For those who want to know what Jesus really said, how he said it, why crowds came to hear him, and shades of meaning lost or hidden in translation.

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Today's Verse Analysis

Addressing the crowd after being challenged by Pharisees on violating traditon.

Spoken to
audience
KJV Verse

Matthew 15:11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.

NIV Verse:

Matthew 15:11  What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”

What His Listeners Heard:

Not that ingoing into the mouth makes the person common. Instead that outgoing out of the mouth, this makes the person common.

Lost In Translation:

The word translated as "defile" means "communicate" and "make common." Calling a person "common" is a bit of an insult today, but it could be heard more critically in Jesus's time, especially when talking about the "pharisees," that is, the "distinguished." However, there is a kind of logic that got the KJV translators to the concept of "defile," though their idea wasn't what Christ's listeners heard.  In Jewish custom, items dedicated to God were kept separate from everyday items. The Hebrew word translated as "holy" means "separate." Its opposite was the word for "common." It did not mean "defiled" and "impure" as it is often translated, as much it means as a regular, everyday thing that everyone used rather than a special, separate thing that was dedicated to God. So Jesus is making a play on the Jewish idea of "common" as not suitable for God with the Greek word for common meaning "communicate" and sharing ideas.

The verbs translated as "comes" and "goes" are reversed, based upon their root words. However, these words should not be translated simply as “comes” and “goes” because they are compound words, with prefixes. And both words are followed by prepositions the same as their prefixes. This is typical Jesus wordplay to emphasize his point. Both are also participle, with endings of “-ing.” He says something like “the incoming into” and “the outgoing out.“ But his listeners heard the repetition of the prefix before and the preposition after. As I have pointed out in this article, repetition is a key element of his humor.

Jesus doesn't say this about "a man" but a specific man, "the man" or "this man." He may well be talking about his mouth.

KJV w/Translation Issues :

Not that which(IW) goeth(WW, WF) into the mouth defileth(WW) a(WW) man; but that which(IW) cometh(WW) out of the mouth, this defileth(CW) a(WW) man.

KJV List (See full page for word-by-word analysis):
For analysis of each word of original Greek and biblical verses, click here.

Constantly Updated

My analysis standards and methods are constantly improving. New information on each verse is provided as articles are updated. It requires approximately two years for me to work through updating each of Jesus's verses.

What Jesus's Listeners Heard

The everyday meanings of the Greek words Jesus used were different than the definitions they have been given over time in biblical translation. The word translations here are based upon documents of his time such as the Greek Septuagint, not ideas unknown in his time.

About this Site

See what Jesus said in Greek and see how his words are changed in English translation. My goal is to translate Jesus's words as they were heard when he taught, not the way they are interpreted today. The work here resurrects the humor and cleverness of Jesus's words lost in translation.

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Each article provides detailed information on all the Greek words in each verse with links simplifying your own research. It compares the Greek to popular translations to show where words are confused, changed, left out, and added. This site offers research available nowhere else, such as how often Jesus uses a specific Greek word and links to a list of every verse in which he uses a given word.