Matthew 22:6 And the remainder took his servants,

Spoken to: 

audience

After his opponents leave, Jesus addresses the crowd telling a parable comparing the realm of the skies to a man, a king.

KJV: 

Matthew 22:6 And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.

NIV : 

Matthew 22:6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them.

LISTENERS HEARD: 

Those ones, however, remaining, being strong? Those servants of his, they abused and destroyed.

MY TAKE: 

Being strong tempts you to abuse others.

GREEK (Each Word Explained Bottom of Page): 

LOST IN TRANSLATION: 

Notice how similar the pattern is here to the parable of the tenants Matthew 21:33. However, it is just the structure, using different words. In his analogies, Jesus uses simple, common language to convey the body of the story adding overly dramatic, unusual language to emphasize the action and keep the listener's attention. In this verse and the last (Matthew 22:5), we are seeing unusually dramatic language, though it is typically hidden by translation. The strongest words meaning "abused" and "destroyed" end the verse.

The bland-looking "took" is an unusual word, used by Jesus only seven times meaning, "to be strong," "to hold sway," "to be the lord and and "to prevail over," "to get the upper hand," "to seize," "to control," and "to command." It is an adjective here, not an active verb as translated, describing the ones remaining, so "being strong."

The word translated as "remnant/rest" is also unusual, used only six times, and probably is interesting in some way, but I do

# KJV TRANSLATION ISSUES: 

4
  • MW - Missing Word -- The word "the" before "servants" is not shown in the English translation.
  • CW - Confusing Word -- The "took" is not the common word usually translated as "took."
  • WF - Wrong Form -  The "took" is not an active verb but a participle, "being strong."
  • WP -- Wrongly Placed -- The word "servants" doesn't is the object of the other two verbs, not this one because it isn't active.
  • IW - Inserted Word -- The word "and" doesn't exist in the source.

# NIV TRANSLATION ISSUES: 

6
  • MW - Missing Word -- The word "but" is not shown in the English translation.
  • CW - Confusing Word -- The "seized" is not the common word usually translated as "seized."
  • WF - Wrong Form -  The "seized" is not an active verb but a participle, "being strong."
  • WP -- Wrongly Placed -- The word "servants" doesn't is the object of the other two verbs, not this one because it isn't active.
  • MW - Missing Word -- The word "the" before "servants" is not shown in the English translation.
  • IW - Inserted Word -- The word "and" doesn't exist in the source.

EACH WORD of KJV : 

And -- The Greek word translated as "and" means "but," "however," and "on the other hand." It joins phrases in an adversarial way. Since it always falls in the second position, translating it as "however" often captures its feeling better.

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. 

remnant -  "Remnant" is from an uncommon word that means "remaining over," "the rest," and, of Time, "the future," "henceforward." Jesus only uses this noun in six verses.

took  - (CW, WF) The bland-looking "took" is another unusual word meaning "to be strong," "to hold sway," "to be the lord and and "to prevail over," "to get the upper hand," "to seize," "to control," and "to command." It is an adjective here, "being strong" not an active verb as translated. Jesus only uses this verb in seven verses. Though it can be "took," here it modifies "the rest" so the sens is clearly, "being strong."

his -- The word translated as "his" is the Greek word commonly translated as third-person pronouns in English.  This pronoun follows the noun so "of his."

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. 

servants,  - (WP) The noun translated as "the servants" means "slave." It is translated as "servant" to update the Bible since being a slave in Jesus period was a more common status. It is the object of the last two verbs, not the one above.

and -- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "and" in the Greek source. It was added because the previous verb was translated as active rather than a participle.

entreated  - "Entreated..spitefully" is from a word that describes overfed asses as braying and prancing around and means "running riot," and in the transitive, as it is here, "treat despitefully," "outrage," "insult," "maltreat," and "injuring someone."

them -- This English objective pronoun is added and not in the Greek source.   In Greek, pronoun objects are not repeated after each verb because they are implied by their first occurrence.

spitefully, -- This completes the idea of the verb.

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

slew  - "Slew" is translated from a Greek word that means "destroy" more than just "kill" because the base word means "slay." The Greek source has the sense of "kill off," that is, destroy in a more thorough way. When we talk about "destroying" someone, we use it to mean destroying their reputation, the strength of their spirit and ideas as well as physically killing them. This is more the sense here.

them. -- This English objective pronoun is added and not in the Greek source.   In Greek, pronoun objects are not repeated after each verb because they are implied by their first occurrence.

EACH WORD of NIV : 

missing "the"  -- (MW) The untranslated word means "but," "however," and "on the other hand." It joins phrases in an adversarial way. Since it always falls in the second position, translating it as "however" often captures its feeling better.

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. 

rest -  "Rest " is from an uncommon word that means "remaining over," "the rest," and, of Time, "the future," "henceforward." Jesus only uses this noun in six verses.

seized - (CW, WF) The bland-looking "took" is another unusual word meaning "to be strong," "to hold sway," "to be the lord and and "to prevail over," "to get the upper hand," "to seize," "to control," and "to command." It is an adjective here, "being strong" not an active verb as translated. Jesus only uses this verb in seven verses. Though it can be "seize," here it modifies "the rest" so the sens is clearly, "being strong."

his -- The word translated as "his" is the Greek word commonly translated as third-person pronouns in English.  This pronoun follows the noun so "of his."

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. 

servants,  - (WP) The noun translated as "the servants" means "slave." It is translated as "servant" to update the Bible since being a slave in Jesus period was a more common status. It is the object of the last two verbs, not the one above.

and -- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "and" in the Greek source. It was added because the previous verb was translated as active rather than a participle.

mistreated - "Entreated..spitefully" is from a word that describes overfed asses as braying and prancing around and means "running riot," and in the transitive, as it is here, "treat despitefully," "outrage," "insult," "maltreat," and "injuring someone."

them -- This English objective pronoun is added and not in the Greek source.   In Greek, pronoun objects are not repeated after each verb because they are implied by their first occurrence.

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

killed - "Killed " is translated from a Greek word that means "destroy" more than just "kill" because the base word means "slay." The Greek source has the sense of "kill off," that is, destroy in a more thorough way. When we talk about "destroying" someone, we use it to mean destroying their reputation, the strength of their spirit and ideas as well as physically killing them. This is more the sense here.

them. -- This English objective pronoun is added and not in the Greek source.   In Greek, pronoun objects are not repeated after each verb because they are implied by their first occurrence.

COMPARISON: GREEK to KJV : 

οἱ (article pl masc nom) "The" is the Greek definite article, which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one."

δὲ (conj) "But" is from de which means "but" and "on the other hand." It is the particle that joins sentences in an adversarial way but can also be an explanation of cause ("so").

λοιποὶ [6 verses](adj pl masc nom) "Remnant" is loipos, which means "remaining over," "the remaining," "the rest,: "descendants," of Time, "the future," "henceforward," "hereafter," and "the remaining."

κρατήσαντες [7 verses](part pl aor act masc nom) "Took" is krateo, which means "to be strong," "powerful": "to rule," "to hold sway," "to be the lord and master," "to conquer," "to prevail over," "to get the upper hand," "to seize," "to control," and "to command."

τοὺς (article sg neut dat)  Untranslated is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the").

δούλους [56 verses](noun pl masc acc) "The servants" is doulos, which means a "slave," a "born bondsman," or "one made a slave."

αὐτοῦ (adj sg masc gen) "His" is from autos, which means "the same," and the reflexive pronouns, "myself," "yourself," "himself," "herself," "itself," or the oblique case of the pronouns, "him," "her," and "it." It also means "one's true self," that is, "the soul" as opposed to the body and "of one's own accord."

ὕβρισαν [2 verses](verb 3rd pl aor ind act) "Entreated ...spitefully" is hubrizô, which means "wax wanton," "run riot," of over-fed asses, "neigh or bray and prance about," "to treat despitefully," "to outrage," "to insult," "to do one a personal injury," and "to mistreat."

καὶ (conj/adv_ "And" is from 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." -

ἀπέκτειναν. [31 verses](verb 3rd pl aor ind act) "Slew" is apokteino, which means "to kill," and "to slay." It combines the word for "to slay" (kteino) with the proposition, apo, indicating separation, meaning "from" or "away from."but it is a stronger form than the normal verb kteino. It is more like our "destroy." It is in the form of a present participle, "destroying" acting as a noun ("those destroying"). --

Related Verses: 

Unimportant Opinions and Imaginings: 

"But the rest," he said, emphatically, "Being so powerful, pranced around like asses and killed off his servants."

Front Page Date: 

Jun 29 2021