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Today's Verse Analysis

Matthew 23:22 And he that shall swear by heaven,

A long condemnation of the religious leaders of the time, now focusing on swearing oaths.

Spoken to
audience

Matthew 23:22 καὶ ὁ ὀμόσας ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ὀμνύει ἐν τῷ θρόνῳ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἐν τῷ καθημένῳ ἐπάνω αὐτοῦ.

KJV Verse

Matthew 23:22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.

NIV Verse:

Matthew 23:22 And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.

What His Listeners Heard:

And the one promising on the sky promises on the chair of the Divine and on the one sitting on top of  it.

Lost In Translation:

"Heaven" here is "the sky" in singular, where Jesus usually uses the plural. This may limit the "throne" to just the sky above earth. "Throne" is just the word for chair, but chairs were used for positions of authority, by judges, not for sitting a tables. 
 

KJV w/Translation Issues :

And he(CW) tha(IW)t shall(WT) swear by (MW) heaven, sweareth by the throne of (MW) God, and by him(CW) that(IW) sitteth(WF) thereon(CW) (MW).

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.