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Today's Verse Analysis

A man asks which commandments he should keep.

Spoken to
an individual
KJV Verse

Matthew 19:18 Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,

NIV Verse:

Matthew 19:18 You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony,

What His Listeners Heard:

You really shouldn't murder. You really shouldn't be unfaithful. You really shouldn't steal. You really shouldn't testify falsely.

Lost In Translation:

The negatives here are the ones used for facts, which are not commonly used with prohibitions. The Mark and Luke versions of this verse use the other Greek negative, that has the sense of not wanting to do something. Jesus does use this negative in the prohibitions in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:21, Matthew 5:27, but their the used is somewhat exaggerated, for the sake of humor. 

The forms of the verb are subjective, not commands, something that "should" or "might" be done. Note both KJV and NIV get this correct but use the confusing "shalt/shall" construction which is confused with the future tense, which these statements actually could be grammatically because these verb forms could be either the future indicative or the aorist (a tense meaning "at some time") subjunctive. Logically, however, these are not statements about the future but statements about what you should do at any time. Some Bibles show this as commands, which they aren't. Others show them as "must" statements, which they are not.

This verse is much pithier in Greek, two words, a "no" followed by the verb, but to capture all the information in the negative form and the verb, we would have to say something like: "No, you really shouldn't murder at any time." The Mark or Luke versions with the negative of opinion, say something like, "No, you shouldn't want to murder at any time."

KJV w/Translation Issues :

Thou shalt(CW) do no murder, Thou shalt(CW) not commit adultery, Thou shalt(CW) not steal, Thou shalt(CW) not bear false witness,

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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Do Your Own Research

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.