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.

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Today's Verse Analysis

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
KJV Verse

Matthew 22:11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:

NIV Verse:

Matthew 22:11 But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes.

What His Listeners Heard:

Arriving, however, the king gazed at the ones reclining, he saw there a person not having attired himself in attire for a wedding.

Lost In Translation:

The two words translated as "wedding garment" means "attire for a wedding," which is not the same thing. Jesus used the term in much the same way as we would describe someone wearing their "Sunday best." The minimum requirement at the time seems to be simply to have clean clothing. Again, like wearing your Sunday best, the idea is to show respect to the host, the other guests, and the event. This lack of respect is the man's crime.

The ending of the verse is a joke. The verb translated as "put on/wearing" and "garment/clothing" are the noun and verb forms of the same root, creating an alliteration. With the negative in between, this also creates a contradiction. The sense is something like "not having attired himself in attire." If we imagine that Jesus pausing here, the audience hears that the man wasn't wearing clothes, generating a laugh, after the laugh, Jesus adds "for a wedding," on the end to reverse the idea, catching the audience jumping to conclusions, something Jesus does commonly.

KJV w/Translation Issues :

And(WW) when(IW) the king came(WF) in to see(WW) the guests(WF), he saw there a man which(IW) had not on(WW,WF,WV) a wedding(WF) garment:

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.