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 21:29  He answered and said, I will not:

In a lesson about authority, after opponents question his authority, Jesus tells a story of a father with two sons to set up a question about authority.

Spoken to
audience

Matthew 21:29  ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν Οὐ θέλω: ὕστερον μεταμεληθεὶς ἀπῆλθεν.

KJV Verse

Matthew 21:29 He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.

NIV Verse:

Matthew 21:29 ‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.

What His Listeners Heard:

The one, however, answering  said,  "I don't want to."   changing mind he went.

Lost In Translation:

The "no" of the son's response is not the Greek negative of opinion which usually goes with a verb of thought or feeling translated as "will" but meaning "want" or "desire," but Jesus only uses this negative with this verb so it makes it feel more adamant.

The change in responses between the first son to the second (see note below and Greek translation) goes back to the Latin Vulgate. This is because Jesus's opponents say that the first son is the more virtuous in Matthew 21:31. This seemed like a "mistake" on the part of Gospel writers, but I suggest that Jesus's opponents really did see the son that answered correctly as the one who did his father's will, that is, telling him what he wanted to hear without lying. See the note on the next article to understand my translation.

(The Perseus source reverses this and the following verse.)

KJV w/Translation Issues :

He(WW) (MW) answered(WF) and(IW) said, I will(CW) not: but(IW) afterward he repented(CW,WF), and(IW) went(CW).

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.