Matthew 17:22 The Son of man shall be betrayed

Spoken to: 

Apostles

Jesus and apostles staying in Galilee after a gathering.

KJV: 

Matthew 17:22 The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men:

NIV : 

Matthew 17:22  The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.

LISTENERS HEARD: 

the son of the man is destined to hand himself into to the grasp of humanity.

MY TAKE: 

Jesus knew his fate and was to be betrayed by one of his students.

GREEK (Each Word Explained Bottom of Page): 

LOST IN TRANSLATION: 

What looks like a verb in the future tense is mistranslated. All the verbs here are in the present tense. The "shall/is going" here is the active verb that means "is destined." The word translated as "betrayed" and "delivered" means literally "given over."

# KJV TRANSLATION ISSUES: 

3
  • MW - Missing Word -- The word "the" is not shown in the English translation.
  • WW - Wrong Word -- The word translated as "shall" should be something more like "is destined."
  • WF - Wrong Form -  The "betrayed" is not an active verb but an infinitive, "to be betrayed."

# NIV TRANSLATION ISSUES: 

2
  • MW - Missing Word -- The word "the" is not shown in the English translation.
  • WW - Wrong Word -- The word translated as "is going" should be something more like "is destined."

EACH WORD of KJV : 

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. 

Son -- The word translated as "son" more generally means "child" or "descendant." The phrase "the son of man" is the common way Christ refers to himself. It is discussed in detail in this article. Its sense may be "the child of the man."

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. 

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. 

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

shall  - (WW) "Shall" is a Greek verb, which means "to be destined or likely to," "to be about to do something," or "to intend to" or "to have in mind to." This is not the future tense of the following verb, but the active verb in the clause. The following verb is an infinitive. Jesus only uses this verb in ten verses;

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

betrayed  -  (WF) "Betrayed" is from a compound word that literally means "to give over." It has a number of meanings including ideas of handing over, transmitting, and teaching. It is also in a form the is either passive or where the subject acts on himself. It also is the present tense. It is an infinitive not an active verb.

into -- The word translated as "into" means "into" a place, "towards" as a direction, "in regards to" a subject, and "up to" limits in time and measure.

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.

hands  - "Hands" is a noun that means "the hand and arm," and "with the help of agency of another." Like "hand" in English, it has a lot of meanings including "an act or deed," "a body of people," and the measurement "handful."

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.

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

EACH WORD of NIV : 

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. 

Son -- The word translated as "son" more generally means "child" or "descendant." The phrase "the son of man" is the common way Christ refers to himself. It is discussed in detail in this article. Its sense may be "the child of the man."

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. 

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. 

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

is going   - (WW) "Is going " is a Greek verb, which means "to be destined or likely to," "to be about to do something," or "to intend to" or "to have in mind to." This is not the future tense of the following verb, but the active verb in the clause. The following verb is an infinitive. Jesus only uses this verb in ten verses;

to -- This "to" is added because the infinitive form of the verb requires a "to" in English.

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

delivered -  "Delivered " is from a compound word that literally means "to give over." It has a number of meanings including ideas of handing over, transmitting, and teaching. It is also in a form the is either passive or where the subject acts on himself. It also is the present tense. It is an infinitive not an active verb.

into -- The word translated as "into" means "into" a place, "towards" as a direction, "in regards to" a subject, and "up to" limits in time and measure.

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.

hands  - "Hands" is a noun that means "the hand and arm," and "with the help of agency of another." Like "hand" in English, it has a lot of meanings including "an act or deed," "a body of people," and the measurement "handful."

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.

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

COMPARISON: GREEK to KJV : 

Μέλλει [5 verses](3rd sg pres ind act) "Shall be" is from mello, which is a verb meaning "to be destined to," "to be likely to," "to be about to," "to be alway going to do [without actually doing]," "to delay or put off

(article sg masc nom)  "The" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the"). 

υἱὸς [157 verses](noun sg masc nom) "The Son" is from huios, which means a "son," and more generally, a "child." -- The word translated as "son" more generally means "child."

τοῦ (article sg masc gen)  Untranslated is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the").

ἀνθρώπου [209 verses](noun sg masc gen) "Of man" is from 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. -- The Greek word for "of man" in the singular means "person" and "humanity" and "people" and "peoples" in the plural.

παραδίδοσθαι [43 verses](verb pres inf mp) "Betrayed" is paradidomi, which means "to give over to another," "to transmit," "to hand down," "to grant," "to teach," "to give up [to justice]" and "to bestow."

εἰς (prep) "Into" is from eis, which means "into (of place)," "up to (of time)," "until (of time)," "as much as (of measure or limit)," "as far as (of measure or limit)," "towards (to express relation)," "in regard to (to express relation)," "of an end or limit," and "for (of purpose or object)."

χεῖρας [25 verses] (noun pl fem acc) "Hand" is cheir which means "the hand and arm," and "with the help of agency of another." Like "hand" in English, it has a lot of meanings including "an act or deed," "a body of people," and the measurement "handful."

ἀνθρώπων, [209 verses](noun pl masc gen) "Of man" is from 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. -- The Greek word for "of man" in the singular means "person" and "humanity" and "people" and "peoples" in the plural.

Wordplay: 

Jesus is handed into hands, the child of the man into the grasp of men. 

Related Verses: 

Front Page Date: 

Feb 28 2021