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Today's Verse Analysis

The addition of new ideas in the context of teaching like the Sermon on the Mount.

Spoken to
an individual
KJV Verse

Matthew 18:17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.

NIV Verse:

Matthew 18:17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

What His Listeners Heard:

When, however, he misunderstands them, speak to the group. When, however, he also misunderstands the group, should he be to you the same as the foreigner and the tax collector?

Lost In Translation:

This is a particularly sad mistranslation. Jesus is addressing in individual here about a specific situation and the specific situation is about a "brother," which is either a relative or a friend. If we assume that we only get Jesus's half of the discussion, we have to fill in the blanks logically, according to Jesus's practice, not the practices of Christians when the Bible was first translated to English. Note, four verses from now, Mattthew 18:21, Peter takes this to mean we must forgive our brothers. To see how much has been done to misconstrue the Greek of this verse, look at the word-by-word analysis of its translations below.

First, Jesus doesn't say "if," but "when." This is an expected situation, not an uncommon one. The word translated as "neglect to hear/refuse to listen" is only used by Jesus here, but the Greek word means "overhear,"  "hear incorrectly, or, in this context, "misunderstand." It is translated into stronger language to make the brother's crime greater. The word translated as "church," did not mean that it Jesus's time. It meant "assembly" or as we more commonly say today, a "meeting." However, it is introduced by a definite article, so "the meeting," likely a regular community meeting. 

So if someone misunderstands the argument of those who come to him and of the community meeting, what is to be done? The verb translated as "let him be" is a third-person command form of "to be," which has the sense of "he must be." However, this verb begins the sentence, it could easily be phrased as a question, "Must he be?" Without hearing the words, it is impossible to know.

However, the words "heathen man/pagan, (better translated as "foreigner" and "publican/tax-collector" are uncommon for Jesus. Though he uses these terms disparagingly, in a light-hearted way, he never shunned such people in his life, healing foreigners and dining with tax collectors. The words are joined by an "and" not an "or," and both introduced with articles,  so they are combined in the sense of a "this foreigner, that tax-collector," making the description worse. So Jesus asks the very logical question, "Must a brother be like that foreigner tax collector if he disagrees with you?" He assumes that the obvious answer is "no." We can see this clearly in all the following verses.

KJV w/Translation Issues :

And(WW) if(WW) he shall(CW) [neglect to hear(CW)] them, tell(CW) it(IW) unto the church(CW): but if(WW) he neglect to hear the church(CW), let(CW) him(WF) be unto thee(WF) as an(WW) heathen(WW) man and a(WW) publican(CW).

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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Do Your Own Research

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.