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Today's Verse Analysis

Matthew 15:14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders

After being challenged by the Pharisees, Jesus's students ask if he knows that he tripped them up

Spoken to
Apostles

Matthew 15:14  ἄφετε αὐτούς: τυφλοί εἰσιν ὁδηγοί: τυφλὸς δὲ τυφλὸν ἐὰν ὁδηγῇ, ἀμφότεροι εἰς βόθυνον πεσοῦνται.

KJV Verse

Matthew 15:14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

NIV Verse:

Matthew 15:14  Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

What His Listeners Heard:

Drop them! Blind ones are guides. A blind one, however, when he guides a blind one, both into a pit will fall

Lost In Translation:

In Greek, Jesus says that guides, in general, are blind. The "blind" is joined to "guides" by the verb "to be." Or, even more amusing, that leaders are blind. His advice is "drop them"  or "leave," which assumes guides are being used. There is no definite article before it.  The word for "pit" also means an open grave.  The KJV translation makes it sound as though "the blind" is plural, but in the Greek it is singular. Interestingly, most more modern translations follow the KJV even though it has some serious conflicts in form with the Greek, if not the meaning.

KJV w/Translation Issues :

Let them alone(CW): they be blind(WP) leaders(CW) [of the blind(OS)]. And(IW) if(CW) the(IW) blind(WN) lead the(IW) blind(WN), both shall fall into the(IW) ditch.

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.