Acts 1:4 ... but wait for the promise of the Father,

KJV: 

Acts 1:4 ... but wait for the promise of the Father, which ... ye have heard of me.

NIV : 

Acts 1:4 . but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.

3RD (NLT, if not otherwise identified): 

Acts 1:4 until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before.

LISTENERS HEARD: 

Still to await that announcement of that Father of mine, the one you heard about me.

GREEK (Each Word Explained Bottom of Page): 

LOST IN TRANSLATION: 

This verse is odd because it starts as a statement about Jesus saying something, but ends with quoting him.

The word translated as "promise" is more accurately translated as "announcement." It is from the same root as the verb "to announce" and the word "angel," which means "messenger." Jesus uses it in only one other verse with an even clearer sense of announcement because it is used with the word "dispatch."

The KJV translates the verse fairly accurately, but the NIV and NLT versions get progressively worse. Literally every word in the NLT version is either not in the Greek, a clear mistranslation of the Greek, or the wrong word form not used in the Greek.

# KJV TRANSLATION ISSUES: 

2
  • WF - Wrong Form -  The "wait for" is not an active verb but an infinitive, "to wait."
  • WT - Wrong Tense - The verb "have" seems to indicate an action completed in the past, but the tense is  the simple past. something started but not completed.

# NIV TRANSLATION ISSUES: 

7
  • WF - Wrong Form -  The "wait for" is not an active verb but an infinitive, "to wait."
  • IW - Inserted Word -- The word "gift" doesn't exist in the source.
  • WW - Wrong Word -- The word translated as "my" means "the."
  • WF - Wrong Form -  The "the father" is not sbuject byt a possessive, "of the father."
  • WF - Wrong Form -  The "promised" is not a verb but a noun, "promise" or "announcement."
  • WT - Wrong Tense - The verb "have" seems to indicate an action completed in the past, but the tense is  the simple past. something started but not completed.
  • WF - Wrong Form -  The "me" is not a subject but a genitive "of me."
  • IP - Inserted phrase-- The phrase "speak about" doesn't exist in the source.

# 3RD TRANSLATION ISSUES: 

12
  • WW - Wrong Word -- The word translated as "until" means "but," except," or "still."
  • MW - Missing Word -- The word "wait for" is not shown in the English translation.
  • IP - Inserted phrase-- The phrase "sends you the gift he" doesn't exist in the source.
  • MW - Missing Word -- The word "the" is not shown in the English translation.
  • WF - Wrong Form -  The "the father" is not sbuject byt a possessive, "of the father."
  • WF - Wrong Form -  The "promised" is not a verb but a noun, "promise" or "announcement."
  • WW - Wrong Word -- The word translated as "as" means "which."
  • WF - Wrong Form -  The "I" is not a subject but a genitive "of me."
  • WW - Wrong Word -- The word translated as "told" means "heard."
  • WF - Wrong Form -  The "you" is not a object but the subject of the verb.
  • IP - Inserted phrase-- The phrase "speak about" doesn't exist in the source.
  • IW - Inserted Word -- The word "before" doesn't exist in the source.

EACH WORD of KJV : 

but -- The Greek word translated as "but" denotes an exception or simple opposition. It is used to emphasize the contrast between things like we use "rather". It is the Greek word "other" like we use "otherwise".

wait for  -- (WF) The Greek word translated as  "wait for"  means "wait for" and "await." Jesus only uses this word here.  The verb is not a command, but an infinitive because of the form of an earlier verb on which it depends. However, the verb was not spoken by Jesus but about him.

the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article. The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this", "that", "these", "those"). See this article for more. 

promise  -- "Promise" is a Greek word that Jesus only uses twice that means "command", "summons", "announcement", "notice", " offer", "promise", "profession", and "undertaking." The verb root means  "to announce." It is a more complicated form of the word that is translated as "angel", which actually means "messenger".

of -- This word "of"  comes from the genitive case of the following word that required the addition of a preposition in English.  The most common is the "of" of possession, but it can also mean "belonging to," "part of", "which is", "than" (in comparisons), or  "for", "concerning" or "about" with transitive verbs. 

the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article. The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this", "that", "these", "those"). See this article for more. 

Father, -- "Father" is the Greek noun that means "father" or any male ancestor so "forefathers". It is the word that Christ uses to address his own Father. 

which - The word translated as "which" is a demonstrative pronoun ("this" "that"), but it often acts as a pronoun ("the one that), especially a connective pronoun ("the one that") introducing a dependent clause.

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 verbs here, which is the simple past.

heard -- "Heard" is from a Greek verb that means "to hear" and "to listen." It has the same sense as the English not only of listening but of understanding. However, it is in the form of an adjective, "hearing."

of  -- This word "of"  comes from the genitive case of the following word that required the addition of a preposition in English.  The most common is the "of" of possession, but it can also mean "belonging to," "part of", "which is", "than" (in comparisons), or  "for", "concerning" or "about" with transitive verbs.   The sense here seems to be "about."

me. -- "Me" is the first-person possessive singular pronoun.

EACH WORD of NIV : 

but -- The Greek word translated as "but" denotes an exception or simple opposition. It is used to emphasize the contrast between things like we use "rather". It is the Greek word "other" like we use "otherwise".

wait for  -- (WF) The Greek word translated as  "wait for"  means "wait for" and "await." Jesus only uses this word here.  The verb is not a command, but an infinitive because of the form of an earlier verb on which it depends. However, the verb was not spoken by Jesus but about him.

the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article. The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this", "that", "these", "those"). See this article for more. 

gift --  (IW) There is no Greek word that can be translated as "gift" in the Greek source.

my -- (WW) The word translated as "my" is the Greek definite article, "the." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this", "that", "these", "those"). See this article for more. 

Father, -- (WF) "Father" is the Greek noun that means "father" or any male ancestor so "forefathers". It is the word that Christ uses to address his own Father.  This is not a subject form but a possessive form.

promised  -- (WF) "Promised" is a Greek word that Jesus only uses twice that means "command", "summons", "announcement", "notice", " offer", "promise", "profession", and "undertaking." The verb root means  "to announce." It is a more complicated form of the word that is translated as "angel", which actually means "messenger".  The word is a noun, not a verb.

which - The word translated as "which" is a demonstrative pronoun ("this" "that"), but it often acts as a pronoun ("the one that), especially a connective pronoun ("the one that") introducing a dependent clause.

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 verbs here, which is the simple past.

heard -- "Heard" is from a Greek verb that means "to hear" and "to listen." It has the same sense as the English not only of listening but of understanding. However, it is in the form of an adjective, "hearing."

me. -- (WF)  "Me" is the first-person possessive singular pronoun. The form is not a subject, but a genitive,
"of me" or "about me."

speak about. -- (IP) There are no Greek words that can be translated as "speak about" in the Greek source.

EACH WORD 3RD (NLT or as noted): 

until -- (WW) The Greek word translated as "but" denotes an exception or simple opposition. It is used to emphasize the contrast between things like we use "rather". It is the Greek word "other" like we use "otherwise".

missing "wait for"-- (MW) The untranslated word "wait for"  means "wait for" and "await." Jesus only uses this word here.  The verb is not a command, but an infinitive because of the form of an earlier verb on which it depends. However, the verb was not spoken by Jesus but about him.

the -- (WF) The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article. The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this", "that", "these", "those"). See this article for more. This is not a subject form but a possessive form.

Father, -- (WF) "Father" is the Greek noun that means "father" or any male ancestor so "forefathers". It is the word that Christ uses to address his own Father.  This is not a subject form but a possessive form.

sends you the gift he -- (IP) There are no Greek words that can be translated as "sends you the gift he" in the Greek source.

missing "the"  -- (MW) The untranslated word is the Greek definite article, which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this", "that", "these", "those"). See this article for more. 

promised, -- (WF) "Promised" is a Greek word that Jesus only uses twice that means "command", "summons", "announcement", "notice", " offer", "promise", "profession", and "undertaking." The verb root means  "to announce." It is a more complicated form of the word that is translated as "angel", which actually means "messenger".  The word is a noun, not a verb.

as -- (WW)  The word translated as "as" is a demonstrative pronoun ("this" "that"), but it often acts as a pronoun ("the one that), especially a connective pronoun ("the one that") introducing a dependent clause.

I -- - (WF)  "I" is the first-person possessive singular pronoun. The form is not a subject, but a genitive,
"of me" or "about me."

told -- (WW) "Told" is from a Greek verb that means "to hear" and "to listen." It has the same sense as the English not only of listening but of understanding. However, it is in the form of an adjective, "hearing."

you -- (WF) This is from the second-person, plural form of the verb. This is the subject not the object of the verb.

before. -- (IW) There is no Greek word that can be translated as "before" in the Greek source.

COMPARISON: GREEK to KJV : 

ἀλλὰ  (adv) "But" is alla, which means "otherwise", "but", "still", "at least", "except", "yet," nevertheless", "rather", "moreover," and "nay."

περιμένειν  [unique]( verb pres inf act) "Wait from is  perimeno, which means "wait for" and "await."  The word literally means "stay around."

τὴν (article sg fem acc) "The" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the"), which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one" or, in the plural, "the ones."

ἐπαγγελίαν (2 verses) (noun sg fem acc) "Promise" is epaggelia, which means "command", "summons", "announcement", "notice", " offer", "promise", "profession", and "undertaking."

τοῦ (article sg masc gen) "The" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the"), which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one" or, in the plural, "the ones."

πατρὸς ( noun sg masc gen ) "The Father" is pater, which means "father", "grandfather", "author", "parent," and "forefathers."

ἣν  ( pron sg fem acc) "Which" is hos, which means "this", "that", "he", "she", "which", "what", "who", "whosoever", "where", "for which reason," and many similar meanings. -

ἠκούσατέ (verb 2nd pl aor ind act ) "Ye have 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."

μου: (pro sg masc gen) "Of me" is mou, which mean "my," or "mine."

Front Page Date: 

Feb 22 2020