John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life;

Spoken to: 

challengers

People asked Jesus whether or not he is the Christ. He responds that his followers learn to know his voice and follow him.

KJV: 

John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

NIV : 

John 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.

LISTENERS HEARD: 

And I give to them on-going life. And they should never destroy themselves as far as this lifetime. And anyone might not snatch them from this hand of mine.

MY TAKE: 

We always have to option of destroying ourselves.

GREEK (Each Word Explained Bottom of Page): 

GREEK ORDER: 

κἀγὼ   δίδωμι   αὐτοῖς   ζωὴν αἰώνιον,
And I  give      to them   life  on-going

καὶ            οὐ μὴ   ἀπόλωνται                         εἰς          τὸν   αἰῶνα,
And they never    should destroy themselves as far as this  lifetime.

καὶ    οὐχ    ἁρπάσει         τις         αὐτὰ  ἐκ     τῆς   χειρός   μου.
And  not     might snatch  anyone them  from this  hand     of mine.

LOST IN TRANSLATION: 

There are a lot of words twisted or left out here to make this seem to be a claim for "eternal life." Actually, it is a verse that makes it clear that the "life" involved is not eternal if translated honestly.  lSee this article on the words translated as "eternal life." The "will never perish" is not a statement about the future, but a possibility and a statement about what people do to themselves, "they might never destroy themselves." This statement is followed by a phrase that undermines the whole idea of "eternal life." This is eliminated in translation, but Jesus says, "they might not destroy themselves for an age." Obviously, if he meant "eternal," Jesus would not put a time limit on it. It ends with a statement that "no one" can pluck them from Jesus's hand, but the issue is what they do to themselves.

# KJV TRANSLATION ISSUES: 

10
  • MW -- Missing Word  -- The pronoun repeats the information in the verb so it should be repeated in English like "I myself."
  • CW - Confusing Word -- The "eternal" does not capture the specific meaning of the word.
  • WT - Wrong Tense - The verb "shall" indicates the future tense, but that is not the tense here.
  • CW - Confusing Word -- The "perish" does not capture the specific meaning of the word.
  • WF - Wrong Form -  The "perish" is in the middle voice, "destroy themselves."
  • MW - Missing Word -- The word "up to" is not shown in the English translation.
  • MW - Missing Word -- The word "the" before "age" is not shown in the English translation.
  • MW - Missing Word -- The word "age" is not shown in the English translation.
  • IW - Inserted Word -- The word "man" doesn't exist in the source.
  • MW - Missing Word -- The word "the" before "hand" is not shown in the English translation.

# NIV TRANSLATION ISSUES: 

12
  • MW - Missing Word -- The word "and" is not shown in the English translation.
  • MW -- Missing Word  -- The pronoun repeats the information in the verb so it should be repeated in English like "I myself."
  • CW - Confusing Word -- The "eternal" does not capture the specific meaning of the word.
  • WT - Wrong Tense - The verb "shall" indicates the future tense, but that is not the tense here.
  • CW - Confusing Word -- The "perish" does not capture the specific meaning of the word.
  • WF - Wrong Form -  The "perish" is in the middle voice, "destroy themselves."
  • MW - Missing Word -- The word "up to" is not shown in the English translation.
  • MW - Missing Word -- The word "the" before "age" is not shown in the English translation.
  • MW - Missing Word -- The word "age" is not shown in the English translation.
  • MW - Missing Word -- The word "no" negates the verb not the subject.
  • CW - Confusing Word -- The "one" does not capture the specific meaning of the word.
  • MW - Missing Word -- The word "the" before "hand" is not shown in the English translation.

EACH WORD of KJV : 

And I -- This is from a contraction of the conjunction "and" and the subject pronoun "I". Since the verb is already in the first person, that addition of the pronoun is like saying "and I myself," emphasizing the first- person speaker.

missing "myself" -- (MW)  The subjective pronoun repeats the information in the verb so it should be repeated in English like "I myself."

give -- The verb translated as "given" means "to give," "to grant," "to hand over," "appoint," "establish," and "to describe." It is almost always translated as some form of "give."

unto -- This word "to" comes from the dative case of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English. The most common is a "to" for the English indirect object.

them -- The word translated as "them" is the Greek word commonly translated as third-person pronouns in English.  The word means "the same" when used as an adjective. In the adverbial form, it  means "just here" or "exactly there." This pronoun follows the noun so "of his."

eternal  -- (CW) "Eternal" is an adjective based on the word that means "age" or "eon." It has the sense of "perpetual" or "ageless." It does not mean eternal, but more like "on-going."

life;  -- The word translated as "life" means "living" but it also means "substance," "existence," and "property."Jesus uses it to mean the "existence" of physical life, spirit plus body. To learn more read this article on life eternal.

and -- The Greek word translated as "and" is used as the conjunction "and," but it also is used to add emphasis ("also"). In a series, it is can be translated as "not only...but also." After words implying sameness "as."

they-- This is from the third-person, plural form of the verb.

shall -- (CW) This helping verb "shall" does not indicate the future tense, but that the verb describes a possibility, the subjunctive voice. A "might" or "should" in English is more appropriate, but is assumed in an "if/when/whoever/except" clause. Helping verbs are not needed in Greek since the main verb carries this information in its form.

never -- The "never" here is both of the Greek negatives used together. Greek has two negatives, one objective, one subjective. The use of both together is more extreme, like saying, "never" or literally, "you cannot really think." When a negative precedes the verb, it affects the whole clause. When it precedes other words, its force is limited to those words.

perish, -- (CW, WF) The word translated as "perish" means to destroy or demolish. However, it can also mean to "lose" things. ts literal meaning from its root is "destroy from" or "ruin from." If it were passive, "perish" might be justified as "be destroyed," but it is not passive, but the middle voice meaning "destroy themselves."

missing "up to"  -- (MW) The untranslated word means "into" a place, "towards" as a direction, "in regards to" a subject, and "up to" limits in time and measure. Here, the context is time.

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. 

missing "age"  -- (MW) The untranslated word means "lifetime," "life," "a space of time," "an age," an epoch," and "the present world." \Notice how this limitation is eliminated in translation so as not to contradict with the "eternal life" mistranslation.

neither -- The Greek word translated as "neither" 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.

shall -- This helping verb "shall" indicates that the verb is the future tense or a form that indicates possibility at some time. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.

any -- The Greek word translated as "any" in the singular means "anyone," "someone,"  "something," and "anything." In the plural, it means "some," "they," and "those." Jesus often uses it to start a question so it means "who," "what," or even "why."

man -- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "man" in the Greek source. The "any" is any gender, including the neuter.

pluck  - "Pluck" is a verb that means "to snatch away," "to carry off," "to overpower," and "to plunder." It is in the present tense. This is not an uncommon word for Christ to use. Everywhere else it is translated as "snatch," "seize" or "catch." Jesus uses this rare word earlier in John 10:12 to describe wolves "snatching" sheep."

them -- The word translated as "them" is the Greek word commonly translated as third-person pronouns in English.

out of -- The Greek preposition translated as "out of" means "out of" or "from." The word also means "beyond," "on," "in," "since," or "by"based upon its context.

my -- "My" is the first-person possessive singular pronoun. This pronoun follows the noun so "of mine." \

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. 

hand. -- The Greek word translated as "hands" means "the hand and forearm." It can mean both the idea of a helping hand and being in someone's control.

EACH WORD of NIV : 

missing "and"  -- (MW) The untranslated word "and" is from a contraction of the conjunction "and" and the subject pronoun "I".

I -- This is from a contraction of the conjunction "and" and the subject pronoun "I". Since the verb is already in the first person, that addition of the pronoun is like saying "and I myself," emphasizing the first- person speaker.

missing "myself" -- (MW)  The subjective pronoun repeats the information in the verb so it should be repeated in English like "I myself."

give -- The verb translated as "given" means "to give," "to grant," "to hand over," "appoint," "establish," and "to describe." It is almost always translated as some form of "give."

them -- The word translated as "them" is the Greek word commonly translated as third-person pronouns in English.  The word means "the same" when used as an adjective. In the adverbial form, it  means "just here" or "exactly there." This pronoun follows the noun so "of his."

eternal  -- (CW) "Eternal" is an adjective based on the word that means "age" or "eon." It has the sense of "perpetual" or "ageless." It does not mean eternal, but more like "on-going."

life;  -- The word translated as "life" means "living" but it also means "substance," "existence," and "property."Jesus uses it to mean the "existence" of physical life, spirit plus body. To learn more read this article on life eternal.

and -- The Greek word translated as "and" is used as the conjunction "and," but it also is used to add emphasis ("also"). In a series, it can be translated as "not only...but also."

they-- This is from the third-person, plural form of the verb.

shall -- (CW) This helping verb "shall" does not indicate the future tense, but that the verb describes a possibility, the subjunctive voice. A "might" or "should" in English is more appropriate, but is assumed in an "if/when/whoever/except" clause. Helping verbs are not needed in Greek since the main verb carries this information in its form.

never -- The "never" here is both of the Greek negatives used together. Greek has two negatives, one objective, one subjective. The use of both together is more extreme, like saying, "never" or literally, "you cannot really think." When a negative precedes the verb, it affects the whole clause. When it precedes other words, its force is limited to those words.

perish, -- (CW, WF) The word translated as "perish" means to destroy or demolish. However, it can also mean to "lose" things. ts literal meaning from its root is "destroy from" or "ruin from." If it were passive, "perish" might be justified as "be destroyed," but it is not passive, but the middle voice meaning "destroy themselves."

missing "up to"  -- (MW) The untranslated word means "into" a place, "towards" as a direction, "in regards to" a subject, and "up to" limits in time and measure. Here, the context is time.

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. 

missing "age"  -- (MW) The untranslated word means "lifetime," "life," "a space of time," "an age," an epoch," and "the present world." \Notice how this limitation is eliminated in translation so as not to contradict with the "eternal life" mistranslation.

no -- (WP) The Greek word translated as "no" 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.  When it precedes other words, its force is limited to those words. This negates the verb, not "any."

one -- (CW) The Greek word translated as "one" in the singular means "anyone," "someone,"  "something," and "anything."

will -- This helping verb "will" indicates that the verb is the future tense or a form that indicates possibility at some time. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.

snatch - "Snatch" is a verb that means "to snatch away," "to carry off," "to overpower," and "to plunder." It is in the present tense. This is not an uncommon word for Christ to use. Everywhere else it is translated as "snatch," "seize" or "catch." Jesus uses this rare word earlier in John 10:12 to describe wolves "snatching" sheep."

them -- The word translated as "them" is the Greek word commonly translated as third-person pronouns in English.

out of -- The Greek preposition translated as "out of" means "out of" or "from." The word also means "beyond," "on," "in," "since," or "by"based upon its context.

my -- "My" is the first-person possessive singular pronoun. This pronoun follows the noun so "of mine." \

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. 

hand. -- The Greek word translated as "hands" means "the hand and forearm." It can mean both the idea of a helping hand and being in someone's control.

COMPARISON: GREEK to KJV : 

κἀγὼ [31 verses](pron 1st sg masc nom ) "And...I" is kago, a contraction of kai-ego. "And" is kai-, which is the conjunction joining phrases and clauses, "and," or "also." After words implying sameness, "as" (the same opinion as you). Used in series, joins positive with negative "Not only...but also." Also used to give emphasis, "even," "also," and "just." "I" is -ego, which is the first-person singular pronoun meaning "I." It also means "I at least," "for my part," "indeed," and "for myself." --

δίδωμι [147 verses](1st sg pres ind act) "Give" is didomi, which means "to give," "to grant," "to hand over," "appoint," "establish," and "to describe."

αὐτοῖς [720 verses](adj pl masc dat) "Unto them" is autos, which means "the same," and the reflexive pronouns, "myself," "yourself," "himself," "herself," "itself," or the oblique case of the pronouns, "him," "her," and "it." It also means "one's true self," that is, "the soul" as opposed to the body and "of one's own accord." In the adverbial form, it  means "just here" or "exactly there."

ζωὴν [42 verses] (noun sg fem acc) "Life" is zoe, which means "living," "substance," "property," "existence," and, incidentally, "the scum on milk." It has the sense of how we say "make a living" to mean property. Homer used it more to mean the opposite of death.

αἰώνιον, [23 verses](adj sg fem acc) "Eternal" is aionios, which means "lasting for an age," "perpetual," and "eternal." From "aion" which is used in the bible to mean an "age."

καὶ [1089 verses](conj/adv) "And" is kai, which is the conjunction joining phrases and clauses, "and," or "also." After words implying sameness, "as" (the same opinion as you). Used in series, joins positive with negative "Not only...but also." Also used to give emphasis, "even," "also," and "just."

οὐ μὴ [39 verses](partic) "Never" is ou me, the two forms of Greek negative used together. Ou is the negative adverb for facts and statements, negating both single words and sentences. Mê (me) is the negative used in prohibitions and expressions of doubt meaning "not" and "no." As οὐ (ou) negates fact and statement; μή rejects, οὐ denies; μή is relative, οὐ absolute; μή subjective, οὐ objective.

ἀπόλωνται [43 verses](3rd pl aor subj mid) "They shall... perish"is apollymi, which means "to demolish," "to lay waste," "to lose" things, "to perish," "to die," "to cease to exist," and "to be undone." Its literal meaning from its root is "destroy from" or "ruin from."

εἰς [325 verses](prep) Untranslated is eis, which means "into (of place)," "up to (of time)," "until (of time)," "as much as (of measure or limit)," "as far as (of measure or limit)," "towards (to express relation)," "in regard to (to express relation)," "of an end or limit," and "for (of purpose or object)."

τὸν [821 verses](article sg masc acc)  Untranslated is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the").  -

αἰῶνα, [41 verses](noun sg masc acc) Untranslated is aion, which means "life," "lifetime," "age," or "generation."

καὶ [1089 verses](conj/adv) "And" is kai, which is the conjunction joining phrases and clauses, "and," or "also." After words implying sameness, "as" (the same opinion as you). Used in series, joins positive with negative "Not only...but also." Also used to give emphasis, "even," "also," and "just." -- The Greek word translated as "and" is used as the conjunction "and," but it also is used to add emphasis ("also"). In a series, it is can be translated as "not only...but also." After words implying sameness "as."

οὐχ [269 verses](partic) "Neither" 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.

ἁρπάσει [6 verses](verb 3rd sg aor subj act orf 3rd sg fut ind act) "Pluck" is from the Greek harpazô, which means to "snatch away," "seize hastily, " "snatch up," "overpower, " "overmaster," "grasp with the senses," "plunder," "carry off," and "be a robber." 

τις[252 verses](pron sg nom) "Any man" is tis, which can mean "someone," "something," "any one," "everyone," "they [indefinite]," "many a one," "whoever," "anyone," "anything," "some sort," "some sort of," "each," "any," "the individual," "such," and so on. In a question, it can mean "who," "why," or "what." It has specific meanings with certain prepositions, \διὰ τί; for what reason? ἐκ τίνος; from what cause? ἐς τί; to what point?  to what end?

αὐτὰ [720 verses](adj sg masc gen) "Them" is autos, which means "the same," and the reflexive pronouns, "myself," "yourself," "himself," "herself," "itself," or the oblique case of the pronouns, "him," "her," and "it." It also means "one's true self," that is, "the soul" as opposed to the body and "of one's own accord." In the adverbial form, it  means "just here" or "exactly there."

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."

τῆς [821 verses](article sg masc gen)  Untranslated is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the").  -

χειρός [25 verses] ( noun sg fem gen) "Hand" is cheir,which means "the hand and arm," and "with the help of agency of another." Like "hand" in English, it has a lot of meanings including "an act or deed," "a body of people," and the measurement "handful."

μου [239 verses](adj sg masc gen) "Me" is from mou (emou), which means "me," and "mine."

Front Page Date: 

Jul 16 2022