Mark 2:17 They that are whole have no need of the physician...

Spoken to: 

The Pharisees

Jesus eats at the tax collector Levi/Matthew house and the Pharsee criticize him.

KJV: 

Mark 2:17 They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

NIV : 

Mark 2:17 It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.

LISTENERS HEARD: 

No need of a healer do they have, those  being strong, instead, those having illnesses. I don't show up to call law-abiding, instead, erring.

MY TAKE: 

Sick or strong, we all need a healer.

GREEK (Each Word Explained Bottom of Page): 

GREEK ORDER: 

Οὐ χρείαν ἔχουσιν           οἱ       ἰσχύοντες       ἰατροῦ
No need     do they have, those being strong of a healter.

ἀλλ᾽      οἱ          κακῶς    ἔχοντες:
Instead, those    illnesses  having. 

οὐκ ἦλθον          καλέσαι δικαίους                 ἀλλὰ      ἁμαρτωλούς.
not   I shown up to call    law-abiding ones.  Instead,  mistaken  ones.

LOST IN TRANSLATION: 

The term translated as "they that are whole" and "healthy" means  being "strong." The word translated as "sick" means "morally bad," and "evil"  as well as "ill," but it is plural, so "illnesses." The contrast in the second part of the verse is between those who obey the laws and those who make mistakes.

# KJV TRANSLATION ISSUES: 

11
  • CW --Confusing Word -- The "they" does not capture the word's specific meaning.
  • IW - Inserted Word -- The word "that" doesn't exist in the source.
  • WF -- Wrong Form -  The "are" is not an active verb but a participle, "being."
  • CW --Confusing Word -- The "whole" does not capture the word's specific meaning.
  • IW - Inserted Word -- The word "the" before "physician" doesn't exist in the source.
  • CW - Confusing Word -- The "but" is not the common word usually translated as "but."
  • IW - Inserted Word -- The word "that" doesn't exist in the source.
  • WW --Wrong Word -- The word translated as "are" should be something more like "having."
  • WN  --Wrong Number- The word "sick" is translated as singular but the Greek word is plural, "illnesses."
  • CW - Confusing Word -- The "but" is not the common word usually translated as "but."
  • CW --Confusing Word -- The "sinners" does not capture the word's specific meaning.
  • IW - Inserted Word -- The word "the" before "righteous" doesn't exist in the source.
  • OS -- Outdated Source -- The Greek word translated as "to repentance" existed in the KJV Greek source but not the source we use today.

# NIV TRANSLATION ISSUES: 

14
  • WN  --Wrong Number- The verb "is" is translated as singular but the Greek word is plural, "are."
  • WF -- Wrong Form -  The "is" is not an active verb but a participle, "being."
  • WP -- Wrongly Placed -- The word "not" negates "need" not "healthy."
  • CW --Confusing Word -- The "healthy" does not capture the word's specific meaning.
  • WF -- Wrong Form -  The "healthy" is not an adjective but a participle "being strong.
  • IW - Inserted Word -- The word "who" doesn't exist in the source.
  • MW - Missing Word -- The word "have" is not shown in the English translation.
  • WN  --Wrong Number- The word "sick" is translated as singular but the Greek word is plural, "illnesses."
  • 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).
  • CW - Confusing Word -- The "but" is not the common word usually translated as "but."
  • IW - Inserted Word -- The word "that" doesn't exist in the source.
  • WW --Wrong Word -- The word translated as "are" should be something more like "having."
  • CW - Confusing Word -- The "but" is not the common word usually translated as "but."
  • CW --Confusing Word -- The "sinners" does not capture the word's specific meaning.

EACH WORD of KJV : 

They -- (CW) 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. 

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

are -- (WF) The verb translated as "are...whole" means "It is strong." The phrase is not from the verb "is" with the adjective "whule." This has to be expressed as a verbal phrase because to verb in English means "be strong." This verb means "to be strong in body", "to be powerful," or "to be worth." Jesus uses it primarily to mean "strong in body." This is a participle not an active verb so "being strong."

whole -- -- (CW)  This is not the precise meaning of the verb which is from the Greek word for "being strong."

have   -- The word translated as "have" means to "have," "possess," "bear," "keep close," "hold in," "have means to do,"  "to have due to one," or "keep" and many specific uses.

no -- The Greek word translated as "no" is the Greek negative used to deny objective facts, not opinions. It means "no," "not," or"no truly." It makes a negative statement of fact. Adding "really" to the sentence captures the same idea. When a negative precedes the verb, it affects the whole clause. When it precedes other words, its force is limited to those words. Here it precedes "need."

need -- The word translated as "need" means "need" and "poverty," but it also means "familiarity" and "intimacy."

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 -- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "the" in the Greek source

physician, -- The word translated as "physician" generally means "one who heals."

but -- (CW) The Greek word translated as "but" denotes an exception or simple opposition. It is used to emphasize the contrast between things like we use "instead," "but instead,"or "rather." It is not the common word usually translated as "but." It is the Greek word "other" like we use "otherwise." Jesus often uses this conjunction to connect a negative clause, "not this," with a positive one, "instead this."

they --  (CW) The word translated as "they" 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. 

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

are -- (WW, WF) The word translated as "are" means to "have," "possess," "bear," "keep close," "hold in," "have means to do,"  "to have due to one," or "keep" and many specific uses. This verb isn't used to form past tenses as the helper verb does in English. Nor does it has the sense of "must" when used with infinitives.

sick:  --  (WN) The word translated as "sick" is an adjective which means many different forms of "bad," including "ugly," "low born," "craven," and "ill." As an adverb, its sense is "ill," "wickedly," "poorly," and "wrongly."   In the NT, it is often translated as "evil." More about it in this article. It is plural. Here the sense is "illnesses."

I -- This is from the first-person, singular form of the verb.

came  -- The word translated as "came" primarily means "to start out" but Christ usually uses it to mean "come" but not always. It indicates movement, especially its beginning, without indicating a direction toward or away from anything, so it works either as "start," "come," or "go," but it is more like our phrase "being underway." Our English word "show up" captures both the "start" and "come" ideas. See this article for more.

not -- The Greek word translated as "not" is the Greek negative used to deny objective facts, not opinions. It means "no," "not," or"no truly." It makes a negative statement of fact. Adding "really" to the sentence captures the same idea. When a negative precedes the verb, it affects the whole clause. When it precedes other words, its force is limited to those words. 

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

call -- The term translated as "call" is like our word "call" because it means both "to summon" and also "to name," but it does not as clearly mean "to address."

the -- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "the" in the Greek source, but the following noun is plural and the article is used to make it seem plural. A better way is to add "ones" after the noun. 

righteous, -- The Greek adjective translated as "the righteous" means "observant of rules," "observant of customs," "well-ordered," "civilized," and "observant of duty." It could be translated as "law-abiding."

but -- (CW) The Greek word translated as "but" denotes an exception or simple opposition. It is used to emphasize the contrast between things like we use "instead," "but instead,"or "rather." It is not the common word usually translated as "but." It is the Greek word "other" like we use "otherwise." Jesus often uses this conjunction to connect a negative clause, "not this," with a positive one, "instead this."

sinners --  (CW) "Sinners" is word that means "erroneous" or "erring." It also means "of bad character" but with the sense of being a slave or low-born not evil. Only in biblical translations is this term given the sense of wickedness. More about the translation issues regarding "sin" here.

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

EACH WORD of NIV : 

It -- (WN)The verb is plural, not singular so this pronoun is wrong.    WN  --Wrong Number- The word "heaven" is translated as singular but the Greek word is plural, "skies."

is -- (WF) The verb translated as "are...whole" means "It is strong." The phrase is not from the verb "is" with the adjective "whule." This has to be expressed as a verbal phrase because to verb in English means "be strong." This verb means "to be strong in body", "to be powerful," or "to be worth." Jesus uses it primarily to mean "strong in body." This is a participle not an active verb so "being strong." As noted above, it is plural.

not -- (WP) The Greek word translated as "not" is the Greek negative used to deny objective facts, not opinions. It means "no," "not," or"no truly." It makes a negative statement of fact. Adding "really" to the sentence captures the same idea. When a negative precedes the verb, it affects the whole clause. When it precedes other words, its force is limited to those words. Here it precedes "need" not the verb.

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. 

healthy -- (CW, WF)  This is not the precise meaning of the verb which is from the Greek word for "being strong." It is not a noun but part of a verb.

who -- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "who" in the Greek source.

missing "have"  -- (MW) The untranslated word  "have" means to "have," "possess," "bear," "keep close," "hold in," "have means to do,"  "to have due to one," or "keep" and many specific uses.

need -- (WF) The word translated as "need" means "need" and "poverty," but it also means "familiarity" and "intimacy."  It is a noun or an adjective, not a verb.

a -- There is no indefinite article in Greek, but when a noun doesn't have a definite article, the indefinite article can be added in English translation.

doctor,  -- The word translated as "doctor" generally means "one who heals."

but -- (CW) The Greek word translated as "but" denotes an exception or simple opposition. It is used to emphasize the contrast between things like we use "instead," "but instead,"or "rather." It is not the common word usually translated as "but." It is the Greek word "other" like we use "otherwise." Jesus often uses this conjunction to connect a negative clause, "not this," with a positive one, "instead this."

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. 

missing "have"  -- (MW) The untranslated word  "have" means to "have," "possess," "bear," "keep close," "hold in," "have means to do,"  "to have due to one," or "keep" and many specific uses.

sick:  -- (WN) The word translated as "sick" is an adjective that means many different forms of "bad," including "ugly," "low born," "craven," and "ill." As an adverb, its sense is "ill," "wickedly," "poorly," and "wrongly."   In the NT, it is often translated as "evil." More about it in this article. It is plural. Here the sense is "illnesses."

I -- This is from the first-person, singular 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.

not -- The Greek word translated as "not" is the Greek negative used to deny objective facts, not opinions. It means "no," "not," or"no truly." It makes a negative statement of fact. Adding "really" to the sentence captures the same idea. When a negative precedes the verb, it affects the whole clause. When it precedes other words, its force is limited to those words. 

come -- The word translated as "come" primarily means "to start out" but Christ usually uses it to mean "come" but not always. It indicates movement, especially its beginning, without indicating a direction toward or away from anything, so it works either as "start," "come," or "go," but it is more like our phrase "being underway." Our English word "show up" captures both the "start" and "come" ideas. See this article for more.

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

call -- The term translated as "call" is like our word "call" because it means both "to summon" and also "to name," but it does not as clearly mean "to address."

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.

righteous, -- The Greek adjective translated as "the righteous" means "observant of rules," "observant of customs," "well-ordered," "civilized," and "observant of duty." It could be translated as "law-abiding."

but -- (CW) The Greek word translated as "but" denotes an exception or simple opposition. It is used to emphasize the contrast between things like we use "instead," "but instead,"or "rather." It is not the common word usually translated as "but." It is the Greek word "other" like we use "otherwise." Jesus often uses this conjunction to connect a negative clause, "not this," with a positive one, "instead this."

sinners --  (CW) "Sinners" is word that means "erroneous" or "erring." It also means "of bad character" but with the sense of being a slave or low-born not evil. Only in biblical translations is this term given the sense of wickedness. More about the translation issues regarding "sin" here.

COMPARISON: GREEK to KJV : 

Οὐ [269 verses](partic) "Not" is ou , the negative adverb for facts and statements, negating both single words and sentences.  The other negative adverb, μή applies to will and thought; οὐ denies, μή rejects; οὐ is absolute, μή relative; οὐ objective, μή subjective.

χρείαν [13 verses](noun sg fem acc) "Need of" is  chreia, which means "need," "want," "poverty," "a request of a necessity," "business," "military service," "a business affair," "employment," "familiarity," "intimacy," and "maxim."

ἔχουσιν [181 verses](3rd pl pres ind act) "They that be" is echo, which means "to have," "to hold," "to possess," "to keep," "to have charge of," "to have due to one," "to maintain," "to hold fast," "to hold in," "to bear," "to carry," "to keep close," "to keep safe," and "to have means to do." In aorist, it can mean "acquire," or "get." The main sense when it has an object is "to have" or "to hold." It can also mean "to without" or "keep back" a thing.

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

ἰσχύοντες [4 verses](part pl pres act masc nom) "That are whole " is ischyo, which means "to be strong", "to be powerful", "to prevail", "to be worth," and "to be equivalent to."  -

ἰατροῦ [3 verses](noun sg masc gen)"Physician" is iatros, which means "one who heals", "medic", "surgeon," or "midwife."

ἀλλ᾽ [154 verses](conj) "But" is alla, which means "instead," "otherwise," "but," "still," "at least," "except," "yet," nevertheless," "rather," "moreover," and "nay."

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

κακῶς  [7 verses](adj pl neut acc) "Sick" is kakos, which means "bad," "mean," "base," "ugly," "ill-born," "evil," "worthless," "sorry," "pernicious," and "ill."  As an adverb, its sense is "ill," "wickedly," "poorly," and "wrongly." 

ἔχοντες: [181 verses](part pl pres act masc nom) "They that are" is echo, which means "to have," "to hold," "to possess," "to keep," "to have charge of," "to have due to one," "to maintain," "to hold fast," "to hold in," "to bear," "to carry," "to keep close," "to keep safe," and "to have means to do." In aorist, it can mean "acquire," or "get." The main sense when it has an object is "to have" or "to hold." It can also mean "to without" or "keep back" a thing. 

οὐκ [269 verses](partic) "Not" is ou , the negative adverb for facts and statements, negating both single words and sentences.  The other negative adverb, μή applies to will and thought; οὐ denies, μή rejects; οὐ is absolute, μή relative; οὐ objective, μή subjective.

ἦλθον [198 verses](verb 1st sg aor ind act ) "I came" is  erchomai, which means "to start," "to set out," "to come," "to go," and any kind of motion. It means both "to go" on a journey and "to arrive" at a place.

καλέσαι [38 verses](verb aor inf act) "To call" is kaleo, which means "call," "summon," "invite," "invoke," "call by name," and "demand.""Shall be called" is kaleo, which means "call," "summon," "invite," "invoke," "call by name," and "demand."

δικαίους [21 verses]( (adj pl masc/fem acc) "Righteous" is dikaios which means "observant of rules," "observant of customs," "well-ordered," "civilized," and "observant of duty." Later it means "well-balanced," "impartial," and "just." As a verb, it means to "set right," "hold or deem right," "claim or demand as a right," "pronounce judgment," "do a man right or justice," "chastise," "punish, and in passive, "have right done one."

ἀλλὰ [154 verses](conj) "But" is alla, which means "instead," "otherwise," "but," "still," "at least," "except," "yet," nevertheless," "rather," "moreover," and "nay."

ἁμαρτωλούς.[15 verses](adj pl masc/fem acc ) "Sinners" is hamartolos, which means "erroneous" or "erring." It also means "of bad character" but with the sense of being a slave or low-born not evil.

Wordplay: 

A play on the word "illnesses" also means "evils". A play on "worth" and "worlthless."

Related Verses: 

Front Page Date: 

Feb 14 2023