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Today's Verse Analysis

Pharisee asks what the greatest commandment is.

Spoken to
The Pharisees

Matthew 22:37  Ἀγαπήσεις Κύριον τὸν θεόν σου ἐν ὅλῃ καρδίᾳ σου καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ ψυχῇ σου καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ διανοίᾳ σου:”

Deu 6:5 ἀγαπήσεις κύριον τὸν θεόν σου ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας σου καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ψυχῆς σου καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς δυνάμεώς σου

KJV Verse

Matthew 22:37 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

NIV Verse:

Matthew 22:37  ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

What His Listeners Heard:

You should care for a master, that Divine of yours, in a whole heart of yours, and in that  whole self of yours, and  in that whole thinking of yours. 

Lost In Translation:

This is based on a quote from the Greek Septuagint, Deu 6:5, which is the beginning of the Jewish Shema, a prayer observant Jews recite twice daily. Jesus, however, changes it. Neither the Matthew nor Mark versions say "with" heart, soul and mind." This versions says "in." Mark and the original one say "from." The biggest change is to the punchline, the end. The Septuagint version says, "from that power of yours" at the end not "mind,"  but Jesus makes it "that mind of yours" in both Matthew and James.  Jesus thus elevates logic over power. Not only was the noun changed, but the preposition. The word for "mind" is only used by Jesus in the two versions of Matthew and Mark. The word for "power" is common. Both words sound similar. 

The pattern of three repeated phrases used here is common for Jesus, but it is common generally in oratory, and in this case, comes from the Old Testament. However, several things are hidden in Greek that do not come out in English. Two of the three keywords here, heart and soul are so interesting they already have their own articles explaining the Greek words' meaning in more detail. The word for "power" is also explained in its own article. However, Jesus only uses the word translated as "mind" here and in the similar but longer version in Mark. very little about the "mind."

KJV w/Translation Issues :

Thou shalt(CW) love(CW) the Lord thy (MW) God with all(CW) thy heart, and with all(CW) thy (MW) soul, and with all(CW) thy (MW) mind.

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.