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Today's Verse Analysis

Matthew 20:13 But he answered one of them, and said, Friend,

A parable comparing the realm of the skies to hiring workers throughout the day.

Spoken to
audience

Matthew 20:13  ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς ἑνὶ αὐτῶν εἶπεν Ἑταῖρε, οὐκ ἀδικῶ σε: οὐχὶ δηναρίου συνεφώνησάς μοι;

KJV Verse

Matthew 20:13 But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?

NIV Verse:

Matthew 20:13 But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius?

What His Listeners Heard:

The one, however, answering to one of them said, "Friend, I did not harm you. Not, really. You agreed on a silver with me."

Lost In Translation:

Jesus echoes the same words used at the beginning of this parable in Matthew 20:2. He uses three uncommon words, for him meaning "friend," "did not harm," and "agree." All are used in only two or three other verses of his. The sentence at the end is not likely a question. The negative it begins with means "not really" and seems like it emphasizes the idea that no harm was done. The final sentence, however, could also be a negative question that expects a positive answer, as we might way, "we agreed on a denarius, didn't we?"

KJV w/Translation Issues :

But he(WW) answered(WF) one of them, and(IW) said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not(CW) thou agree with me for a penny?

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.