After Jesus gives the parable of the vine-dressers to the crowd.
Luke 20:18 Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
Luke 20:18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”
Every one falling upon that stone there will be crushed together. But when it falls upon him, it will scatter him.
This verse is confusing because the masculine pronouns in the second part could refer to either the one falling or the stone itself, both of which are masculine. The English translations, however, try and clarify its meaning, but in doing so hide the play on words Jesus makes.
Let us start with the first phrase which is literally "every the one falling." The "falling" is a participle, a verbal objective, not an active verb as translated. It has an definite article, "the," before it making the two together act like a singular noun, "the one falling" or "the falling one." However, with the "every," we drop the "the" and go with "every one falling." At this point, we have to think what falls upon a capstone, the oddly shaped stone from the previous verse. When it is on the wall, its catches the rain. However, on the ground, after being rejected and before being used, a person can trip on it.
The next verb doesn't mean "broken" but "crushed together" or "bruised together." The prefix means "together" and must appear in the translation because the root word by itself means "crushed" or "bruised." The sense of is "crushed" squeezing hollow things like bones or hollow reeds until they crush together. The sense is that all those falling on the stone are hollow and are crushed together. This creates a messy image or a pile of crushed bones.
The next part is where is gets messier and more confusing because we cannot easily parse the pronouns. In English, we use "him" and "it" to separate the "person" and the "stone," but in Greek, both are "him" since the word "stone" is masculine. The last part can mean "but when it falls upon him," or "but when he falls upon it." The first reverses the first sentence, which is typical of Jesus, but the second explains the first sentence, which is helpful here. At this point, we cannot know. Nor do we know how this stone could fall unless it was on the wall, but it cannot fall on anyone unless it is on the wall and tossed down. We have to go further for clarity.
The last verb, translated as "grind him to powder" and "be crushed" actually means "to winnow," which is to separate grain from chaff by tossing it up on the wind, when the wind blows off the chaff. This is a very specific word. The word also means "to scatter," which is a nice opposite to "crush together." Winnowing also means "separating." And we have the same problem with pronouns. So this could be "it will scatter him" or he will "he will scatter it." So we have a number of possibilities, "but when it falls upon him, it will scatter him," "but when it falls upon him, he will scatter it," "but when he falls upon it, it will scatter him," or "but when he falls upon it, it will scatter him." Or we can replace all those "scatters" with "separates".
Sometime, only inspiration can clarify Jesus's words.
Whosoever(WW) shall (MW) fall(WF) upon that (MW) stone shall be broken(CW); but on whomsoever (MW) it shall fall, it will grind(WW) him to powder(IW).
- WW --Wrong Word -- The word translated as "whosoever" should be something more like "all."
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "the/that" before "falling" is not shown in the English translation.
- WF -- Wrong Form - This is not an active verb but a participle, a verbal adjective, "falling."
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "the/this" before "stone" is not shown in the English translation.
- CW --Confusing Word -- The "crushed together" doesn't precisely mean "broken."
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "when" after "whomsoever" is not shown in the English translation.
- WW --Wrong Word -- The word translated as "grind" should be something more like "winnow."
- IW - Inserted Word-- The "to powder" doesn't exist in the source.
- CW --Confusing Word -- This is not one of the common words usually translated as "who.
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "the/that" before "falling" is not shown in the English translation.
- WF -- Wrong Form - This is not an active verb but a participle, a verbal adjective, "falling."
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "the/this" before "stone" is not shown in the English translation.
- CW --Confusing Word -- The "crushed together" doesn't precisely mean "broken."
- IW - Inserted Word-- The " to pieces" doesn't exist in the source.
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "but" after "to pieces" is not shown in the English translation.
- IW - Inserted Word-- The " whom" doesn't exist in the source.
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "when" after "whom" is not shown in the English translation.
- WV --Wrong Voice - The "be" here is translated as passive but it is active.
- WW --Wrong Word -- The word translated as "crushed" should be something more like "winnow."
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "him " after "crushed" is not shown in the English translation.
Whosoever -- (WW)The word translated as "whosoever" is the Greek adjective meaning "all", "the whole", "every," and similar ideas. When it is used as a noun, we would say "everything." As an adverb, it means "in every way", "on every side," and "altogether." This Greek word does not appear in Matthew though it also has a "whosoever" that it takes from the form of the following verb. Since this adjective refers to a singular subject, we would use either "each" or "every". This word doesn't mean "whosoever."
missing "the/this" -- (MW) The untranslated word 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," and "those"). See this article for more.
shall -- This helping verb "shall" indicates the verb is in the future tense. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English. The "shall" but the verb tense is the story tense that can mean past, present, or future.
fall -- (WF) "Fall " is translated from a Greek word that means "to fall" and "to fall down." It is the root word for dozens of Greek terms involving moving from a higher state to a lower one. Like our word "to fall" it has a number of special meanings including "to fall into a given class", "to prostrate", "to fall from power", "to perish," and so on. This is not an active verb but a participle, a verbal adjective, "falling."
upon -- The word translated as "upon" means "on"against," and "before." The meaning that works best here is "before" meaning both "in front of" and "before" in time.
that -- The word translated as "that" is an adjective that highlights its noun as being in a specific place or time from a word that means "there." A different word with a meaning closer to "this" is used in Matthew.
missing "the/this" -- (MW) The untranslated word 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," and "those"). See this article for more.
stone -- The Greek word translated as "stone" means "a stone", "stone as a substance," and various specific types of stones, such as touchstones and altar stones. It refers to the rejected stone that become the "head of the corner" in the previous verse ( Luke 20:17).
shall -- This helping verb "shall" indicates the verb is in the future tense. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.
be -- This helping verb "be" indicates that the verb is passive. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.
broken -- (CW) While Biblical translation sources define the verb translated as "shall be broken" as meaning "to crush together," there is no obvious way that we can establish that meaning from Greek. The word used doesn't appear elsewhere in ancient Greek. It uses a prefix that means "together" but the root word is a mystery. It too is not used anywhere else in ancient Greek. In modern Greek, the word here means "to be sorry" and its root means "to be afraid". However, I hesitate to use modern definitions because they most likely come from the Bible. This word doesn't precisely mean "broken ."
but -- The Greek word translated as "but" joins phrases in an adversarial way. Since it always (except here) falls in the second position, translating it as "however" often captures its feeling better. Here, it falls in the third position in the phase.
on -- The word translated as "on" means "upon", "against", "before", "by" or "on."
whomsoever -- The word translated as "whomsoever" is a demonstrative pronoun, but it often acts as a pronoun, especially a connective pronoun introducing a dependent clause.
missing "when" -- (MW) The untranslated word meaning "when" because it indicates more of an expectation of something happening than "if" alone. It can be used after a demonstrative pronoun to mean "that possibly," "whosoever," or "whatsoever." This is not the simple "if."
it -- This is from the third-person, singular form of the verb.
shall -- This helping verb "shall" indicates the verb is in the future tense. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.
fall -- "Fall" is translated from a Greek word that means "to fall" and "to fall down." The same word used as a participle. Here it is a verb. It is the root word for dozens of Greek terms involving moving from a higher state to a lower one. Like our word "to fall" it has a number of special meanings including "to fall into a given class", "to prostrate", "to fall from power", "to perish," and so on.
it -- This is from the third-person, singular form of the verb.
will -- This helping verb "will" indicates the verb is in the future tense. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.
grind -- (WW) "Grind... to powder" is from a verb that means "to winnow" that is, separate chaff from grain by throwing up up in the air. It also is used as a metaphor for "to scatter like chaff." This word doesn't mean "grind."
him - The word translated as "him" is the Greek adjective that acts like our third-person pronoun. The form is the third person, singular, masculine as a direct object of a verb or preposition.
to powder. -- (IW) This word is not in the Greek source.
Everyone --The word translated as "whosoever" is the Greek adjective meaning "all", "the whole", "every," and similar ideas. When it is used as a noun, we would say "everything." As an adverb, it means "in every way", "on every side," and "altogether." This Greek word does not appear in Matthew though it also has a "whosoever" that it takes from the form of the following verb. Since this adjective refers to a singular subject, we would use either "each" or "every".
who -- (CW) The untranslated word 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," and "those"). See this article for more. This is not one of the common words usually translated as "who."
falls -- (WF) "Fall " is translated from a Greek word that means "to fall" and "to fall down." It is the root word for dozens of Greek terms involving moving from a higher state to a lower one. Like our word "to fall" it has a number of special meanings including "to fall into a given class", "to prostrate", "to fall from power", "to perish," and so on. This is not an active verb but a participle, a verbal adjective, "falling."
on -- The word translated as "on" means "on"against," and "before." The meaning that works best here is "before" meaning both "in front of" and "before" in time.
that -- The word translated as "that" is an adjective that highlights its noun as being in a specific place or time from a word that means "there." A different word with a meaning closer to "this" is used in Matthew.
missing "the/this" -- (MW) The untranslated word 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," and "those"). See this article for more.
stone -- The Greek word translated as "stone" means "a stone", "stone as a substance," and various specific types of stones, such as touchstones and altar stones. It refers to the rejected stone that become the "head of the corner" in the previous verse ( Luke 20:17).
will -- This helping verb "will " indicates the verb is in the future tense. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.
be -- This helping verb "be" indicates that the verb is passive. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.
broken -- (CW) While Biblical translation sources define the verb translated as "shall be broken" as meaning "to crush together," there is no obvious way that we can establish that meaning from Greek. The word used doesn't appear elsewhere in ancient Greek. It uses a prefix that means "together" but the root word is a mystery. It too is not used anywhere else in ancient Greek. In modern Greek, the word here means "to be sorry" and its root means "to be afraid". However, I hesitate to use modern definitions because they most likely come from the Bible. This word doesn't precisely mean "broken ."
to pieces -- (IW) This word is not in the Greek source.
missing "but " -- (MW) The untranslated word "but" joins phrases in an adversarial way. Since it always (except here) falls in the second position, translating it as "however" often captures its feeling better. Here, it falls in the third position in the phase.
anyone -- The word translated as "anyone " is a demonstrative pronoun, but it often acts as a pronoun, especially a connective pronoun introducing a dependent clause.
on -- The word translated as "on" means "upon", "against", "before", "by" or "on."
whom -- (IW) This word is not in the Greek source.
missing "when" -- (MW) The untranslated word meaning "when" because it indicates more of an expectation of something happening than "if" alone. It can be used after a demonstrative pronoun to mean "that possibly," "whosoever," or "whatsoever." This is not the simple "if."
it -- This is from the third-person, singular form of the verb.
falls -- "Fall" is translated from a Greek word that means "to fall" and "to fall down." The same word used as a participle. Here it is a verb. It is the root word for dozens of Greek terms involving moving from a higher state to a lower one. Like our word "to fall" it has a number of special meanings including "to fall into a given class", "to prostrate", "to fall from power", "to perish," and so on.
will -- This helping verb "will" indicates the verb is in the future tense. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.
be The verb here is translated as passive but it is active.
crushed -- (WW) "Crushed" is from a verb that means "to winnow" that is, separate chaff from grain by throwing up up in the air. It also is used as a metaphor for "to scatter like chaff." This word doesn't mean "grind."
missing "him " -- (MW) The untranslated word "him" is the Greek adjective that acts like our third-person pronoun. The form is the third person, singular, masculine as a direct object of a verb or preposition.
πᾶς ( adj sg masc nom ) "Whoever" is pas, which means "all", "the whole", "every", "anyone", "all kinds," and "anything." In the adverbial form, it means "every way", "on every side", "in every way," and "altogether." --
ὁ [821 verses](article sg masc nom) Untranslated 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."
πεσὼν (part sg aor act masc nom) "Whoever shall...fall" is from the verb pipto, which means "to fall", "to fall down", "to be cast down," "fall upon", "intersect (geometry)", "meet", "pass through", "fall violently upon", "attack", "fall in battle", "sink{in water)", "fall short i.e. fail", " fall out of", "lose a thing", "escape from", "fall asleep", "to be accessible to perception", "to fall (between her feet, i.e. to be born)", "to let fall[dice)", "turn out," and "fall under (belong to a class)."
ἐπ᾽ "On" is from epi. which means "on", "upon", "at", "by", "before", "across," and "against."
ἐκεῖνον (adj sg masc acc) "That" is ekeinos, which means "the person there", "that person", "that thing", "in that case", "in that way", "at that place," and "in that manner."
τὸν [821 verses](article sg masc acc) Untranslated 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."
λίθον (noun sg masc acc) "Stone" is from lithos, which means "a stone", "stone as a substance," and various specific types of stones, such as touchstones, and altar stones.
συνθλασθήσεται: (verb 3rd sg fut pass, ind) "Shall be broken" is from synthlao, which means "crush together" or "bruised together." The prefix means "together," and the root, means "crush" or "bruise" The translation in the KJV may from the word used in the Latin Vulgate, confringetur, that means "to shatter," "to break friendship," and "to dissipate." It sense is to "break togetherness."
ἐφ᾽ "On" is from epi. which means "on", "upon", "at", "by", "before", "across," and "against."
ὃν (pron sg masc acc) "Whomsoever" is from hos, which means "this", "that", "he", "she", "which", "what", "who", "whosoever", "where", "for which reason," and many similar meanings.
δ᾽ "But" is from de which means "but" and "on the other hand." It is the particle that joins sentences in an adversarial way but can also be a weak connective ("and") and explanation of cause ("so") and a condition ("if").
ἂν [163 verses](conj) Untranslated is ean, which is a conditional particle (derived from ei (if) and an (possibly), which makes reference to a time and experience in the future that introduces but does not determine an event. This is how we use the word "when." It can be used after a demonstrative pronoun hos or hostis meaning "that possibly," "whosoever" or "whatsoever."
πέσῃ (verb 3rd sg aor subj act) "It shall...fall" is from the verb pipto, which means "to fall", "to fall down", "to be cast down," "fall upon", "intersect (geometry)", "meet", "pass through", "fall violently upon", "attack", "fall in battle", "sink{in water)", "fall short i.e. fail", " fall out of", "lose a thing", "escape from", "fall asleep", "to be accessible to perception", "to fall (between her feet, i.e. to be born)", "to let fall[dice)", "turn out," and "fall under (belong to a class)."
λικμήσει (verb 3rd sg fut ind act) "Grind to powder" is from likmaô, which means "to winnow" that is, separate chaff from grain by throwing up up in the air. It also is used as a metaphor for "to scatter", "to crush," and "to destroy."
αὐτὸν [124 verses](pron/adj sg masc acc) "Him" is auton, is the masculine, accusative case of the third-person, singular adjective that is used as a pronoun. Masculine pronouns can refer to things as well as people, so it can be it." The word also means "the same," and "of one's own accord." An accusative object of a preposition indicates movement towards something or a position reached as a result of that movement. Event may show the amount of time. However, masculine pronouns refer to masculine nouns, not just masculine people so this word can mean "it" as well as "he." As a preposition's object indicates movement towards something or a position reached as a result of that movement. Events may show the amount of time. -
This verse makes me laugh because it reminds me of Sancho Panza's line from Don Quixote, "It doesn't matter if the rock hits the pitcher or the pitcher hits to rock, it's going to be bad for the pitcher." It too is a play on words, discussed in the parallel verse at Matthew 21:44., And it contains a mystery word: one used nowhere else in ancient Greek except these two verses.