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Today's Verse Analysis

Matthew 18:24 And when he had begun to reckon,

A parable about letting go of mistakes in the context of letting go of mistakes.

Spoken to
audience

Matthew 18:24 ἀρξαμένου δὲ αὐτοῦ συναίρειν προσήχθη εἷς αὐτῷ ὀφειλέτης μυρίων ταλάντων.

KJV Verse

Matthew 18:24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.

NIV Verse:

Matthew 18:24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[ was brought to him.

What His Listeners Heard:

During starting, however, of his to take part, he was brought, one, to him, a debtor of countless gold weights.

Lost In Translation:

This verse uses a number of uncommon words for Jesus. They are phrased so the verse has a number of pauses built in. As we often see, these words could have seemed funny at the time, simply because they were rare and extreme. The description fo the debtor as one of "myriad weights" is an example. The phrasing could refer either to the amount of the debtor, humorously, the size of the man. The verse is phrased so that this is clearly the punchline, ending the verse.

KJV w/Translation Issues :

And(WW) when he(WF) had(WT) begun to reckon(CW), one was brought unto him, which(IW) owed(WF) him(IW) [ten thousand(WW) talents(WF).

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.