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Today's Verse Analysis

Matthew 22:45  If David then call him Lord,

Jesus asks who the Messiah's father is. They respond "David" and this is Jesus's answer.

Spoken to
The Pharisees

Matthew 22:45 εἰ οὖν Δαυεὶδ καλεῖ αὐτὸν κύριον, πῶς υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ἐστίν;

KJV Verse

Matthew 22:45 If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?

NIV Verse:

Matthew 22:45 If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?”

What His Listeners Heard:

If, in fact, David called him master, In what way, is he a son of his?

Lost In Translation:

This is a reference to Psalm 110.

This verse plays on the special meaning of the word translated as "lord" when it is applied to the head of a family. Note that Jesus doesn't answer his own question nor does anyone ask him for an answer. Instead, Jesus simply makes it clear that on this central question of authority, the traditional Jewish viewpoints about the Christ and his authority were insufficient because the Christ did not get his authority from David, but the other way around.

KJV w/Translation Issues :

 If David then call(WT) him Lord, how is he his son?

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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