Again, minor things are big deals when you are attempting to bring an ancient language’s different understandings into a modern language’s understanding. How accurate do you want a translation to be? How far are you going to go to make certain that it is consistent with the original meaning. These things may seem small that I found today, but I feel they are important.
Matthew 23:12 (KJV)
12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
Matthew 23:12 (NKJV)
12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
Abased or Humbled?
The Greek word is ταπεινόω tapeinoō. It means to depress or make low. In a figurative way in can mean to humiliate (in condition or heart). The Greek Textus Receptus New Testament has this word appear 14 times. The KJV translates it as humble 6 times, abase 5 times, humble (one’s) self twice, and bring low once.
To be abased has an archaic meaning of “to lower physically.” The modern meaning is “to lower in rank, office, prestige, or esteem.” The archaic meaning meant to physically be brought down. The NKJV’s use of humbled and the KJV’s use of abase are saying much the same thing except the KJV gives us an idea of a more physical push down by using abased. If you exalt yourself, you will be physically brought down. Of course, the same meaning could be incurred from humbled, and the KJV uses this word more times as humble in the translation, but, personally, I think the KJV translators were really trying to show how low you were going to get if you get arrogant. Abased just sounds rougher to me than humbled.
Matthew 23:16 (KJV)
16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!
Matthew 23:16 (NKJV)
16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’
Debtor or Obliged?
Jesus is giving the Pharisees a tongue lashing in this chapter. He points out many of the inconsistencies in their walk with God. In this one, He is saying that they have no problem with people swearing an oath by the temple. They say that isn’t a big deal, but, if they swear an oath by the gold of the temple, then they are to owe them money if they fail to do the oath.
The Greek word is ὀφείλω opheilō. Here we have an incidence where the translators are seeing this Greek word in different ways. The Greek word can hold different meanings just like English words can hold different meanings. The KJV is looking at this with the idea of receiving money or benefits by someone in regular or increasing amounts over time. This Greek word is understood as to owe when it is placed in the sense of or relating to money. So, since this Greek word is dealing with money, in this verse, they have chosen to use the idea of debtor even though that might not make it as clear in the English about what is going on.
The NKJV is translating this word in its figurative sense even though it is dealing with money. It is telling us that the Pharisees are putting these people under obligation to perform their oath, while they weren’t under that obligation when it was a vow to the temple. You will notice that they have placed “to perform it” in italics because those words weren’t in the original Greek. They have added them to make clear what is going on.
You could also translate this word in the moral sense and see it as “to fail in duty.” The Geneva Bible does take it that way here and translates this word as “offendeth” in the ideal that they did something wrong by not paying when swearing by the gold.
The Greek Textus Receptus New Testament has this word appear 36 times. The KJV translates is as ought 15 times, owe 7 times, be bound twice, be (one’s) duty twice, be a debtor once, be guilty once, be indebted once, and many others variations. Again, the reason they have translated this word here as debtor is because it is dealing with money. They will translate this same word differently though in verse 18.
Matthew 23:18 (KJV)
18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.
Matthew 23:18 (NKJV)
18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.’
Guilty or Obliged?
The Greek word is again ὀφείλω opheilō. This time the KJV goes along with the Geneva bible where it is translated as “offendeth” again. Since no money is involved, but only a gift is mentioned, they translate this word in the moral sense as “to fail in duty.” They are guilty if they have not paid their dues.
The NKJV translates it with the same phrase in order to make it clear what is happening in English, yet bypasses this subtle distinct difference that the KJV translators have felt that they needed to hold to in the Greek when dealing with money.
Matthew 23:25 (KJV)
25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Matthew 23:25 (NKJV)
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.
Excess or Self-indulgence?
The Greek word is ἀκρασία akrasia. It means in “want of self-restraint.” The Greek Textus Receptus New Testament has this word appear twice. It is translated here as excess and incontinency elsewhere.
Excess means “the state or an instance of surpassing usual, proper, or specified limits.” The term Self Indulgence means “excessive or unrestrained gratification of one’s own appetites, desires, or whims.” Both terms are correct in translating this Greek word.
All little differences, but each one important…
Pastor Scott's Thoughts 