Luke 6:5 the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

Spoken to: 

The Pharisees

The Pharisees challenge Jesus because his students are gleaning on the Sabbath.

KJV: 

Luke 6:5 the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

NIV : 

Luke 6:5 The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

LISTENERS HEARD: 

A master is dependent on this rest. This Son of the Man is!

MY TAKE: 

We should all aspire to become lords who belong to the Sabbath.

GREEK (Each Word Explained Bottom of Page): 

GREEK ORDER: 

    Κύριός ἐστιν               τοῦ σαββάτου     υἱὸς     τοῦ ἀνθρώπου.
A master depends upon  the  rest :    the Son of the Man. 

LOST IN TRANSLATION: 

This statement makes no sense as a claim of power. Jesus's listeners would have heard it as a play of the word "Sabbath." Since, "of the sabbath" follows "is" not "lord, it is the object of verb, not a description of "master (lord)." This verb form with an object means "is depended upon." "Sabbath" means "rest."  In Greek, this means "a master is dependent on this rest."  Eating was required on the Sabbath for rest.  The punchline reveals that the master is not King David, the previous topic, but "the son of the man." And he is dependent on rest.

Jesus's listeners could have also heard this as a funny question. Because "if of" can also means "is at the mercy of," So, the question: "Is a master at the mercy of the Sabbath?" This is a contradiction because "master" means the one in charge.

With this form of "is of the sabbath," the "is of" can express a descent or extraction, the material of which a thing is made, the class to which a person or thing belongs, a thing belongs to another, to be dependent upon, and to be at the mercy of.

The word means a "master" is, generally, as a person of authority. Notice that Jesus doesn't say "the lord." He has been talking about David. In the New Testament the word "lord" is used to refer to many types of people including those who are no more than the master of a house and the head of a family. As a leader and teacher, Jesus is called "lord" by others regularly. In a sense, everyone in Jesus's time had a master. Some thought theirs was the emperor. Others thought it was God.  Power passed down the hierarchy from the top.

# KJV TRANSLATION ISSUES: 

3

the Son of (MW) man is(CW) Lord also(OS) of the sabbath.

  • MW - Missing Word -- The word "the/this" man"heaven" is not shown in the English translation.
  • CW --Confusing Word -- The "is" does not capture the word's specific meaning in this situation.
  • OS -- Outdated Source -- The Greek word translated as "also" existed in the KJV Greek source but not the source we use today.

# NIV TRANSLATION ISSUES: 

2

The Son of (MW) Man is(CW) Lord of the Sabbath.”

  • MW - Missing Word -- The word "the/this" before "man" is not shown in the English translation.
  • CW --Confusing Word -- The "is" does not capture the word's specific meaning in this situation.

EACH WORD of KJV : 

the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article; without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more. 

Son -- The word translated as "son" more generally means "child" or "children." It can refer to all offspring in later generations, just like "father" refers to all previous generations. Jesus also used it metaphorically to describe those who follow a way of thought or set of beliefs that descend from an individual. More about it in this article.

of -- This word "of"  comes from the genitive case of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English.  The most common is the "of" of possession.

missing "the/this"  -- (MW) The untranslated word is the Greek definite article," the," 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," and "those"). See this article for more. 

man -- The Greek word for "man" means "man," "person" and "humanity" in the singular. In the plural, it means "men," "people," and "peoples."

is -- (CW) The verb "is" here is the common form of "to be" in Greek. It means to have a certain characteristic or remain in a certain condition. It also equates terms or assigns characteristics.  With the "possessive" object, it expresses a descent or extraction, the material of which a thing is made, the class to which a person or thing belongs, a thing belongs to another, to be dependent upon, and to be at the mercy of. It is difficult to apply it to "Lord" because the verb comes between them, but not equating them because their forms do not match.

Lord -- The word translated as "master" is the same word that is often translated as "Lord" or "the Lord" in the NT. It also means "lord," "master of the house," and "head of the family." It is the specific terms for the master of slaves or servants, but it was a common term of respect both for those in authority and who were honored. It was the term people used to address Christ, even though he had no formal authority. Today, we would say "boss" or "chief." For the sake of consistency, this should be the Greek word translated as "master."

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

of -- This word "of"  comes from the genitive case of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English.  The most common is the "of" of possession.

the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article; without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more. 

sabbath. -- The word translated as the "the Sabbath day" is the Greek version of the Hebrew word "shabbat" meaning "rest" or "day of rest."

EACH WORD of NIV : 

the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article; without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more. 

Son -- The word translated as "son" more generally means "child" or "children." It can refer to all offspring in later generations, just like "father" refers to all previous generations. Jesus also used it metaphorically to describe those who follow a way of thought or set of beliefs that descend from an individual. More about it in this article.

of -- This word "of"  comes from the genitive case of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English.  The most common is the "of" of possession.

missing "the/this"  -- (MW) The untranslated word is the Greek definite article," the," 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," and "those"). See this article for more. 

man -- The Greek word for "man" means "man," "person" and "humanity" in the singular. In the plural, it means "men," "people," and "peoples."

is -- (CW) The verb "is" here is the common form of "to be" in Greek. It means to have a certain characteristic or remain in a certain condition. It also equates terms or assigns characteristics.  With the "possessive" object, it expresses a descent or extraction, the material of which a thing is made, the class to which a person or thing belongs, a thing belongs to another, to be dependent upon, and to be at the mercy of. It is difficult to apply it to "Lord" because the verb comes between them, but not equating them because their forms do not match.

Lord -- The word translated as "master" is the same word that is often translated as "Lord" or "the Lord" in the NT. It also means "lord," "master of the house," and "head of the family." It is the specific terms for the master of slaves or servants, but it was a common term of respect both for those in authority and who were honored. It was the term people used to address Christ, even though he had no formal authority. Today, we would say "boss" or "chief." For the sake of consistency, this should be the Greek word translated as "master."

of -- This word "of"  comes from the genitive case of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English.  The most common is the "of" of possession.

the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article; without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more. 

sabbath. -- The word translated as the "the Sabbath day" is the Greek version of the Hebrew word "shabbat" meaning "rest" or "day of rest."

COMPARISON: GREEK to KJV : 

Κύριός ​​ [92 verses](noun sg masc acc) "Lord" is kyrios, which means "having power," "being in authority" and "being in possession of." It also means "lord," "master of the house," and "head of the family."

ἐστίν.[614 verses](3rd sg pres ind act) "Is" is eimi, which means "to be," "to exist," "to be the case," of circumstance and events "to happen,"  and "is possible." With the genitive object, it expresses a descent or extraction, the material of which a thing is made, the class to which a person or thing belongs, a thing belongs to another, to be dependent upon, and to be at the mercy of. With the dative, it means "have" where the subject and object are reversed.

τοῦ [821 verses](article sg neut gen)  "The" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the"). 

σαββάτου. [17 verses](noun sg neut gen)   "Sabbath day" is from sabbaton, which means "Sabbath," "seven days of week," and "first day of week."

  [821 verses](article sg masc nom)  "The" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the"). 

υἱὸς [158 verses](noun sg masc nom​) "The Son" is huios, which means a "son," and more generally, a "child." It is used generally to refer to any male descendant.

τοῦ [821 verses](article sg masc gen)  Untranslated is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the").  -

ἀνθρώπου [209 verses](noun sg masc gen) "Of man" is anthropos, which is "man," and, in plural, "mankind." It also means "humanity" and that which is human and opposed to that which is animal or inanimate.

Wordplay: 

Christ is calling himself a master at resting.

The word translated as "Lord" is in the form where it could be the name of God or a word meaning simply "a lord". 

Christ seems t use the phrase "son of man" to refer both to himself and to a generic concept of a new generation of humanity.

Related Verses: 

Unimportant Opinions and Imaginings: 

A quick study of Genesis shows some interesting patterns in their use of the word. Initially, the word was always used with the Greek word for God, in the form, "Lord, the God," or "Lord, the Divine." In some verses, they dropped the Hebrew references to "Lord," even though it existed in the Hebrew, and just translated "the Divine." They also said "Lord God" without the "the" before God. However, in chapter eleven of Genesis, in the story of the Tower of Babble, fittingly (Gen 11:5), the word "Lord" is used alone because it is used alone in the Hebrew. After that all four combinations, "Lord the Divine," the Divine," Lord Divine," and simply "Lord." are used both in the Greek and Hebrew.

Front Page Date: 

Dec 10 2023