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Today's Verse Analysis

The Pharisees ask whether it is lawful to pay tribute to Caesar.

Spoken to
The Pharisees
KJV Verse

Matthew 22:18 Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?

NIV Verse:

Matthew 22:18 You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me?

What His Listeners Heard:

What? Are you testing me, you actors?

Lost In Translation:

The word translated as "tempt" and "trap" here means "test." Tempting has a moral sense that the KJV translators try to insert wherever they can but this was not a temptation in any sense. The "trying to trap" of the NIV is a description by the translators rather than what Jesus said. It certainly describes what the Pharisees were attempting, but not what Jesus said to them.

The word translated as "hypocrites" is not translated at all. The Greek word means "actors." Our word "hypocrites" is just the Greek word adopted into English and given a different meaning. The word for "actors" may be a good basis for a new word meaning "two-faced" but this is not translating.

KJV w/Translation Issues :

Why tempt(CW) ye me, ye hypocrites(UW)?

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.