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Today's Verse Analysis

Matthew 22:29 You err, not knowing the scriptures,

Jesus is asked about the resurrection and a woman who was married to multiple brothers.

Spoken to
The Sadducees

Matthew 22:29 Πλανᾶσθε μὴ εἰδότες τὰς γραφὰς μηδὲ τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ θεοῦ:

KJV Verse

Matthew 22:29 Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.

NIV Verse:

Matthew 22:29 “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.

What His Listeners Heard:

You lead yourselves astray, not knowing these Writings nor the power of the Divine.

Lost In Translation:

The word translated as "scriptures" has a non-religious meaning of "writings." It is always translated as "scripture" in the Bible, a religious word. This indicates that the only common writings in Jesus's society was his people's religious books.

The verb translated as "knowing/know" is the past perfect of "to see." In Greek, "having seen" something is what we know." The word translated as "power" is the source of our word "dynamic" and "dynamite."

KJV w/Translation Issues :

Ye do(WW) err, not knowing(WT) the scriptures(CW), nor the power of (MW) God.

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.