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Today's Verse Analysis

Matthew 15:9 But in vain they do worship me,

A confrontation with the Pharisees over the violation of tradition.

Spoken to
The Pharisees

Matthew 15:9  μάτην δὲ σέβονταί με, διδάσκοντες διδασκαλίας ἐντάλματα ἀνθρώπων.

KJV Verse

Matthew 15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

NIV Verse:

Matthew 15:9 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.

What His Listeners Heard:

Falsely, however, they fear me, teaching teachings: commandments of men!

Lost In Translation:

Lots of interesting stuff here including so evidence that Christ and his followers referred to the old Testament word in the Septuagint, not the Hebrew. This verse with the previous one, quote Isaiah 29:13. The KJV translation of this verse is misleading, with the KJV translation of the old Testament Hebrew coming closer to the meaning of the Greek here. In the original Hebrew, this line is translated in KJV as saying, that "the fear of God comes from the teaching of men, not from God." The Greek could be translated similarly. Christ is actually telling people that they have nothing to fear from God, that the fear of God is taught to enforce the orders of men.

The sense of this verse and the previous one (Matthew 15:8) is to say that people think mentally they love God, but they have no feeling for God or relationship with Him. They falsely feel fear God because they teach the thoughts and preconceptions of men.

Interestingly, there is a real difference between the English translation of the Greek and the original Hebrew that doesn't exist between the Hebrew and the Greek. The English, at least of the King James, clearly did not look at the Hebrew version when creating a translation.

KJV w/Translation Issues :

But in vain(WW) they do worship me, teaching(WN) for(IW) doctrines the(IW) commandments of men.

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.