Jesus's "No" and "Not" Often Means Something More

Greek has two different forms of the negative, something always ignored in Biblical translation.

“No” does not mean “no,” at least when we read “no” in Jesus’s words in the Bible. There are two different Greek words that are used as negatives, both translated as "no" or "not," both negating single words and sentences, one much like our “no,” the other, not so much.

In this article we will discuss the more interesting Greek negative, me (μὴ), the negative expressing will or thought, always implying a choice of action, often used in prohibitions and expressions of doubt. This negative is used in at least 183 verses. The more prosaic negative, is ou (οὐ, οὐκ), the negative for facts. This negative is used in about 447 verses.

• Oὐ denies that something is true; μή rejects something as a choice.

• Oὐ is absolute; μή is relative indicating something is less desirable or believable.

• Oὐ is objective; μή is subjective, giving information about perspective.

To accurately reflect the meaning of the subjective negative, when not used with a verb of thought or feeling, it is best to add “not want,” “not think,” “don’t desire,” or a similar phrase reflecting the nature of the word. This makes the following active verb into an infinitive, but the result is much closer to Jesus’s original meaning.

A Matter of Choice

This Greek negative focuses many of Jesus’s prohibitions more on the matter of choice involved, not the action itself.

For example, Jesus didn’t say, Matthew 12:30, “he that is not with me is against me;” but rather “the one not wanting to be with me is against me.” In Matthew 10:9, Jesus doesn’t say “Provide neither gold, nor silver,” but “You should not want to acquire for yourself gold, nor silver.” In Matthew 18:16, the meaning isn’t “but if he will not hear [you, then],” but “when, however, he doesn't want to listen.” In, Matthew 10:14, not “whoever does not receive you,” but “ that one, when he might not want to welcome you.” In Matthew 5:34, not ”swear not at all,” but “don't desire to swear for yourself at all.” In John 20:17, not “touch me not,” but “don't desire to cling to me for yourself.” In John 15:2, the idea isn’t “every branch in me that bears not fruit, but “all these branches in me, those not wanting to bear fruit.”

This choice often means that this negative appears with verbs of possibility, something that could or should happen, the subjunctive mood, also known as the subjective mood. For example, the quote, “You should not want to acquire for yourself gold, nor silver,” and ”when he might not want to welcome you.” It is also used with a Greek verb form called the middle voice, when the subject acts on, for, or by himself, a form that Jesus often uses in his prohibitions, though it is seldom accurately translated. For example, “You should not want to acquire for yourself gold, nor silver” and “Don't desire to cling to me for yourself.” In these verses, the words “for yourself” are not in the text but they are needed to capture the meaning of the verb.

Jesus frequently, but not always, uses this negative in prohibitions. For example, he uses this subjective negative in “…don't desire to swear for yourself at all,” but he uses the objective negative in Matthew 5:2:7, “you shall not commit adultery,” or more precisely, “you should not corrupt." Notice this is not in the form of a command, the imperative, but a subjunctive, something that should not be done. However, I find it amusing that Jesus knew better than to use the subjective negative, condemning what people might desire in sex. In that area, our desires may not be a choice.

NOTE: After I published this post, I was analyzing a verse that illustrates the problem with not translating this negative correctly. The verse is Matthew 22:12, a verse near the end of the Parable of the Wedding Feast, where the king asks the person not properly attired for a wedding, a question. The KJV translates this question as “Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment?.” The NIV translates it as “How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?” However, the negative is the “not wanting” word indicating the man’s choice. What is actually said is closer to "How did you come in here not wanting to have clothing for a wedding?” By leaving out the “not wanting,” it looks like the man’s crime was having on the wrong clothes, but his real crime was not wanting to wear the right clothes. He is punished for his choice, not his attire. .

A Matter of Thought and Emotion

Even with verbs of thought and feeling, adding the “not want” phrase makes the prohibition something softer, easier to understand.

For example, in Matthew 6:25, “take no thought for your life,” is more accurately, “don't desire to worry, for that self of yours.” We may worry, but we can desire not to worry even when we can’t help ourselves. Similarly in Matthew 6:15, “but if ye forgive not men their trespasses,” works fine as “when, however, you don't want to let go, for these people, those blunders of theirs.” We can want to not hold a grudge, even when we can’t help ourselves.

Of course, sometimes the use of the subjective negative is disguised by simple mistranslation. For example, Matthew 5:39, “do not resist evil,” which, more accurately translated is, “do not compare the worthless.” “Resisting” is an objective action indicating an objective negative, while “comparing” is a thought process, indicating a subjective negative. However, even here, adding “don’t desire” makes Jesus’s meaning a easier to appreciate as “do not desire to compare the worthless.”

Conclusion

This negative has its humorous side. Harsh prohibitions become more like suggestions. It is used in many of Jesus’s strongest statements, with other humorous words or elements of phrasing, softening them, “cut off your hand,” “pluck out your eye,” and “wipe the dust from your feet,” are all in verses with the “not want” negative.

One of the funniest is in the Lord’s Prayer, where the prayer suggests something to God. In Matthew 6:13, “and lead us not into temptation, actually means “also, you might not want to bring us as far as a trial,” not a request or a command, but a suggestion to God, telling Him what He might want.

I wish I could give you all an easy way to identify when this negative of “not wanting” is used when reading a typical Biblical translation, but I cannot. The translators want every negative to be objective, absolute, even when Jesus wanted something else.