Matthew 23:19 Fools and blind... greater, the gift, or the altar

Spoken to:

audience

KJV:

Matthew 23:19 Fools and blind: for whether [is] greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?

NIV :

Matthew 23:19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

LISTENERS HEARD:

You blind yourselves. Because? Because how the gift better than the altar? The one purifying that gift ?

MY TAKE:

We make ourselves blind when looking

GREEK (Each Word Explained Bottom of Page):

Matthew 23:19 τυφλοί, τί γὰρ μεῖζον, τὸ δῶρον ἢ τὸ θυσιαστήριον τὸ ἁγιάζον τὸ δῶρον;

LOST IN TRANSLATION:

The adjective that begins this verse could also be a verb. The form is the second person in the middle voice, having the sense of "you make yourself blind." This is a little more interesting than the name-calling that the Bible translates this as.

The word translated as "sanctify" and "make holy" has the sense of "purifying" something, setting it apart for the worship of the Divine. Purification rituals always involved some form of cleansing, with water or, on an altar, with fire. The "gift" here was burnt on an altar, but some of it was consumed.

# KJV TRANSLATION ISSUES:

3

EACH WORD of KJV :

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

blind: - "Blind" is a word that means both physically and mentally blind. Its form could also be the adjective "blind," or a verb, meaning "you blind yourselves." The latter seems more likely because in the earlier parallel verse, Matthew 23:16, the Greek for "fools" could only be a verb.

for - The word translated as "for" can be treated as supporting a dependent clause, or, to prevent a run-on sentence, translated as a "this is because..." to start a new sentence.

whether - (WW) The Greek word translated as "whether" in the singular means "anyone," "someone," and "anything," but in a question, it can mean "who," "why," or "what."

is - There is no "is" here as there was in the parallel verse of Matthew 23:17. It is implied by the equating of "which," "greater," and "gift," all in the Greek form of a subject.

greater, - "Greater" is an adjective which is the comparative form of the word meaning "big" or "great." It means "bigger," "higher," "longer," "greater" and simply, "superior." When it is introduced by an article, it means "the greater." It is not the superlative form.

the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more.

gift, - The word translated as "gift" means "gift," or "offering" but it has the special meaning of an offering to the gods. These gifts were "burnt" offerings, offerings that were burnt upon the grill that was the altar.

or - (CW) "Or" is translated from a Greek word that means "or" but serves as "than" in a comparison. Here, the use of the comparative, "greater" would cause it to be heard as "than" rather than "or."

the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more.

altar - The word for "altar" means "altar" but an altar wasn't a table in front of a church in Christ's time. It was a grill with a fire under it for burning sacrifices.

that -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more.

sanctifieth -- (WF) The Greek verb translated as "sanctifieth" is difficult because it is not the standard Greek verb but one that Jesus uses. It is perhaps, an unusual form of another Greek verb meaning "to dedicate to God" and "to sanctify" usually by burning an offering. It may also be a verb form of a Greek noun, meaning "a thing that creates awe." In a good sense, this can mean holy or sacred, but it also means accursed. Another way to think about this word is that it describes something set apart only for God. Jesus uses this word to describe the name, "our Father in the skies," in the Lord's Prayer. It is in the noun form of a verb, "which sets it apart for God." The form is that of a participle, "sanctifying."

the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more.

gift? - The word translated as "gift" means "gift," or "offering" but it has the special meaning of an offering to the gods. These gifts were "burnt" offerings, offerings that were burnt upon the grill that was the altar.

EACH WORD of NIV :

You - - This is from the possible vocative form of the noun, naming the person being talked to.

blind: - "Blind" is a word that means both physically and mentally blind. Its form could also be the adjective "blind," or a verb, meaning "you blind yourselves." The latter seems more likely because in the earlier parallel verse, Matthew 23:16, the Greek for "fools" could only be a verb.

men! - (CW) This can be justified by the masculine gender of the adjective above. However, making an adjective into a noun usually involves adding a definite article before it. It is not the Greek word for "men."

missing "because" -- (MW) The untranslated word "because" introduces a reason or explanation so "because" and, in questions, "why." However, since this word always appears in the second position, it is more like an aside remark like, "consequently" or "as a cause."

Which - The Greek word translated as "which" in the singular means "anyone," "someone," and "anything," but in a question, it can mean "who," "why," or "what.