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 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.

Pharisee asks what the greatest commandment is.

Spoken to
The Pharisees

Matthew 22:38 αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ μεγάλη καὶ πρώτη ἐντολή.

KJV Verse

Matthew 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.

NIV Verse:

Matthew 22:38 This is the first and greatest commandment.

What His Listeners Heard:

This is the great and first commandment.

Lost In Translation:

The adjectives used here have a lot of different meanings, It is interesting that Jesus does not use superlatives (greatest") or comparatives ("greater"), though the NIV version does and the KJV makes it sound that way. The Bible also reverses the order of the adjectives. The obvious thing is to say a word like "first" first but he doesn't. He says it "great" first because it is more entertaining to put the word "first" second.

KJV w/Translation Issues :

This is the first and great(OS) commandment.

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.