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Today's Verse Analysis

Matthew 22:13 Then the king said to the servants,

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

Spoken to
audience

Matthew 22:13 τότε ὁ βασιλεὺς εἶπεν τοῖς διακόνοις Δήσαντες αὐτοῦ πόδας καὶ χεῖρας ἐκβάλετε αὐτὸν εἰς τὸ σκότος τὸ ἐξώτερον: ἐκεῖ ἔσται ὁ κλαυθμὸς καὶ ὁ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων.

KJV Verse

Matthew 22:13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

NIV Verse:

Matthew 22:13 Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

What His Listeners Heard:

Then the king said those servers: Tying his feet and hands, toss him out into the darkness, the outside. There, it will be the crying and the biting of the teeth.

Lost In Translation:

As the story takes a philosophical turn in the previous verse, Matthew 22:11, that tone continues here, ending on one of Jesus's statements that are exaggerated for humor.

Jesus uses the phrase "weeping and gnashing of teeth" in the same humorous way that we say in English "whining and complaining" or "bitching and moaning." The "gnashing of teeth" could indicate the chattering of teeth, conveying the sense that this person is tossed out "in the cold," except that Jesus uses this same phrase earlier to describe weeds cast in a fire.

KJV w/Translation Issues :

Then said the king to the servants, Bind(WF) him(WF) hand(WN,WP) and foot(WN), [and take him away(OS)], and cast(CW) him into (MW) outer (MW) darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

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.