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Today's Verse Analysis

Matthew 23:29 Woe to you...because you build the tombs of the prophets...

A long condemnation of the religious leaders of the time, honoring the righteous when dead.

Spoken to
audience

Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν, γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι ὑποκριταί, ὅτι οἰκοδομεῖτε τοὺς τάφους τῶν προφητῶν καὶ κοσμεῖτε τὰ μνημεῖα τῶν δικαίων,

KJV Verse

Matthew 23:29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,

NIV Verse:

Matthew 23:29 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous.

What His Listeners Heard:

Oh-vey, to you scribes, and Pharisees. actors! Because you construct the tombs of the prophets, and you arrange the memorials of the virtuous.

Lost In Translation:

The word translated as "build" has the metaphoric sense of "build up" as in making something bigger and more important.

The Greek words translated as "garnish the sepulchers" and "decorate the graves" actually means "arrange the memorials." The biblical translators make it sound

While the word translated a "garnish/decorate" has a secondary meaning for "adorn," its primary meaning is "to order" and "to arrange," a verb form of the word that Jesus commonly uses to refer to the "world order."

The word translated as "sepulchers/graves" means "memorial" or "record." It is a noun form of the verb meaning "to remember." This could refer to the role of religious leaders giving speeches at funerals or creating other forms of memorials for those who were seen as particularly good examples.

 

 

KJV w/Translation Issues :

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees(UW), hypocrites(UW)! because ye build the tombs(CW) of the prophets, and garnish(CW) the sepulchres(WW) of the righteous,

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.