For those who want to know what Jesus really said, how he said it, why crowds came to hear him, and shades of meaning lost or hidden in translation.

Home

Today's Verse Analysis

Matthew 21:33 Hear another parable: There was a certain landowner who planted...

This continues the lesson about authority and trust to a story about how not respecting those in po

Spoken to
audience

Matthew 21:33 Ἄλλην παραβολὴν ἀκούσατε. Ἄνθρωπος ἦν οἰκοδεσπότης ὅστις “ἐφύτευσεν ἀμπελῶνα καὶ φραγμὸν αὐτῷ περιέθηκεν καὶ ὤρυξεν ἐν αὐτῷ ληνὸν καὶ ᾠκοδόμησεν πύργον,” καὶ ἐξέδετο αὐτὸν γεωργοῖς, καὶ ἀπεδήμησεν.

KJV Verse

Matthew 21:33 Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:

NIV Verse:

Matthew 21:33 Now listen to another story. A certain landowner planted a vineyard, built a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country.

What His Listeners Heard:

Listen to another analogy. A man was an estate owner, who set up a vineyard and put a fence around it and buried a wine vat in it, and built up defense tower and rented it to vine-dressers and he went abroad.

Lost In Translation:

This is an interesting verse for a number of reasons. The language uses a number of words with double meanings. This is common for Jesus, but unusual for his parables. Many of these meanings revolved around military defense and death. Readers may want to play with possible double meanings with this one to get at what Jesus is implying.

The oddest thing about this verse is  that the word translated "let" is misspelled, making it into a common word that means "he was eaten." The meaning from the context is clearly to "give out," which means "rent" when applied to a house. However, this misspelling in all three Gospel versions of this parable might be an intentional play on words, equating "giving out" this vineyard with the owner being devoured by the renters.

KJV w/Translation Issues :

Hear another parable(UW): There(WW) was a certain(IW) householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged(WF) it round about(WF), and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and [went into a far country(CP)]:

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.

Free Subscriptions

Regular emails from Substack, subscribe to Rediscovering Jesus's Words.

 

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.