[B-Greek] The verb usage in Matt 16:19

Jay Adkins jayadkins264 at gmail.com
Fri Jan 8 06:58:08 EST 2010


Matt 16:19 (GNT) DWSO SOI KLEIDAS THS BASILEIAS TWN OURANWN, KAI O EAN DHSHS
EPI THS GHS ESTAI DEDEMENON EN TOIS OURANOIS, KAI O EAN LUSHS EPI THS GHS
ESTAI LELUMENON EN TOIS OURANOIS.

Matt 16:19 (NASU) "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and
whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you
loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."
Matt 16:19 (NIV) I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever
you bind on earth will be {[19] Or have been} bound in heaven, and whatever
you loose on earth will be {[19] Or have been} loosed in heaven."
Matt 16:19 (NKJV) "And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven,
and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you
loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
Matt 16:19 (NRA) I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and
whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose
on earth will be loosed in heaven."
Matt 16:19 (WEY) I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of the Heavens; and
whatever you bind on earth shall remain bound in Heaven, and whatever you
loose on earth shall remain loosed in Heaven."
Matt 16:19 (YLT) and I will give to thee the keys of the reign of the
heavens, and whatever thou mayest bind upon the earth shall be having been
bound in the heavens, and whatever thou mayest loose upon the earth shall be
having been loosed in the heavens.'
Matt 16:19 (NASB) "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and
whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you
shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
Matt 16:19 (BBE) I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and
whatever is fixed by you on earth will be fixed in heaven: and whatever you
make free on earth will be made free in heaven.
Matt 16:19 (HCS) I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and
whatever you bind on earth is already bound  in heaven, and whatever you
loose on earth is already loosed  in heaven."
Matt 16:19 (WEB) I will give to you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and
whatever you will bind on earth will be bound in heaven; and whatever you
will loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
Matt 16:19 (ESV) I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and
whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose
on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

The question in translating this verse is how we handle the verbs.  We have
two separate verbs, used twice each, a Subjunctive followed by a Perfect,
Passive, Participle.  In this list of translations, many {NIV, NKJV, NRA,
ESV, and with only a slight change in the terms BBE} follow the basic
pattern of;

 ”whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven.”

Those that differ are;
NASU whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven
WEY  whatever you bind on earth shall remain bound in Heaven
YLT whatever thou mayest bind upon the earth shall be having been bound in
the heavens
NASB whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven
HCS  whatever you bind on earth is already bound  in heaven,
WEB whatever you will bind on earth will be bound in heaven

Comparing translations as I do seems to be a good practice when
translating.  It is not, however, a magical means to determine what a
particular text says.  We can not count up the votes as it were an election
process.  Just because a clear majority appear to agree does not make them
correct.  Mob rule always has its problems and is an especially poor means
to find truth.  What it can do is point out where a problem lies.

Sorry for the digression.

My question is how do we treat these verbs in this context and why?  What
rules of syntax apply?

Sola Gratia
jay adkins



More information about the B-Greek mailing list