The Gospel of Matthew Chapters

  1      2      3     4      5     6     7     8     9    10    11   12    13    14  

 15    16    17   18    19   20   21   22   23   24    25   26    27    28   

The Gospel of Mark Chapters

  1      2      3     4     5     6     7     8  

  9     10    11   12   13   14   15   16 

The Gospel of Luke (To be translated later)

The Gospel of John Chapters

  1      2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9    10   11   

 12    13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21  

The Gospels

by Jerome Scholle as through June 2009 Study of Ancient Greek

Introduction to the Gospels of the Christian Scriptures

A translation viewed as one adherent reporting events of the human Jesus in his day.

Note: If you wish to view the Greek lettering, you will need to download and install the freeware true type Greek font set alkaios from http://www.lucius-hartmann.ch/diverse/greekfonts/#unicode. Although this page is primarily in German there is enough English words for one to download the font set and install.

Introduction:

      Since being trained in physics, chemistry, and mathematics, it is only natural to go back to basics in the study the Scriptures. To properly apply the Scriptures to one’s life today, it is first necessary to understand their application at the time of origination, thus these translations of the Gospels. As I studied the translations of the Greek rendered in various English versions of the Christian Scriptures, I noted three things:

1. The choice of words and syntax used in interpreting the Greek appears to further their respective theological views. The more Greek grammar issue articles I read the more I am convinced this is true as much is tied to attempting to predetermine what the writer was thinking rather than letting the words and grammar define the context of the writer. In my studies of the history of the Christian Scriptures I am well aware of the differences among certain theological views which divide the Christian denominations. Equally as I translate, my own theological view comes into play for no one can read, interpret or apply the Scriptures without their theological view being central. Also as a scientist, I had to let the data tell me what was going on and not let any preconceived notions influence the interpretation. Thus I will use the Greek text to be my data to define what it is saying by subjecting and redefining my theological view from the data.

2. The nuances and emphasis of the Greek words and syntax are often glossed over in these translations. For example, eight Greek words are all translated as servant in most modern versions; however, in Greek these range from a slave of involuntary servitude to freeman working for wages. The actions of the two are quite different and thus the application to one’s life needs to be seen from the perspective presented. The differences in emphasis expressed by the Greek word order are not always possible in English, and thus as much as possible it is retained. Sometimes multiple word order sequences are possible in English, I have chosen what makes the most sense to me and occasionally annotated other possibilities.

3. Even in the Greek texts that are available there is no agreement among scholars concerning the original words, their meaning and syntax. Also one does not know how they have been modified for the views of the compilers or interpreters in ascertaining the wording or syntax from the numerous sources from the several Greek dialects.

      Even when these issues are considered, the Greek still renders so much more insight into the passages and what is means to walk as a disciple of Jesus. This translation is derived from the intercomparison of

1.      The Textus Receptus (TR), the basis for the 1611 King James Version.

2.      Nestle-Aland’s 27^th Edition of Novum Testamentum Graece (NA) based on the oldest manuscripts, typically Egyptian.

3.      The Greek New Testament according to the Majority Text (MT) based on the frequency of words in the thousands of manuscript fragments found. This is the basis for the Eastern Orthodox churches Bible.

      This intercomparison if done from tables in which each cell is a Greek word from the texts, or syntax or English meaning. The set up is a follows for each column and row:

These are repeated within sets of verses for each chapter of a Gospel. The number of columns across a page in portrait layout is word size limited, so this limits the number of the verses within a set. Then textual differences are noted with other colors, providing a rapid view of differences. No punctuation or capitalization was carried form the texts except for proper names. This eliminated influence of past translators as well as returning to the original Greek which had no punctuation. Lower case with diacritical marks was maintained even though the original Greek was understood to be all capitals, because this allowed for proper word cross referencing and translating.

      Please, consult the references for sources of the variations between the texts, known as critical apparatus. Most often the three texts have the same word and syntax and occasionally a different accent or breathing especially for names.

      Since I am inter-comparing these texts, the differences in phrases/words between the texts in the translation are worth noting. The following notation will be used when the three texts do not agree for individual words.

·        ╓ ╖ The phrase/word is used in both the TR and MT, but not in NA.

·        ┌ ┐ The phrase/word or syntax is used only in the NA.

·        ╔ ╗ The phrase/word or syntax is used in both the NA and MT, but not in TR.

·        ┬ ┬ The phrase/word or syntax is used only in the TR.

·        ╒ ╕ The phrase/word or syntax is used in both the TR and NA, but not in MT.

·        ╥ ╥ The phrase/word or syntax is used only in the MT.

·        If a phrase/word is omitted in any of these, only one set of symbols will appear.

·        No attempt is made to note differences in accent or breathing, but breathing is noted in the abbreviated glossary herein. Larger English-Greek and Greek-English glossaries have been compiled for all words in the three texts and four Gospels.

·        Word order and dialectal differences are generally not noted.

      I have tried to maintain the many nuances as best as I can within English, the translations are extensively coded, and thus the English is at times awkward. There is reasonable evidence that the story has had many changes to arrive at the texts that I am using as well as the interpretations that have been added during the development of Christianity as a religion over the centuries and which have been held onto just because someone was deemed to be a powerful authority. This certainly appears to be true as I have worked through the Gospels of John, Mark, and Matthew to date.

      Since I consider myself only a continuing learner of Greek, I am holding as close to my developing and changing understanding of the Greek grammar and syntax as possible in translating into English. This writing documents where I am at in my development as I continue to build on my understanding. It is in no way a complete understanding of all the subtleties of Greek syntax and word meanings and usages, particularly for particles, prepositions, conjunctions and clauses.

      To arrive at the meaning of the word and the syntaxes I have studied multiple references so as not to rely on one view only. The primary Lexicon is Liddell & Scott’s “Greek - English Lexicon,” supplemented with Lexicons by Thayer and/or Danker. I am well aware that word meanings have been assigned based on authors’ own interpretation and of what has gone before. Just as we in English interpret what we hear and read based on our own understanding of the English word and usage, and even may be contradictory to the author, so also this has occurred in Greek. This is further complicated with the several dialects that were spoken and written, and thus these variation are necessary entries in the Greek-English lexicons. My notes for each word are in separate glossary documents.

      Extensive coding is used in attempting to understand Greek thought processes and to differentiate different usages or where the Greek uses multiple words but only one word or set of related words are used in English. For example Greek words distinguish between the relative and interrogative use of the English word who and then further differentiation of singular and plural, this gives four coding forms being used in the translation. These are described in detail following as well as briefly summarized in the “Coding References,” hopefully a useful guide.

      The following are readily available references from publishers, libraries and the Internet, which were used for translating:

·        Aland, Barbara and Kurt, Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece, 27^th Ed., Deutsche Biblelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, Germany 1993 printer C. H. Beck Nördingen, Germany

·        Berry, George Ricker, The Interlinear KJV, Parallel New Testament in Greek and English, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI

·        Brown, F., Driver, S. and Briggs, C., The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, MA

·        Coogan, Michael, D., The New Oxford Annotated Bible, New Revised Standard Version with Apocrypha, 3^rd Ed., Oxford University Press, Oxford, NY 2001

·        Danker, Frederick William, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, 3^rd Ed. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL 2000

·        Funk, Robert W., Hoover, Roy W., and the Jesus Seminar, The Five Gospels, HarperCollins, San Francisco, CA 1993

·        Goodrick, Edward G. and Kohlenberger, John R. III, Zondervan NIV Exhaustive Concordance, 2^nd Edition, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI 1999

·        Gorrell, Robert M. and Laird, Charlton, Modern English Handbook, 3^rd Ed. Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1962

·        JPS Hebrew-English TANAKH, 2^nd Ed. Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia, PA 1999

·        Kohlenberger, John R. III, The Interlinear NIV Hebrew-English Old Testament, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI 1987

·        Kubo, Sakae, A Reader’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI 1975

·        Kubo, Sakae and Specht, Walter F., So Many Versions?, Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, MI 1983

·        Lamsa, George. M., Holy Bible from the Ancient Eastern Text (Peshitta), HarperSanFrancsico, 1968

·        Liddell H. G. and Scott, R., Greek-English Lexicon, Abridged Edition, Oxford University Press, Oxford UK 1999

·        Louw, Johannes P. and Nida, Eugene A., Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, Based on Semantic Domains, 2^nd Ed., United Bible Societies, New York 1989

·        Mounce, William D., The Analytical Lexicon to the Greek New Testament, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI 1993

·        Robertson, A. T., Grammar of the New Testament in light of Historical Research, 3^rd Edition, Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1919 (digitized version from the Internet)

·        Ruck, Carl A. P., Ancient Greek, A New Approach, 2^nd Edition, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA 1979

·        Seligson, Gerda M., Greek for Reading, The University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, MI 1994

·        Standard Greek Dictionary, Langenscheidt Publishers, Maspeth, NY 1990

·        Strong, James, The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville TN, 1995

·        Thayer, Joseph Henry, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI

·        Thesaurus, http://thesaurus.reference.com/browse/instruction

·        The New Oxford annotated Bible, New Revised Standard Version with Apocrypha, 3^rd Editon

·        The Zondervan Parallel New Testament in Greek and English, The Nestle Greek Text, Zondervan Bible Publishers, Grand Rapids, MI, 1958

·        Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Gramercy Books, New York 1989

·        Westcott, Brook F. and Hort, Fenton J. A., Greek New Testament 1881, (digitized version from the Internet)

 English Word Meaning

      One of my objectives in the translation is to understand the word usage at the time of Jesus without Christian theology being applied since there was no such theology at that time. Thus the primary reference lexicon is the Liddell & Scott Greek-English Lexicon which is in British English. Also of importance is when a word therein is referenced only as in the Gospels, this implies the coining of the word by the Gospel writer or a later addition or change by Christian theologians.

1.      All usage and word meanings are limited only to the Gospels. Please consult references if you desire to apply to other Christian Scriptures.

2.      Word meaning remains faithful to the Greek either by a single word translation or a phrase that gives the meaning to maintain the nuance so it is not lost in the English, such as love which English translations use for both verbs ἀγαπάω, agapaō and φιλέω, phileō; these are translated love affectionately and love friendly, respectfully.

3.      Each word is studied in its application in the Gospels as I pursue each Gospel translation, and then a meaning is selected. Every attempt is to select one English meaning for each Greek word without duplication of an English word. Other English synonyms may be used for a Greek lexical entry for this purpose or phrases such as above. A sampling of this is in the following “Words with significant nuances,”

4.      A complete glossary, separate document, of all words in the three Greek texts has been created.

a.       Greek lexical entry with transliteration,

b.      My English meaning notes, primarily from the Liddell & Scott Greek-English Lexicon; complete meanings and usages require consultation to published Greek Lexicons.

c.       Translational word, or notation “depends on context” if several possible meanings are frequently used and thus are not annotated, particular for prepositions.

d.      Lists each verse it is used in, the number of times in that verse, and the text if not in all three.

e.       When the context requires an alternate meaning from the selected meaning, it is footnoted at the end of chapters.

f.        English lexical entry document by reformatting and order the Greek document

5.      Greek does not always repeat words but they are understood from the context. In addition the syntactical construction may require an English word, especially prepositions and the verb to be. These words are in { }.

6.      Words in [ ] are for clarity, especially when there is ambiguity of who is the actor.

7.      If different words have the same English meaning and there is no alternative English wording, then the words are color coded for meaning. This also applies to differentiation of singular and plural forms of the same word. Examples follow below.

8.      If the Greek syntax form has more than one meaning, particularly masculine nouns accusative singular and neuter nominative plural, neuter nouns and adjectives nominative and accusative, and, some verbal aspects’ conjugations, then the context is used for the appropriate meaning. Sometimes multiple renderings are possible, thus I have chosen what makes the most sense to me considering that the original Greek had no punctuation.

9.      Transliterations

Greek Syntax

      This is a brief summary of Greek syntax and explanations where differences are used, please consult Greek grammars for a more thorough understanding.

1.      Nouns

a.       The absence of an article, the, with a noun implies the English “a/an”; it is supplied if the noun is singular, but no article is supplied in the noun is plural.

1)      Since the Greek is expressed with and without the article the, the articles are translated even where in English we would not use the article as well as where we would use “the” instead of “a/an”.

b.      When the article, the, with a noun is either in the singular or the plural, it is translated.

1)      Since Greek names are express both with and without the article, the article, the or a/an, is expressed, respectively; even though in English no article would be used.

c.       If a noun may be formed by the addition of an article to the adjective and the adjective form is the primary lexical entry, then “the one” followed by the adjective is used rather than the noun form.

d.      If the vocative form is used, then no article is stated unless the texts have the article.

e.       Plurals may be treated as collectives with the singular of the verb; when done so the verb is in bold italic.

f.        The singular of nouns having a collective meaning may have a verb ending in the plural, when done so the noun is bold italic.

g.       English nouns, which do not change form between singular and plural such as sheep and fish, are blue if singular in Greek or red if plural in Greek.

2.      Verbs: This a simplified guide to the common verb aspects and the translation using the English verb say as an example:

a.    Active (subject is the actor of the verb expression)

1)      Indicative (statement about reality or assertion of fact)

a)      Present                                                       say(s), is (are) saying, do(es) say

α.   English present tense forms are bold brown italic when past tense forms are the same, such as cast-cast; cut-cut, set-set.

β.   with ἄν            would say

b)      Imperfect (=English past expressing continuance)     was (were) saying

α.   with ἄν            would say

c)      Aorist (=English past expressing indeterminacy)                   said, did say

α.   with ἄν            would say

d)      Future                                                                                will say

e)      Perfect                                                                               has (have) said

f)        Pluperfect                                                                           had said

2)      Subjunctive (for act of volition or conditional clause)

a)      Present       may say                        with ἄν            would say

b)      Aorist         might say                      with ἄν            would say

c)      Perfect       might have been said     with ἄν            would have been said

3)      Imperative (commands)

a)      Aspect

1.      Present    verb + subject in bold italic type

2.      Aorist      verb in English present + subject in standard type

b)      Person

1.      2^nd person verb followed by you raise as an exponent

2.      3^rd person let followed by nominative noun/pronoun then verb

4)      Optative (direct and emotive expression of hope wish or prayer)

a)      Specifically annotated when occurring.

c.       Middle (subject is the actor of the verb expression and receives playback of the action)

1)      This aspect is to be inferred from the context, there is no specific treatment.

2)      Deponent verbs have only middle and passive forms but are translated as active.

d.      Passive (The subject is the receiver of the verb expression)

1)      Indicative (statement about reality or assertion of fact)

a)      Present

1.      is being saying, if implied action is expressing continuance

2.      is said     if implied action is expressing indeterminacy

b)      Imperfect (=English past expressing continuance):          was (were) being saying

c)      Aorist (=English past expressing indeterminacy)             was (were) said

d)      Future

1.      will be saying, if implied action is expressing continuance

2.      will be said       if implied action is expressing indeterminacy

e)      Perfect       has (have) been said

2)      Subjunctive (for act of volition or conditional clause)

a)      Present       may be said                  with ἄν            would be said

b)      Aorist         might be said                with ἄν            would be said

c)      Perfect       might have been said    with ἄν            would have been said

3)      Imperative (commands)

a)      Aspect

1.      Present    be + verb + subject in bold italic type

2.      Aorist      be + verb in English present + subject in standard type

4)      Infinitives

a)      Present       to be + the verb ending in ing

b)      Aorist         to + have been + verb in English past

c)      Perfect       to + have had been + verb in English past

5)      Participles

a)      Present       being +verb in English past

b)      Aorist         having been + verb in English past

c)      Perfect       having had been + verb in English past

6)      Word exceptions passive forms translated as active in

a)      Remember

b)      Reply

e.       Infinitives active voice

1)      Present:            to + the verb

2)      Aorist               to + have + verb

3)      Perfect             to + have had + verb

f.        Participles active voice

1)      Present:            verb ending in ing

2)      Imperfect:         For regular verbs there is no participial form, so if a verb has an aspect which is imperfect in meaning and is given in participial form, the aorist participle form is used.

3)      Aorist               having + verb

4)      Perfect             having had + verb

g.       Participle Usage

1)      Articular:          article + participle = noun phrase, may include adjective. Article is translated as the one to keep the participial form.

2)      Adjectival         participle usage as an adjective is placed after the noun or pronoun it is modifying. This is in keeping with the declensional form of the participle. It also distinguishes the verb to be when it is used in equation format in Greek with a participle in the nominative case from the present, imperfect and passive verb aspects where to be is the principal or auxiliary verb for a translation, such as εὐδόκέω, eudokeō meaning be well pleased. An exception to this when the Greek using the nominative present participle saying following a verb and introducing a quote, then the participle follows the verb rather than the actor with the quote following.

3)      Adverbial         particle generally in either the genitive or dative case, requiring a proposition added in English. Proposition selected uses the respective case.

4)      Both the adjectival and adverbial usages may be meta-phrased as clauses; however I have chosen not to do so.

h.       Verbs are identical for some different conjugational forms, e.g. 2^nd person plural active voice indicative and imperative moods, and their usage can only be discerned from the context, including from the comparison between the three Greek texts. No attempt is made to differentiate these forms.

3.      Prepositions:

a.       Prepositions convey certain conditions or directions which tend to be blended in English prepositional usage. From the context you may mentally supply the English prepositional equivalent that gives your understanding. Some prepositions may have more than one meaning and are not annotated if different from the below. The following English usage for the Greek and their primary meanings are:

*The distinction is the level of fellowship and intimacy implied in the use of σύν, syn although this is not adhered to rigorously in the Gospels, I have retained the difference with verbs also prefixed by these prepositions. The writers of Matthew, Mark and John appear to not make a distinction between levels of fellowship as compared to Luke. All other English uses of with not specifically associated with these Greek prepositions will be in black type.

b.      Greek does not always need prepositions because of declensional usage, however to make sense in English a preposition is needed. In these cases I have supplied a preposition or a prepositional phrase in { } as I understand the usage of the Greek preposition would be.

4.      Pronouns

a.       English personal

1)      1^st person I, 2^nd person you: personal 1^st person ἐγώ, egō; 2^nd person σύ, sy

a)      The verb suffixes indicate the person

b)      The Greek is explicit whether you is singular or plural so there is no ambiguity as in English. Thus singular you is rendered you and plural you is rendered you; for imperatives, since these are not expressed in English, these are superscripted to the verb.

2)      1^st person my, 2^nd person your

a)      Personal 1^st person, μου, mou or ἐμοῦ, emou; 2^nd person σοῦ, sou

b)      Possessive 1^st person, ἐμος, -ή, -όν; emos,- ē, -ov translated possessed by me;2^nd person singular σός, -ή, -όν; sos, -ē, -on or plural  ὑμέτερος, -α, -ον;  hymeteros, -a, -on translated possessed by you

3)      3^rd person he, she, it

a)      Intensive αὐτος, -ή, -ο; autos - ē, -ο is used for the 3^rd person and means himself, herself, itself and may be translated as such.

b)      The verb suffixes indicate the person;

4)      When nominative pronouns are used intensive for emphasis, they are underlined since they are redundant with the verb suffixes for person

b.      English reflexive

1)      1^st person myself Greek ἑμαυτοῦ, -ῆς, -οῦ; hemautou, -ēs, -ou

2)      2^nd person yourself Greek σεαυτοῦ, -ῆς, -οῦ; seautou, -ēs, -ou

3)      3^rd person himself, herself, itself Greek ἑαυτοῦ, -ῆς, -οῦ; heautou, -ēs, -ou

c.       English demonstrative

1)      this, this one Greek οὗτος, αὕτη, τοῦτο; houtos, hautē, touto

2)      this one here Greek ὅδε, ἥδε, τόδε; hode, ēde, tode

3)      that, that one Greek ἐκεῖνος, ἐκείνη, ἐκεῖνο; ekeivos, eikeinē, ekeino

d.      English indefinite

1)      one, anyone, anything Greek τις, τις, τι; tis, tis, ti

2)      the one Greek demonstrative ὁ, ἡ, τό; ho, hē, to when not attached as the indefinite article the to a noun, but either to an adjective or a participle. Gender being determined from context

e.       English interrogative

1)      who, what, why, which Greek τίς, τίς, τί; tis, tis, ti singular

2)      who, what, why, which Greek τίς, τίς, τί; tis, tis, ti plural

f.        English relative

1)      who, what, which Greek ὅς, ἥ, ὅ; hos, hē, ho singular

2)      who, what, which Greek ὅς, ἥ, ὅ; hos, hē, ho plural

3)      anyone who, whosoever Greek ὅστις, ἥτις, ὅ,τις; hostis, hētis, ho,tis singular

4)      whosoever Greek ὅστις, ἥτις, ὅ,τις; hostis, hētis, ho,tis plural

g.       Greek correlative interrogative

1)      how great, how many, how much Greek πόσος, -ή, -όν; posos, -ē, -on singular

2)      how great, how many, how much Greek πόσος, -ή, -όν; posos, -ē, -on plural

5.      Adjectives

a.       Interrogative adjectives

1)      what, which Greek ποῖος, -ή, -όν; poios, -ē, -on singular

2)      what, which Greek ποῖος, -ή, -όν; poios, -ē, -on plural

b.      Numbers

1)      When used alone they are preceded with {the ones} except the number one which is identified by one to distinguish it from one being associated with the one, this one, that one.

c.       Relative adjectives

1)      as many as, as much as Greek ὅσος, -ή, -όν; hosos, -ē, -on singular

2)      as many as, as much as Greek ὅσος, -ή, -όν; hosos, -ē, -on plural

6.      Some Conjunctions and Particles

a.       And

1)      The most prevalent Greek is καί, kai; which is conjunctive copulative, usually expressing something new.

2)      A second Greek is τέ, te which is adjunctive to the preceding. This usage is expressed as and.

3)      The Greek double use of the copulative conjunction καί … καί may be translated as the English copulatives of not only … but also. In this situation not is left as normal text.

b.      Before

1)      πρίν, prin, translated as before.

2)      πρίν ἤ, prin ē, translated as before.

c.       Not and its compounds

1)      μή, mē which denies the thought or mental aspect of something, subjective; and is expressed not. It may be an adverb, a conjunction, or an interrogative adjective expecting a negative answer.

a)      εἰ μή, ei mē, translated except properly if not.

b)      μή γε, mē ge or μὴγε, mēge, translated not at least.

c)      μήδε, mēde, translated not even, when an adverb or nor when a conjunction.

d)      μηκέτι, mēketi, translated no longer.

e)      μήποτε, mēpote, translated lest perchance when a prohibitory conjunction, or whether at any time when an interrogative particle.

f)        μήτε, mēte, translated and not, neither, nor.

g)      μήτε…μήτε, mēte…mēte, translated neither…nor.

h)      μήτι, mēti, translated whether perchance.

i)        μή…μήδε, translated neither…nor.

2)      οὐ, ou which denies the actual thing itself, objective; and is expressed not. It is always an adverb

a)      οὐ...ἀλλά, ou…alla, translated not only…but also.

b)      οὐ μή, ou mē, is translated as by no means with the no left in as normal text.

c)      οὐδαμῶς, oudamōs, translated in no wise with the no left in as normal text.

d)      οὐδέ, oude, translated not even, when an adverb or nor when a conjunction.

e)      οὐδέ…οὐδέ, oude...oude, translated neither…nor.

f)        οὐδέποτε, oudepote, translated not even ever.

g)      οὐκέτι, ouketi, translated no longer.

h)      οὔπω, oupō, translated not yet.

i)        οὐτε, oute, translated and not, neither, nor.

j)        οὐτε…οὐτε, oute   oute, translated neither…nor.

k)      οὐχί, ouchi, translated NOT, nothing at all. Emphatic of οὐ, Attica variant of οὐ in final position.

a.       That

1)      ἐκείνος, ekeinos, demonstrative pronoun that, that one.

2)      ἱνα, hina, conjunction denoting purpose or end, translated so that.

3)      ἱνατί, hinati or ἱνα τί, hina ti, translated as to what end.

4)      ὅτι, hoti, conjunction denoting:

a)      substance or contents of a statement, translated that.

b)      reason why any thing is said. translated because.

7.      Some Adverbs

a.       ἄρα, ara, translated thereupon.

b.      εἴσω, eisō, translated within, distinguishing from preposition ἐν, en, within

c.       ἐκεῖθεν, ekeithen, translated thence.

d.      ἐκπερισσῶς, ekperissōs, translated more exceedingly.

e.       ἐκτός, ektos, translated outside.

f.        ἔνθεν, enthen, translated thence.

g.       ἔξω, exō, translated outside.

h.       ἐπάν, epav, translated when.

i.         ἔπειτα, epeita, translated thereupon.

j.        μᾶλλον, mallov, translated more exceedingly.

k.      ὃτε, hote, translated when.

l.         ὅπου, hopou, translated where.

m.     ποῦ, pou, translated where.

Some Greek Nuances

      Just as English has multiple meanings for most words, and several words have very similar meanings and may be used interchangeably; so does Greek. Because of this, one may miss a key nuance since the English word may lead to an entirely different meaning than the Greek. The following are some the words, occurring throughout the Gospels which I have treated specifically to bring out their nuances. The meanings grouped sense here are primarily from Thayer while the Translation is more based on Liddell and Scott.

      Please consult my Greek- English or English-Greek glossaries (currently not on website) for other words as well as spelling variations, variant entry forms used in different lexicons, and other notes that I have made concerning a given word. Any words translated differently from those in the glossaries or below are footnoted at the end of each chapter.

Agitate, trouble, persecute

All, whole, complete, full

Amaze, astonish, terrify

Animals, birds, fish

Anointed one, Messiah, Christ:

      Both, Messiah the Greek and English transliteration of the Hebrew םָשִׁיחַ mâshîyach, and Christ the transliteration of the Greek χριστός, christos, mean the one anointed. It is very probable that the Israelites would have used the term Messiah for the one anointed. However, both are translated as the one anointed.

Another, other:

      Greek uses two words for another, other: ἄλλος, allos signifying one besides or distinction of individuals; and ἕτερος, heteros signifying one of two with the implication of a different kind. Thus ἄλλος, allos is translated another or other, and ἕτερος, heteros is translated another different or other different.

Ask, request:

Assemble, gather, meet:

*This Greek word is usually transliterated synagogue, which is more commonly thought of as the Jewish place of worship and not necessarily the sacred assemblies of the Israelites. Also this term is a Christian Scripture term and is not used in the Hebrew Scriptures, thus the translation as sacred assembly.

Baby, toddler, child, youth

Bad, transgression:

Baptize:

Greek βαπτίζω, baptizō. The Torah or books of Moses speak of two rites for the handling sin: (1) the sacrifices of animals for the atonement of sin, i.e. purifying by fire and (2) the purification by the water of cleansing, Num 19:1-22. In addition washing of the body and clothes is also often mentioned as necessary for a person to ceremonially clean or under some circumstances being sprinkled made a person or object ceremonial clean. Thus the Israelites would see John purifying those coming to him by immersing them in the Jordan River. It is possible that as often is mentioned throughout the Israelite history the Torah regulations fell into disuse by the powers at the temple, so that John, possibly not a power at the temple, wanting to restore the purification went to the less inhabited area to perform the purification rite. This is also consistent with the necessity of being ceremonially clean to participate in the rites or worship at the tabernacle in the wilderness or at the temple in Jerusalem, such as the feast of Passover. Even in the various Christian dogmas on baptism, the expression is one of purification as washing away one’s sin. Thus in light of this understanding βαπτίζω, baptizō is translated purify.

Believe, faith:

Greek verb πιστεύω, pisteuō and noun πιστίς pistis. Theses Greek word usually translated believe and faith respectively are much more than the English word, believe or faith, which is defined as having confidence or conviction in something without absolute proof more as a mental aspect only. The Greek meaning also includes the putting into action this mental aspect as to entrust totally with the implication of obedience. Thus πιστεύω, pisteuō and πιστίς, pistis are translated to have complete confidence and being totally entrusting or complete confidence and total trust respectively.

Boat, ship:

The Greek word πλοῖον, ploion means any size vessel that floats on water from a row boat to an ocean going vessel. In the Gospels the boats are on the Sea of Galilee, more a lake than the common English notion of the sea as the oceans and associated with fishing, probably held several men as indicated in the Gospels. These conditions help to characterize a narrower but reasonable size in English, thus the translation as fishing boat.

Bread, food, meat:

Bring, carry, take:

Clothing, other cloths:

Come, go