγγείλατε   Ἰωάνει      εἴδετε     καὶ ἠκούσατε: “τυφλοὶ     ἀναβλέπουσιν,”
Departing,     report           to John what you saw and heard.         Blind ones receive sight.

χωλοὶ περιπατοῦσιν,        λεπροὶ καθαρίζονται       καὶ κωφοὶ      ἀκούουσιν, νεκροὶ        ἐγείρονται,
Lame ones walk around. Scaly ones are cleansed, and deaf ones hear.            Dying ones are awakened.

πτωχοὶ εὐαγγελίζονται:”
Beggars are brought the good news.

LOST IN TRANSLATION: 

This verse also encapsulates a number of double meanings. The Greek verb translated as "go"is one Jesus usually uses this term in the sense of "depart" but it is an adjective verb, so "departing".  The "tell" is better translated as "report," its specific meaning of bringing someone news or explaining a dream or a riddle or, in this case, miracles. It is the verb form of the Greek word we translated as "angel", which actually means "messenger". Its prefix means "away from" or "out" so the literal meaning is "send a message out."

The "to the poor, the gospel is preached" and "the good news is proclaimed to the poor". This verb is a noun, "good news" made into a verb, "the poor "are goodnewsed." If this sounds funny, it is intentional. Before Jesus this rare word was used by Aristophanes, the Greek comic playwriter; after Jesus by Lucian, a Syrian satirist. It is used in the New Testamen more than all other ancient Greek put together.

# KJV TRANSLATION ISSUES: 

13
  • WF -- Wrong Form -  This "go" is not an active verb but a participle, a verbal adjective, ending with "-ing. " 
  • IP - Inserted Phrase-- The "your way" doesn't exist in the source.
  • IW - Inserted Word -- The "and" doesn't exist in the source.
  • CW --Confusing Word -- This is not one of the common words usually translated as "tell."
  • IW - Inserted Word -- The "things" doesn't exist in the source.
  • WT - Wrong Tense - The verb "have" indicates the past perfect tense, but the tense is something that happens at a specific point in time (past, present, or future).
  • IW - Inserted Word -- The "how" doesn't exist in the source.
  • OS -- Outdated Source -- The Greek word translated as "that" existed in the KJV Greek source but not the source we use today.
  • WW - Wrong Word -- The word translated as "see" should be something more like "recover their sight."
  • OS -- Outdated Source -- The Greek missing word "and" is in the source we use today.
  • CW --Confusing Word -- The "arise" does not capture the word's specific meaning of "awaken."
  • WF -- Wrong Form -  The "to the poor" is not the indirect object of the verb but the subject, "the poor."
  • CW --Confusing Word --  This religious "preached"transition is more specific than the word's more general meaning.

# NIV TRANSLATION ISSUES: 

7
  • WF -- Wrong Form -  This "go" is not an active verb but a participle, a verbal adjective, ending with "-ing. " 
  • IW - Inserted Word -- The "and" doesn't exist in the source.
  • WT - Wrong Tense - The verb "have" indicates the past perfect tense, but the tense is something that happens at a specific point in time (past, present, or future).
  • IP - Inserted Phrase-- The " those who have " doesn't exist in the source.
  • WF -- Wrong Form -  The "leprosy" is not the noun describing the disease, but an adjective describing people.
  • CW --Confusing Word -- The "arise" does not capture the word's specific meaning of "awaken."
  • WF -- Wrong Form -  The "to the poor" is not the indirect object of the verb but the subject, "the poor."

EACH WORD of KJV : 

Go -- (WF) The Greek verb translated as "go" is the most common verb translated as "go" in the NT. This word means "to lead over," "depart," and "to carry over." However, this word uniquely means "to pursue a course" and "to depart from life." In the active voice, it means "made to go" or "carried over" but in the passive or middle, its normal form, the subject is either being taken or taking himself. Jesus also uses it for a play on words referring to its "depart from life" meaning.   This is not an active verb but a participle, a verbal adjective, ending with "-ing. "  

your way, -- (IP) There is nothing that can be translated as this phrase in the Greek source.

and -- (IW) This word is not in the Greek source.

tell -- (CW) Though the word translated as "tell" is in the expected form of a command, it has the specific meaning of bringing someone news or explaining a dream or a riddle or, in this case, miracles. It is the verb form of the Greek word we translated as "angel," which actually means "messenger." Its prefix means "away from" or "out" so the literal meaning is "send a message out." "Report" or, since we are talking about miracles, "reveal" works.   This is not one of the words usually translated as this word.

John --  "John" is the Greek word translated as the English proper name. 

what -- The word translated as "who" is a demonstrative pronoun ("this" "that"), but it often acts as a pronoun, "he," "she," "it," "which," "what," "who," "whosoever," "where," "for which reason," and many similar meanings.

things  -- (IW) This word is not in the Greek source. "Things" is usually from a neuter, plural noun before it, but the "what" above is singular.

ye -- This is from the second-person, plural form of the verb.

have -- (WT) This helping verb "have" indicates that the verb is the tense indicating an action completed in the past. This is not the tense of the verb here.

seen  -- The verb translated as "seen" means "see" but it is used like we use the word "see" to mean "to know" or "to perceive." In th KJV, it is almost translated as many times as "know" as it is "see."

and  -- The Greek word translated as "and" is used as the conjunction "and," but it also is used to add emphasis, "even," "also," and "just."In a series, it can be translated as "not only...but also." After words implying sameness "as."

heard; -- "Hear" is from a Greek verb that means "to hear," "to hear of," and "to listen." It has the same sense as the English not only of listening but of understanding.   It also means "to listen" and "to understand," but amusingly, it also means "to be silent."

how - (IW) This word is not in the Greek source.

that -- (OS) There is nothing in the Greek that can be translated as "that" in the source we use today but it does exist in the source that the KJV translators used.

the -- There is no Greek article "the" here in the source, but the noun is plural and in English, an article is used before plural nouns in phrases like this.

blind -- "The blind" is a word that means both physically and mentally blind. It also means all things that are obscure. It has no article "the" before it.

see, - (WW) "See" is a Greek verb that means "to look up," "recover sight," "open one's eye's" and, metaphorically, "revive."

the -- There is no Greek article "the" here in the source, but the noun is plural and in English, an article is used before plural nouns in phrases like this.

lame - "The lame" is a word that means both "limping" and 'defective."

walk, -- "Walk" is a Greek verb that means "to walk up and down," "to walk about," and "to walk about while teaching." Jesus uses it somewhat humorously in the sense that we use "pace" or "parade."

the -- There is no Greek article "the" here in the source, but the noun is plural and in English, an article is used before plural nouns in phrases like this.

lepers - "Leper" is an adjective that means "scaly," scabrous," and "rough." It describes any skin problem, not just the disease leprosy.

are -- This helping verb "are" indicates that the verb is passive. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.

cleansed,  -- The Greek word translated as "cleansed," means to remove dirt. It is used for a lot of specific types of "cleaning" including cleansing a person of leprosy but it also has a general meaning of "purifying" anything.

missing "and"  -- (OS) The untranslated word  "and" is not shown in the English translation. "and" is used as the conjunction "and," but it also is used to add emphasis, "even," "also," and "just."In a series, it can be translated as "not only...but also." After words implying sameness "as." 

the -- There is no Greek article "the" here in the source, but the noun is plural and in English, an article is used before plural nouns in phrases like this.

deaf - "The deaf" is a word that primarily means "the dull" or "the mute" which came to mean "deaf."

hear, -- "Hear" is from a Greek verb that means "to hear," "to hear of," and "to listen." It has the same sense as the English not only of listening but of understanding.   It also means "to listen" and "to understand," but amusingly, it also means "to be silent." The accusative object is the person/thing heard about, while the genitive is the person/thing heard from.  However, two genitives can be used with the sense of "hear of a thing from a person."

the -- There is no Greek article "the" here in the source, but the noun is plural and in English, an article is used before plural nouns in phrases like this.

dead  -- The word translated as "the dead" means "corpse," "a dying man," and "inanimate, non-organic matter." Christ uses it in all three senses, referring to the actual dead, the spiritually dead, and inanimate matter.

are -- This helping verb "are" indicates that the verb is passive. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.

raised, -- (CW) The word for "arise" means "awaken" and is the same word Jesus uses to describe God raising the dead and false prophets arising. While its primary meaning is “awaken," “rouse,” or “stir up,” in various forms and, in different contexts, it means “wake up,” “stay awake,” and “to be awake.” It can also mean “to stir yourself,” “excite yourself,” or to “be excited” by passion.” It also forms various idioms. For example, when used with “ears” it means “prick up your ears.” It also means “raise” or “erect,” but usually in the context of constructing buildings. It is only consistently translated as “raise” in the NT and later works based on it.

to -- (WF) This word "to" comes from the indirect object form of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English. The most common is a "to" for the English indirect object. WF -- Wrong Form -  The "to the poor" is not the indirect object of the verb but the subject, "the poor."

the -- There is no Greek article "the" here in the source, but the noun is plural and in English, an article is used before plural nouns in phrases like this.

poor -- "Poor" is an adjective that means "a beggar" and "beggarly" and it a metaphor for being lacking in something.

the gospel - This completes the meaning of the verb. It is from the prefix.

is -- This helping verb "is" indicates that the verb is passive. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.

preached. -- (CW) "The gospel is preached" is translated from a Greek word that means to"bring good news," and, in the passive, "receive good news." Like the previous verb, it is not a passive, but in a form which indicates the subject acting on itself at some point in time. It is in the form of "to bring good news. It comes before the word translated as "must." This religious "preached" is more specific than the word's meaning.

EACH WORD of NIV : 

Go back -- (WF) The Greek verb translated as "go back" is the most common verb translated as "go" in the NT. This word means "to lead over," "depart," and "to carry over." However, this word uniquely means "to pursue a course" and "to depart from life." In the active voice, it means "made to go" or "carried over" but in the passive or middle, its normal form, the subject is either being taken or taking himself. Jesus also uses it for a play on words referring to its "depart from life" meaning.   This is not an active verb but a participle, a verbal adjective, ending with "-ing. " 

and -- (IW) This word is not in the Greek source.

report -- Though the word translated as "tell" is in the expected form of a command, it has the specific meaning of bringing someone news or explaining a dream or a riddle or, in this case, miracles. It is the verb form of the Greek word we translated as "angel," which actually means "messenger." Its prefix means "away from" or "out" so the literal meaning is "send a message out." "Report" or, since we are talking about miracles, "reveal" works.   This is not one of the words usually translated as this word.

to -- This word "to" comes from the indirect object form of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English. The most common is a "to" for the English indirect object.

John --  "John" is the Greek word translated as the English proper name. 

what -- The word translated as "who" is a demonstrative pronoun ("this" "that"), but it often acts as a pronoun, "he," "she," "it," "which," "what," "who," "whosoever," "where," "for which reason," and many similar meanings.

you -- This is from the second-person, plural form of the verb.

have -- (WT) This helping verb "have" indicates that the verb is the tense indicating an action completed in the past. This is not the tense of the verb here.

seen  -- The verb translated as "seen" means "see" but it is used like we use the word "see" to mean "to know" or "to perceive." In th KJV, it is almost translated as many times as "know" as it is "see."

and  -- The Greek word translated as "and" is used as the conjunction "and," but it also is used to add emphasis, "even," "also," and "just."In a series, it can be translated as "not only...but also." After words implying sameness "as."

heard; -- "Hear" is from a Greek verb that means "to hear," "to hear of," and "to listen." It has the same sense as the English not only of listening but of understanding.   It also means "to listen" and "to understand," but amusingly, it also means "to be silent."

The -- There is no Greek article "the" here in the source, but the noun is plural and in English, an article is used before plural nouns in phrases like this.

blind -- "The blind" is a word that means both physically and mentally blind. It also means all things that are obscure. It has no article "the" before it.

receive sight -"Receive sight, " is a Greek verb that means "to look up," "recover sight," "open one's eye's" and, metaphorically, "revive."

the -- There is no Greek article "the" here in the source, but the noun is plural and in English, an article is used before plural nouns in phrases like this.

lame - "The lame" is a word that means both "limping" and 'defective."

walk, -- "Walk" is a Greek verb that means "to walk up and down," "to walk about," and "to walk about while teaching." Jesus uses it somewhat humorously in the sense that we use "pace" or "parade."

 those who have -- (IP) There is nothing that can be translated as this phrase in the Greek source.

leprosy - (WF) "Leprosy" is an adjective that means "scaly," scabrous," and "rough." It describes any skin problem, not just the disease leprosy. This word is a plural, adjective describing people, not a singular noun describing the disease.

are -- This helping verb "are" indicates that the verb is passive. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.

cleansed,  -- The Greek word translated as "cleansed," means to remove dirt. It is used for a lot of specific types of "cleaning" including cleansing a person of leprosy but it also has a general meaning of "purifying" anything.

the -- There is no Greek article "the" here in the source, but the noun is plural and in English, an article is used before plural nouns in phrases like this.

deaf - "The deaf" is a word that primarily means "the dull" or "the mute" which came to mean "deaf."

hear, -- "Hear" is from a Greek verb that means "to hear," "to hear of," and "to listen." It has the same sense as the English not only of listening but of understanding.   It also means "to listen" and "to understand," but amusingly, it also means "to be silent." The accusative object is the person/thing heard about, while the genitive is the person/thing heard from.  However, two genitives can be used with the sense of "hear of a thing from a person."

the -- There is no Greek article "the" here in the source, but the noun is plural and in English, an article is used before plural nouns in phrases like this.

dead  -- The word translated as "the dead" means "corpse," "a dying man," and "inanimate, non-organic matter." Christ uses it in all three senses, referring to the actual dead, the spiritually dead, and inanimate matter.

are -- This helping verb "are" indicates that the verb is passive. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.

raised, -- (CW) The word for "arise" means "awaken" and is the same word Jesus uses to describe God raising the dead and false prophets arising. While its primary meaning is “awaken," “rouse,” or “stir up,” in various forms and, in different contexts, it means “wake up,” “stay awake,” and “to be awake.” It can also mean “to stir yourself,” “excite yourself,” or to “be excited” by passion.” It also forms various idioms. For example, when used with “ears” it means “prick up your ears.” It also means “raise” or “erect,” but usually in the context of constructing buildings. It is only consistently translated as “raise” in the NT and later works based on it.

and  --- The Greek word translated as "and" is used as the conjunction "and," but it also is used to add emphasis, "even," "also," and "just."In a series, it can be translated as "not only...but also." After words implying sameness "as."

the good news - This completes the meaning of the verb. It is from the prefix.

is -- This helping verb "is" indicates that the verb is passive. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.

preached. --"The gospel is proclaimed" is translated from a Greek word that means to"bring good news," and, in the passive, "receive good news." Like the previous verb, it is not a passive, but in a form which indicates the subject acting on itself at some point in time. It is in the form of "to bring good news. It comes before the word translated as "must." This religious "preached" is more specific than the word's meaning.

to -- (WF) This word "to" comes from the indirect object form of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English. The most common is a "to" for the English indirect object.

the -- There is no Greek article "the" here in the source, but the noun is plural and in English, an article is used before plural nouns in phrases like this.

poor -- "Poor" is an adjective that means "a beggar" and "beggarly" and it a metaphor for being lacking in something.

COMPARISON: GREEK to KJV : 

Πορευθέντες [54 verses](part pl aor pass masc nom) "Go" is poreuomai (poreuo) which means "make to go," "carry," "convey," "bring," "go," "march," "depart," and "proceed." It is almost always translated as "go" in the NT but Jesus uses it in situations where it "depart from life" meaning comes into play.

ἀπαγγείλατε [3 verses](2nd pl aor imperat act) "Tell" is from apaggello, which means to "bring tidings," "report," "describe," and "explain or interpret (a dream or riddle)." From the noun, aggelos, which means "messenger" and "envoy" and which is the word from which we get "angels."

Ἰωάνει  [17 verses](noun sg masc dat) "John" is from Ioannes, which is the Greek form of the name "John."

  [294 verses] (article sg fem nom) "What things" is hos, which means "this," "that," "he," "she," "it," "which," "what," "who," "whosoever," "where," "for which reason," and many similar meanings.

εἴδετε [166 verses](verb 2nd pl aor ind act ) "Ye have seen" is eido which means "to see," "to examine," "to perceive," "to behold," "to know how to do," "to see with the mind's eye," and "to know."

καὶ [1089 verses](conj/adv) "And" is kai, which is the conjunction joining phrases and clauses, "and," or "also." After words implying sameness, "as" (the same opinion as you). Used in series, joins positive with negative "Not only...but also." Also used to give emphasis, "even," "also," and "just."

ἠκούσατε: [95 verses](verb 2nd pl aor ind act)  "Heard" is akouo,  which means "hear of," "hear tell of," "what one actually hears," "know by hearsay," "listen to," "give ear to," "hear and understand," and "understand." The accusative object is the person/thing heard about, while the genitive is the person/thing heard from.  However, two genitives can be used with the sense of "hear of a thing from a person." -

τυφλοὶ [15 verses](adj pl masc nom) Blind" is typhlos, which means "blind," "lacking vision of the future," "dark," "dim," "obscure," "hidden," and "no outlet (of passages)."

ἀναβλέπουσιν, [3 verses] (3rd pl pres ind act) "Receive their sight" is anablepô, which means "to look up," "recover sight," "open one's eye's" and, metaphorically, "revive."  It is from blepo, which means "to look," and "to see." The prefix is  ana, which in compound words means "strengthen" and "increase."

χωλοὶ [6 verses](adj pl masc nom) "The lame" is from chôlos, which means "lame," "limping," and "defective." A very similar word, cholos, which means "gall," "bitter," "angry," and "wrathful."

περιπατοῦσιν, [13 verses] (3rd pl pres ind act) "Walk" is peripateo, which means "to walk up and down," "to walk about," and "to walk about while teaching."

λεπροὶ [4 verses] (adj pl masc nom) "Lepers" is lepros, which "scaly," scabrous," and "rough" and is used to describe the leprous. -

καθαρίζονται [12 verses](3rd pl pres ind mp) "Are cleansed" is katharizo, which means "to clean," "to clear the ground of weeds," "prune away," "to remove dirt," "to purify,"and "to remove impurities." It is also used to describe the removal of the inedible parts from grain (winnowing), clearing weeds from a field, pruning a plant and so on.

καὶ [1089 verses](conj/adv) "And" is kai, which is the conjunction joining phrases and clauses, "and," or "also." After words implying sameness, "as" (the same opinion as you). Used in series, joins positive with negative "Not only...but also." Also used to give emphasis, "even," "also," and "just."

χκωφοὶ [3 verses] (adj pl masc nom) "The deaf" is from kophos, which means "the mute," "the dull," and "the obtuse" and from this it came to mean "deaf."

ἀκούουσιν, [95 verses](3rd pl pres ind act) "Hear" is akouo,  which means "hear of," "hear tell of," "what one actually hears," "know by hearsay," "listen to," "give ear to," "hear and understand," and "understand." The accusative object is the person/thing heard about, while the genitive is the person/thing heard from.  However, two genitives can be used with the sense of "hear of a thing from a person." -

νεκροὶ [21 verses] (adj pl masc nom) "Dead" is nekros, which specifically means "a corpse" as well as a "dying person," "the dead as dwellers in the nether world," "the inanimate," and "the inorganic"

ἐγείρονται, [42 verses](3rd pl pres ind mp) "Arise" is egeiro, which means "to awaken," "to stir up," and "to rouse." -- The word for "arise" means "awaken" and is the same word Christ uses to describe God raising the dead and false prophets arising.

πτωχοὶ [17 verses](adj pl masc nom)"Poor" is ptochos, which means "beggar," "beggar-woman," and "beggarly." 

εὐαγγελίζονται:” [5 verses] (3rd pl pres ind mp) "Preach" is from euaggelizowhich means "bring good news," "announce good things," "preach or proclaim as glad tidings," and, in the passive, "receive good news."

Wordplay: 

 Every noun and verb in this verse as a double meaning. The alternative above shows the major ones. A great example of the depth of meaning in the Greek not captured in English translation. 

The rhyming pattern is -οὶ -ουσιν, -οὶ -ουσιν, -οὶ ​-ζονται, -οὶ -ουσιν, -οὶ ​-ζονται, -οὶ ​-ζονται

Related Verses: 

parallel comparison: 

This single verse unites two verses from Matthew (Matthew 11:4, Matthew 11:5). Something we are seeing repeatedly in Luke. As usual, there are slight differences between the two in word order and vocabulary. Most of these changes are condensation: eliminating the "ands" between phrases. Like Matthew 11:5, there is a rhyming pattern in the last part even but without the conjunctions.

Front Page Date: 

Jan 16 2024