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Today's Verse Analysis

Matthew 16:28 There be some standing here who shall not taste of death

Jesus is discussing the nature of "Self" in the larger context of his death.

Spoken to
Apostles

Matthew 16:28 ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι εἰσίν τινες τῶν ὧδε ἑστώτων οἵτινες οὐ μὴ γεύσωνται θανάτου ἕως ἂν ἴδωσιν τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐρχόμενον ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ αὐτοῦ.

KJV Verse

Matthew 16:28 Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

NIV Verse:

Matthew 16:28  Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.

What His Listeners Heard:

Amen I tell you that there are some of those here having stood who might never experience death until when they see the son of the man showing up in that realm of his.

Lost In Translation:

The KJV and NIV translations make this appear to be a prophecy but nothing here is in the future tense.  The key verbs are subjunctive, meaning that they "might" happen at some time, past, or future. the Greek, this verse does not appear to be a prophecy about the future at all, but a statement about what happens when we die: we see Jesus in his realm. This makes more sense in the context of the previous verse, which is also less of a prophecy than it appears.

In Greek, this seems more like what happens when some of those "having stood" there die. The "standing" is an action completed in the past, not happening now. They see Jesus in his natural realm. In this context, the "having stood here" could mean anyone who has died.

KJV w/Translation Issues :

 Verily I say unto you, (MW) There be(WN) some (MW) standing(WT) here, which shall(CW) not(CW) taste of death, till (MW) they see the Son of (MW) man coming in his (MW) kingdom.

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.