A crowd gathers, and Jesus addresses his followers.
Luke 12:1 Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
Luke 12:1 Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
Hold fast to yourselves away from that yeast, which is a performance of those Distinguished.
The translators try to make the Greek of Luke seem more like that Greek of Matthew and Mark. Luke's first word is different. "Beware" and "Be one guard" is from a Greek verb which means "to hold to", "to offer", "to turn toward a thing," and "to pay attention." "Of the Pharisees" here doesn't modify "leaven" as in the other gospels. Here, it modifies "hypocrisy."
The Greek for "hypocrisy" is a great example of a word that has taken its English meaning from how it is used in the Bible rather than the original Greek. It is a Greek word that means "playing a part," "delivery" [of an orator]," and"outward show." I translated it as "performance." The noun form referring to people means "actor." See this article on the word and its wordplay.
The elites are offering us a performance.
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "yourselves" is not shown in the English translation.
- CW - Confusing Word -- The "of" does not capture the word's specific meaning.
- UW --Untranslated Word -- The word "pharisees" means "distinguish" or "separated."
- WP -- Wrongly Placed - - The "of the Pharisees" doesn't belong here but modifies "hypocrisy."
- UW --Untranslated Word -- The word "hypocrites" means "actor." It is an untranslated Greek word adopted into English.
- WF -- Wrong Form -- This is not a possessive but a subject.
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "yourselves" is not shown in the English translation.
- CW - Confusing Word -- The "against " does not capture the word's specific meaning.
- UW --Untranslated Word -- The word "pharisees" means "distinguish" or "separated."
- WP -- Wrongly Placed - - The "of the Pharisees" doesn't belong here but modifies "hypocrisy."
- UW --Untranslated Word -- The word "hypocrites" means "actor." It is an untranslated Greek word adopted into English.
Beware -- The word translated as "beware" means"hold to", "offer", "turn toward", "attend to", "pay attention," and "be on your guard against". Its root is the Greek word meaning "have" and "hold". It works somewhat like our phrase "hold fast". It is a command to the group of listeners.
ye -- This is from the second-person, plural form of the verb.
missing "for yourselves" -- (MW) The untranslated word "himself," "herself," and so on. " "for yourselves" is a special reflexive pronoun that means "yourselves," "ourselves," "himself," "herself," and so on. " It is in the dative so "for yourselves."
of --- (CW) The word translated as "of" means "from" in both locations and when referring to a source or a cause. It also means the instrument "by" which a thing is done and "away from." It is not the word form usually translated as "of." Referring to time, it means "from," and "after."
the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, "the," which usually precedes a noun or changes the word it precedes (adjective, infinitive, participle, etc.) to act like a noun. The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more.
leaven - "Leaven" means "yeast," the culture that spreads through flour to create the "bubbles" that make bread rise. Leaven produces gas, that is, a type of breath. The Greek word, "breath," also means "spirit." Breath produces words. Words capture ideas. It is Jesus's symbol for ideas that propagate themselves. Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to leaven as well and the ideas of the Pharisees.
of -- This word "of" comes from the genitive case of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English. The most common is the "of" of possession.
the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, "the," which usually precedes a noun or changes the word it precedes (adjective, infinitive, participle, etc.) to act like a noun. The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more.
Pharisees, -- (UW, WP)"Pharisees" is an example of where we use the Greek word as the name of the religious sect, instead of translating it. In Greek, the word means the "separatists" or "the judgmental," but it is a Hebrew word meaning "distinguished" or "elite." So this word means "distinguish" used as a title, "the distinguished." It is an untranslated Greek word adopted into English.
which -- "Which" is a pronoun that means "that," "anyone who," "anything which," "whosoever," "whichsoever" and "anybody whatsoever."
is -- The verb "is" 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. The word also means "to exist" and where it doesn't connect to characteristics or conditions.
hypocrisy. - - -- (UW) The Greek for "hypocrisy" is a great example of a word that has taken its English meaning from how it is used in the Bible rather than the original Greek. It is a Greek word that means "playing a part," "delivery" [of an orator]," and"outward show." The noun referring to people means "actor." See this article on the word and its wordplay.
Beware -- The word translated as "beware" means"hold to", "offer", "turn toward", "attend to", "pay attention," and "be on your guard against". Its root is the Greek word meaning "have" and "hold". It works somewhat like our phrase "hold fast". It is a command to the group of listeners.
your -- (WF) This is from the second-person, plural form of the verb. This is not a possessive but a subject.
on guard - This completes the meaning of the verb.
missing "for yourselves" -- (MW) The untranslated word "himself," "herself," and so on. " "for yourselves" is a special reflexive pronoun that means "yourselves," "ourselves," "himself," "herself," and so on. " It is in the dative so "for yourselves."
against --- (CW) The word translated as "against " means "from" in both locations and when referring to a source or a cause. It also means the instrument "by" which a thing is done and "away from." It is not the word form usually translated as "of." Referring to time, it means "from," and "after."
the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, "the," which usually precedes a noun or changes the word it precedes (adjective, infinitive, participle, etc.) to act like a noun. The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more.
leaven - "Leaven" means "yeast," the culture that spreads through flour to create the "bubbles" that make bread rise. Leaven produces gas, that is, a type of breath. The Greek word, "breath," also means "spirit." Breath produces words. Words capture ideas. It is Jesus's symbol for ideas that propagate themselves. Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to leaven as well and the ideas of the Pharisees.
of -- This word "of" comes from the genitive case of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English. The most common is the "of" of possession.
the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, "the," which usually precedes a noun or changes the word it precedes (adjective, infinitive, participle, etc.) to act like a noun. The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more.
Pharisees, -- (UW, WP)"Pharisees" is an example of where we use the Greek word as the name of the religious sect, instead of translating it. In Greek, the word means the "separatists" or "the judgmental," but it is a Hebrew word meaning "distinguished" or "elite." So this word means "distinguish" used as a title, "the distinguished." It is an untranslated Greek word adopted into English.
which -- "Which" is a pronoun that means "that," "anyone who," "anything which," "whosoever," "whichsoever" and "anybody whatsoever."
is -- The verb "is" 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. The word also means "to exist" and where it doesn't connect to characteristics or conditions.
hypocrisy. - - -- (UW) The Greek for "hypocrisy" is a great example of a word that has taken its English meaning from how it is used in the Bible rather than the original Greek. It is a Greek word that means "playing a part," "delivery" [of an orator]," and"outward show." The noun referring to people means "actor." See this article on the word and its wordplay.
Προσέχετε [9 verses](2nd pl pres imperat act) "Beware" is the Greek prosecho, which means "hold to", "to offer", "turn to or toward," "to turn your mind toward," "to be on one's guard against", "to take heed", "to pay attention", "to devote oneself to", "to attach oneself", "to continue", "to hold fast to [a thing]," "to have in addition," or "pay court to."
ἑαυτοῖς [75 verses](adj pl masc dat) "Yourselves" is heautou, is a reflexive pronoun that means "himself," "herself," "itself" "themselves," and "ourselves." It is not the common pronoun meaning simply "he," "she," "them," etc.
ἀπὸ [190 verses](prep) "Of" is apo, a preposition of separation which means "from" or "away from" from when referring to place or motion, "from" or "after" when referring to time, "from" as an origin or cause. It also means the instrument "by" which a thing is done. Referring to time, it means "from," and "after." Usually takes the genitive object.
τῆς [821 verses](article sg fem gen) "The" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the"). It usually precedes a noun or changes the word it precedes (adjective, infinitive, participle, etc.) to act like a noun. When not preceding a a word that can become a noun, takes the meaning of "the one" or, in the plural, "the ones."
ζύμης [6 verses](noun sg fem gen)"Leaven" is sometimes translated as "yeast." It is from the Greek zyme, which means any kind of bread or beer "yeast." It is from a root word meaning "to mix." This was a time when yeast didn't come in little packets but was maintained as a live culture, in this case, in the raw bread dough itself.
ἥτις is hostis, [90 verses](pron sg fem nom) "Which" is hostis, which means "that," "anyone who," "anything which," "whosoever," "whichsoever" and "anybody whatsoever."
ἐστίν [614 verses] (3rd sg pres ind act) "Is" is eimi, which means "to be," "to exist," "to be the case," of circumstance and events "to happen," and "is possible." With the possessive (genitive) object, it means "is descended from," "is the type of," "belongs to," "is made of," "is a duty of," "is at the mercy of," or " is dependent on." With an indirect (dative) object, it means "have" where the subject and object are reversed. "It is to him" becomes "it is his" or "he has it." With the preposition,"into" (εἰς), the sense is "consist of." When the verb "to be" appears early in the clause before the subject, the sense is more like "it is" or, in the plural, "there are."
ὑπόκρισις, [2 verses](noun sg fem nom) "Hypocrisy" is hypokrisis, which means "playing a part," "role," "delivery" [of an orator]," and"outward show." -- (WW) "Hypocrisy" is a Greek word that means "playing a part," "delivery" [of an orator{," and"outward show." The noun referring to people means "actor." - - WW - Wrong Word -- The word translated as "hypocracy" should be something more like "playing a part."
τῶν [821 verses](article pl fem gen) "The" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the"). It usually precedes a noun or changes the word it precedes (adjective, infinitive, participle, etc.) to act like a noun. When not preceding a a word that can become a noun, takes the meaning of "the one" or, in the plural, "the ones."
Φαρισαίων [19 verses](noun pl masc gen) "Pharisees" is Pharisaios, which means "the separated," "the separate ones," " separatist" and refers to the religious sect. The word may come from the Hebrew, pāraš, which means "to make distinct," "declare," "distinguish," "separate," and, amusingly, "to pierce," and "sting." So the sense is also "the distinguished" or "the elite."
Again, we see an attempt to make the Greek of Luke seem more like the Greek of Matthew and Mark