John 10:26 But ye believe not,

Spoken to
audience

People asked Jesus whether or not he is the Christ and why he doesn't tell them plainly. He responds by saying his deeds make it clear.

KJV

John 10:26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.

NIV

John 10:26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.

LISTENERS HEARD

Still, you yourselves do not trust because you are not from these sheep, these ones of mine own.

LOST IN TRANSLATION

The initial "you" here is emphasized by using the subject pronoun, which is like our saying "your yourselves." The word translated as "believe" does not refer to religious faith as much as trust. In this case, trust in what they have seen Jesus do. And the final description of the sheep is much more complicated than necessary. Jesus could have said "my sheep," but he chose to say "from these sheep, these ones of mine."  The form indicates that the "from" indicates motion.

 

 

MY TAKE

We choose to trust what we see based upon where we come from.

# KJV TRANSLATION ISSUES
6
  • CW - Confusing Word -- The "but" is not the common word usually translated as "but."
  • MW - Missing Word -- The word "yourselves" is not shown in the English translation, but it is needed to capture the pronoun as well as the form of the verb.
  • CW - Confusing Word -- The "of" does not capture the specific meaning of the word.
  • MW - Missing Word -- The word "the" before "mine own" is not shown in the English translation.
  • MW - Missing Word -- The word "the" before "sheep" is not shown in the English translation.
  • OS -- Outdated Source -- The Greek word translated as "as I said unto you" existed in the KJV Greek source but not the source we use today.
# NIV TRANSLATION ISSUES
5
  • CW - Confusing Word -- The "but" is not the common word usually translated as "but."
  • MW - Missing Word -- The word "yourselves" is not shown in the English translation, but it is needed to capture the pronoun as well as the form of the verb.
  • MW - Missing Word -- The word "from" before "my sheep" is not shown in the English translation.
  • MW - Missing Word -- The word "the" before "mine own" is not shown in the English translation.
  • MW - Missing Word -- The word "the" before "sheep" is not shown in the English translation.
EACH WORD of KJV

But - (CW) The Greek word translated as "but" denotes an exception or simple opposition. It is used to emphasize the contrast between things like we use "instead," "but instead,"or "rather." It is not the common word usually translated as "but." It is the Greek word "other" like we use "otherwise." Jesus often uses this conjunction to connect a negative clause, not doing something, with a positive one, "instead do this."

ye -- The pronoun "you" is used explicitly as the subject of the sentence. Since it is already part of the verb, its use here creates emphasis on the "you" as we might say "you yourselves." It is plural.

missing "yourselves"  ---- (MW) The pronoun is used here explicitly as the subject of the sentence. Since this information is already in the verb, the sense is repetitive as we say "you yourselves."

believe -- The Greek word translated as "believe" does not apply to religious belief as much but trusting or relying upon other people, especially their words. Jesus usually uses it in contexts, such as the one here, that apply to trusting words.

not, -- The Greek word translated as "not" is the Greek negative used to deny objective facts, not opinions. It means "no," "not," or"no truly." It makes a negative statement of fact. Adding "really" to the sentence captures the same idea. When a negative precedes the verb, it affects the whole clause. When it precedes other words, its force is limited to those words.

because -- The word translated as "because" introduces a statement of fact or cause, "for what," "because," "since," and "wherefore."

ye -- This is from the second-person, plural form of the verb.

are - The verb "are" here is the common form of "to be" in Greek. It means to have a certain characteristic or remain in a certain condition. It also equates terms or assigns characteristics.

not -- The Greek word translated as "not" is the Greek negative used to deny objective facts, not opinions. It means "no," "not," or"no truly." It makes a negative statement of fact. Adding "really" to the sentence captures the same idea. When a negative precedes the verb, it affects the whole clause. When it precedes other words, its force is limited to those words.

of -- (CW) The Greek preposition translated as "of" means "out of" or "from." The word also means "beyond," "on," "in," "since," or "by"based upon its context. However, in Greek, they use the genitive case instead of a preposition for the types of phrases that are translated into English "of" phrases.

missing "the"  -- (MW) The untranslated word is the Greek definite article,"the," which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those"). See this article for more. 

my -- "My" is the first-person adjective, not the common pronoun, used in Greek to create a possessive or as the object of a preposition. Unlike the genitive pronoun used as a possessive, its case matches its noun. Perhaps "mine own" captures its best. It is preceded by an article, so "these ones of mine own."

missing "the"  -- (MW) The untranslated word is the Greek definite article,"the," which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those"). See this article for more. 

sheep, -- "Sheep" is Christ's symbol for his followers. The Greek word refers to any domesticated animal and works better if translated simply as "flock" or "herd." The flock follows the shepherd, which is above them. It is also together, a united group. The genitive form indicates motion away from something.

as I said unto you. -- (OS) There is nothing in the Greek that can be translated as "as I said unto you" in the source we use today but it does exist in the source that the KJV translators used.

EACH WORD of NIV

but - (CW) The Greek word translated as "but" denotes an exception or simple opposition. It is used to emphasize the contrast between things like we use "instead," "but instead,"or "rather." It is not the common word usually translated as "but." It is the Greek word "other" like we use "otherwise." Jesus often uses this conjunction to connect a negative clause, not doing something, with a positive one, "instead do this."

you -- The pronoun "you" is used explicitly as the subject of the sentence. Since it is already part of the verb, its use here creates emphasis on the "you" as we might say "you yourselves." It is plural.

missing "yourselves"  ---- (MW) The pronoun is used here explicitly as the subject of the sentence. Since this information is already in the verb, the sense is repetitive as we say "you yourselves."

do -- This English helping verb is used to create questions, commands, negative statements, and smooth word flow in translation from Greek

not, -- The Greek word translated as "not" is the Greek negative used to deny objective facts, not opinions. It means "no," "not," or"no truly." It makes a negative statement of fact. Adding "really" to the sentence captures the same idea. When a negative precedes the verb, it affects the whole clause. When it precedes other words, its force is limited to those words.

believe -- The Greek word translated as "believe" does not apply to religious belief as much but trusting or relying upon other people, especially their words. Jesus usually uses it in contexts, such as the one here, that apply to trusting words.

because -- The word translated as "because" introduces a statement of fact or cause, "for what," "because," "since," and "wherefore."

you -- This is from the second-person, plural form of the verb.

are - The verb "are" here is the common form of "to be" in Greek. It means to have a certain characteristic or remain in a certain condition. It also equates terms or assigns characteristics.

not -- The Greek word translated as "not" is the Greek negative used to deny objective facts, not opinions. It means "no," "not," or"no truly." It makes a negative statement of fact. Adding "really" to the sentence captures the same idea. When a negative precedes the verb, it affects the whole clause. When it precedes other words, its force is limited to those words.

missing "from"  -- (MW) The untranslated word "from" means "out of" or "from." The word also means "beyond," "on," "in," "since," or "by"based upon its context. However, in Greek, they use the genitive case instead of a preposition for the types of phrases that are translated into English "of" phrases.

missing "the"  -- (MW) The untranslated word is the Greek definite article,"the," which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those"). See this article for more. 

my -- "My" is the first-person adjective, not the common pronoun, used in Greek to create a possessive or as the object of a preposition. Unlike the genitive pronoun used as a possessive, its case matches its noun. Perhaps "mine own" captures its best. It is preceded by an article, so "these ones of mine own."

missing "the"  -- (MW) The untranslated word is the Greek definite article,"the," which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those"). See this article for more. 

sheep, -- "Sheep" is Christ's symbol for his followers. The Greek word refers to any domesticated animal and works better if translated simply as "flock" or "herd." The flock follows the shepherd, which is above them. It is also together, a united group.

as I said unto you. -- (OS) There is nothing in the Greek that can be translated as "as I said unto you" in the source we use today but it does exist in the source that the KJV translators used.

COMPARISON: GREEK to KJV

ἀλλὰ [154 verses](conj) "But" is alla, which means "otherwise," "but," "still," "at least," "except," "yet," nevertheless," "rather," "moreover," and "nay."

ὑμεῖς [92 verses](pron 2nd pl nom) "You" is hymeis (humeis), which is the plural nominative form of the second person, "you."

οὐ [269 verses](partic) "Not" is ou , the negative adverb for facts and statements, negating both single words and sentences.  The other negative adverb, μή applies to will and thought; οὐ denies, μή rejects; οὐ is absolute, μή relative; οὐ objective, μή subjective.

πιστεύετε, [69 verses](verb 2nd pl pres ind act) "Believe" is pisteuo, which means "to trust, put faith in, or rely on a person," "to believe in someone's words," "to comply," "to feel confident in a thing," and "to entrust in a thing."

ὅτι [332 verses](adv/conj) "Because" is hoti, which introduces a statement of fact "with regard to the fact that," "seeing that," and acts as a causal adverb meaning "for what," "because," "since," and "wherefore."

οὐκ [269 verses](partic) "Not" is ou , the negative adverb for facts and statements, negating both single words and sentences.  The other negative adverb, μή applies to will and thought; οὐ denies, μή rejects; οὐ is absolute, μή relative; οὐ objective, μή subjective. -

ἐστὲ .[614 verses](2nd pl pres ind act) "Are" is eimi, which means "to be," "to exist," "to be the case," of circumstance and events "to happen,"  and "is possible." With the genitive object, the sense is "belongs to." It can also mean "must" with a dative. -

ἐκ [121 verses] (prep) "From" is ek, which means 1) [of motion] "out of," "from," "by," "away from;" 2) [of place] "beyond," "outside of," "beyond;" 3) [of succession] "after," "from;" 4) [of rest] "on," "in," 5) [of time] "since," "from," "at," "in;" 5) [of materials] "out of," "made from;" 6) cause, instrument, or means "by."

τῶν [821 verses](article pl neut gen)  Untranslated is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the").  -

προβάτων [26 verses](noun pl neut gen) "Sheep" is probaton, which means any domesticated four-footed animal, "sheep," "cattle," "herds," and "flocks.

τῶν [821 verses](article pl neut gen)  Untranslated is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the").  -

ἐμῶν. [28 verses](adj pl neut gen) "My" is emos, which means "mine," "of me," "my," "relating to me," and "against me." The form can also be the object of a preposition, "me."

Possible Symbolic Meaning
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