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Today's Verse Analysis

Matthew 18:32 Then his lord, after that he had called him...

During teaching about forgiving people's mistakes, Jesus tell a parable about forgiving debts.

Spoken to
audience

Matthew 18:32  τότε προσκαλεσάμενος αὐτὸν ὁ κύριος αὐτοῦ λέγει αὐτῷ Δοῦλε πονηρέ, πᾶσαν τὴν ὀφειλὴν ἐκείνην ἀφῆκά σοι, ἐπεὶ παρεκάλεσάς με:

KJV Verse

Matthew 18:32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:

NIV Verse:

Matthew 18:32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.

What His Listeners Heard:

Then, calling out to him, that master of his says to him: "Worthless slave, all that debt there, I let go for you when you cried out to me."

Lost In Translation:

Two unique Greek words appear here, one translated as "debt" and the other translated as "because." The word "debt" appears many times in translating Jesus's words and in this parable, but a variety of words are used by him, four different nouns, and two different verbs. All are from the same root except one of the nouns. The word translated as "because" is not one of the many common words meaning "because," but one that refers to specific occurrence in the past.

The "said" here is in the present tense, "says," which is different from all the other verbs, which are in the "story" tense that has the sense of "at that time." It sticks out here, making it seem intentional and funny, emphasizing the word.

Jesus uses the same rare (for him) word twice in this verse, one he used earlier in the story. Here, he uses it in two different senses. This word is used a half dozen times by Jesus and it is translated into almost as many different English words. Here, it is translated as "called" and "desirest" in the KJV and "called" and "begged" in the NIV. All of those translations are confusing this with other Greek words. The sense is "called out to." When used by a king, the "called out to" sense is "summoned." When used by a supplicant, the sense is "cried out to." This is the punchline of the verse so the repetition and the change in meaning serves a purpose.

KJV w/Translation Issues :

Then his (MW) lord, [after that he had(IP)] called(CW,WF) him, said(WT) unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that (MW) debt, because(CW) thou desiredst(WW) me:

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.