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Today's Verse Analysis

Matthew 22:4 Again, he sent forth other servants,

After his opponents leave, Jesus addresses the crowd telling a parable comparing the realm of the skies to a man, a king.

Spoken to
audience

Matthew 22:4 πάλιν ἀπέστειλεν ἄλλους δούλους λέγων Εἴπατε τοῖς κεκλημένοις Ἰδοὺ τὸ ἄριστόν μου ἡτοίμακα, οἱ ταῦροί μου καὶ τὰ σιτιστὰ τεθυμένα, καὶ πάντα ἕτοιμα: δεῦτε εἰς τοὺς γάμους.

KJV Verse

Matthew 22:4 Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.

NIV Verse:

Matthew 22:4 Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.

What His Listeners Heard:

Once more, he dispatched different slaves, saying, "Tell to the ones having been called, look, this luncheon of mine I have prepared, those steers of mine also those fatted having been sacrificed and all things are ready. Come into the wedding. 

Lost In Translation:

Jesus uses a number of uncommon words here. Two words he uses nowhere else, "oxen" and "fatlings." The word for "dinner" is only used twice. The word translated as "killed/butchered" is only used five times.

The word for "wedding" here and in throughout this parable, is plural. This word appears four times in the Septuagint, always translated into English as "feast," from a Hebrew word mištê (מִשְׁתֶּה), which means "feast." It is used more often in the NT, always referring to a wedding, but only in the plural in this parable. Since this refers only to one event (elsewhere a singular "lunch" is used to describe it)  the word seems to mean the same in singular and plural coincidently, like our "nuptial," which is also used in the singular and plural.

KJV w/Translation Issues :

Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them(CW) which(IW) are(WT) bidden, Behold, I have prepared my (MW) dinner: my (MW) oxen and my(WW) fatlings are(WT) killed(CW), and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.

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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