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Today's Verse Analysis

Luke 5:24 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power

Spoken about and then to the paralyzed youth brought to him.

Spoken to:
audience then an individual

Luke 5:24 ἵνα δὲ εἰδῆτε ὅτι υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐξουσίαν ἔχει ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἀφιέναι ἁμαρτίας ...Σοὶ λέγω, ἔγειρε καὶ ἄρας τὸ κλινίδιόν σου πορεύου εἰς τὸν οἶκόν σου.

KJV Verse:

Luke 5:24 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins,  I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.

NIV Verse:

Luke 5:24 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.

What His Listeners Heard:

So that, however, you should know that the son of the man has power upon the earth to let go of mistakes: to you, I say: Awake, and, lifting  that litter of yous, depart into that house of yours.

Lost In Translation:

The funny thing here is that Jesus says his challengers "know" his authority using a word that means "have seen." Walking is something they can see, but they cannot see letting go of mistakes. The verb is in the form of possibility, "might see," suggesting that they might not be able to see divine authority in this wonder. Of course, they did not. 

The "upon the earth" phrase here modifies "man" in the phrase, "the son of the man."  It doesn't modify "power" as translated. The sense is more that while the son of the man is on earth, he has this power. This is different than the version in Mark which moves the "upon the earth" after the word for "power/authority."

KJV w/Translation Issues :

But that ye may know that the Son of (MW) man hath power upon(WP) (MW) earth to forgive(WW) sins(CW),  I say unto thee, Arise, and [take up(WF)] thy (MW) couch, and(IW) go into thine (MW) house.

KJV List (See full page for word-by-word analysis):

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 to work through 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.

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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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