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Today's Verse Analysis

Matthew 15:32 I have compassion on the multitude,

A group gathers on a mountain top to be healed.

Spoken to
Apostles

Matthew 15:32 Σπλαγχνίζομαι ἐπὶ τὸν ὄχλον, ὅτι [ἤδη] ἡμέραι τρεῖς προσμένουσίν μοι καὶ οὐκ ἔχουσιν τί φάγωσιν: καὶ ἀπολῦσαι αὐτοὺς νήστεις οὐ θέλω, μή ποτε ἐκλυθῶσιν ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ.

KJV Verse

Matthew 15:32 I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.

NIV Verse:

Matthew 15:32  “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”

What His Listeners Heard:

I feel pity myself for this mob because now three days they are sticking with me and they don't have a thing to eat. And I don't want to set them free famished. Not when they might be faint on the way.

Lost In Translation:

There are a number of puns here that are lost in the English translation. Because of these puns, many of the keywords here are rare, despite being translated to look like familiar terms. The word translated as "have compassion" and the word translated as "eat" both have the sense of churning insides as in "eating yourself up" over a problem.  The word translated as "multitude/people" means "mob" or crowd." Both the word translated as "send away" and "faint/collapse" means "set free" and "loose."  The word translated as "continue/have been with me" literally means "stick with me." The word translated as "way" also means "way of life" so falling down in the way also means falling down in a way for life.

KJV w/Translation Issues :

I have compassion(WF) on(CW) the multitude, because they continue(CW) with me now three days, and have nothing to eat(MM): and I will(WW) not (MW) send(WW) them away fasting(CW), lest (MW) they faint(MW) in the way.

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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