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Today's Verse Analysis

Matthew 23:17 You fools and blind: for which is greater,

A long condemnation of the religious leaders of the time, now focusing on swearing oaths.

Spoken to
audience

Matthew 23:17 μωροὶ καὶ τυφλοί, τίς γὰρ μείζων ἐστίν, ὁ χρυσὸς ἢ ὁ ναὸς ὁ ἁγιάσας τὸν χρυσόν;

KJV Verse

Matthew 23:17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?

NIV Verse:

Matthew 23:17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?

What His Listeners Heard:

Foolish and blind! Because which is better the gold better or the temple? The one purifying that gold?

Lost In Translation:

The two adjectives that begin this verse could also be verbs. The form is the second person in the passive or middle voice, having the sense of  "you are foolish and blind" or "you make yourself foolish and 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. There is an amusing dissonance here because gold is considered the only "noble" metal because it doesn't chemically react with other elements, tarnishing like silver or bronze.  However, in a religious sense, it is still "dirty" because it is in common use, not set apart for the Divine.

KJV w/Translation Issues :

Ye fools and blind: for whether(WW) is greater, the gold, or(CW) the temple that sanctifieth(WF) the gold?

KJV List (See full page for word-by-word analysis):
For analysis of each word of original Greek and biblical verses, click here.

Constantly Updated

My analysis standards and methods are constantly improving. New information on each verse is provided as articles are updated. It requires approximately two years for me to work through updating each of Jesus's verses.

What Jesus's Listeners Heard

The everyday meanings of the Greek words Jesus used were different than the definitions they have been given over time in biblical translation. The word translations here are based upon documents of his time such as the Greek Septuagint, not ideas unknown in his time.

About this Site

See what Jesus said in Greek and see how his words are changed in English translation. My goal is to translate Jesus's words as they were heard when he taught, not the way they are interpreted today. The work here resurrects the humor and cleverness of Jesus's words lost in translation.

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Each article provides detailed information on all the Greek words in each verse with links simplifying your own research. It compares the Greek to popular translations to show where words are confused, changed, left out, and added. This site offers research available nowhere else, such as how often Jesus uses a specific Greek word and links to a list of every verse in which he uses a given word.