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.

Home

Today's Verse Analysis

Matthew 22:7  But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth:

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 22:7 ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς ὠργίσθη, καὶ πέμψας τὰ στρατεύματα αὐτοῦ ἀπώλεσεν τοὺς φονεῖς ἐκείνους καὶ τὴν πόλιν αὐτῶν ἐνέπρησεν.

KJV Verse

Matthew 22:7 But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.

NIV Verse:

Matthew 22:7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

What His Listeners Heard:

The king, however, was infuriated and, dispatching those armies of his, he destroyed those slayers there and set fire to that city of theirs.

Lost In Translation:

This is another example of Jesus using dramatically strong language to portray the events in the story. Three Greek words here, "armies," "murderers," and "burned" are used only here. Both this parable, and the previous one, starting at Matthew 21:33,  are like Shakespearean tragedies where the main actors all end up dead. Only the owner/king is left alive at the end. Notice that Jesus is not condemning the violence on the part of the land owner or king in either parable. He portrays it as inevitable. Many modern Christian clerics may condemn the death penalty for murderers, but Jesus took it for granted that those who killed would end up dying at the hands of those who held power.
 

KJV w/Translation Issues :

But when(IW) the king [heard thereof(OS)], he [was wroth(WV)]: and he [sent forth(CW)] his (MW) armies, and(IW) destroyed those (MW) murderers, and burned up(IW) their (MW) city.

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.

Free Subscriptions

Regular emails from Substack, subscribe to Rediscovering Jesus's Words.

 

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.