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

After the analogies of the lost sheep and lost coin, Jesus begins a new analogy.

Spoken to
audience
KJV Verse

Luke 15:11 A certain man had two sons:

NIV Verse:

Luke 15:11 There was a man who had two sons.

What His Listeners Heard:

A man, a someone, has two sons. 

Lost In Translation:

There is no "certain" in this verse as show in the KJV, but the word translated as "certain" is left out of the NIV entirely. The verb form  of "had" is a slightly different tense than is translated. "Had" implies that he no longer does. The correct translation is "has." Jesus told this story as though the man and his sons were still alive. 

 

KJV w/Translation Issues :

 A certain(WF)  man had two sons:

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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Do Your Own Research

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.