Lost In Translation: Matthew 7:12 - The Golden Rule
KJV: Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
I now email Jesus’s Words articles on Monday as a service for preachers looking for new ideas for this week’s sermon. This article is part of a series explaining the secrets hidden in Greek for Jesus’s most popular verses. See this article for the beginning of this series.
This verse is from the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 7:12 is what is described as “the Golden Rule,” but a shocking amount of it is lost and modified in translation. Here is the New International Version:
NIV: Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.
In all, there are sixteen translation issues in this important verse. At my Greek analysis website, Christswords.com, I create a “markup” version of these verses showing their errors. This verse’s markup looks like this:
(MW) (MW) (MW) {MW) Do(CW) to(CW) (MW) others(WW) whatever(WW) (MW) would(WF) like them to do(CW) (MW) to(CW) you.(MW) This is [the essence of all that is taught in(IP)] the law and the prophets.
The bold characters are the errors. MW means “Missing Word.” CW means “Confusing Word.” WW means “Wrong Word.” WF means “Wrong Form” such as a change in tense, mood, or a change like changing a verb to a noun. IP means “Inserted Phrase” meaning a series of words (in brackets[]) not in the Greek.
Is anything that the translators left out or changed important? That depends on whether or not we think Jesus’s words are important, or, as I do, kind of sacred.
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These changes in translation hide what Jesus was saying here and obscure a message that is as much economic as moral. It starts with a statement that is edited out of the translation, “all things, in fact.” This is a comment on his previous verse that he ended by saying the the Father gives good gifts to those who ask. We get “all things, in fact.”
Our Desires
But then Jesus offers this verse as an explanation of how the Father gives his gifts. The next word means “only so far as.” This introduces a limit on what is given.
God’s gifts are first limited by our desires. The translation says “whatever we like,” but the Greek verb translated as “like” is stronger. It means “to desire.” This word's primary purpose is to express delight in having others producing things for us. The word also means “to be resolved to a purpose,” which implies that we are willing to act on our desires. Our emotions motivate our actions. There is a big difference in motivation between liking something and desiring it.
What do we desire? Is it what others “do to us”? This translation is almost a childish view of the behavior of others. It focuses on how others treat us. “This person was nice to me. That person was mean to me.” Most importantly, it is not what Jesus said. Jesus said “produce for us.” The context from the Sermon is producing the tangible things we need such as the food, clothing, and drink that we need to survive. This Golden Rule is not about being “nice” to others. It is about serving each others in a productive way.
Too often Biblical translation treats their reader like children, simplifying Jesus’s ideas or, as we see later in this verse, adding an explanation that Jesus didn’t think was necessary. My view is different. Since Jesus knew that the people of his time could understand him, I think that the people of our time can understand his words as well, even those who are children. What is exciting about Christianity is that Jesus gave us so much to discuss and debate. He didn’t make it simple. Everything he said has more than one dimension. Christians can disagree with each other and still agree with Christ.
Producing
The word translated as “do” means “to make” or “produce.” The English word “do” works differently than this Greek word. Our “do” applies to any form of action. The Greek word is limited to doing productive things.. In this verse, however, the sense is clearly “produce” because the context is the tangible things we need. It is a recognition that the good things that God gives us come from the hands of others. God is not offering food and clothing falling from the sky. The Divine wants us to see our own productivity as a gift of God.
Jesus recognizes that we desire things, but he wants us to also understand that what we desire comes from the efforts of each other. This is why he starts this verse with “all things.” Others, however, are not certain to produce these things. He uses a verb form that means “might produce.” He is saying that they can produce them, but only if they want to do so.
Ourselves
Why do people produce what we desire? There is only one reason. We also produce things that others desire for themselves. In saying this, Jesus emphasizes “you,” using the pronoun which works like saying “you yourselves.” He makes this even stronger by making “produce” a command. Jesus isn’t suggesting that we produce for others. He is commanding it of us. “Your yourselves? Produce for others!”
What did Jesus’s listeners hear when he spoke this verse?
Listeners Heard: All things, in fact. Only so far as when you desire what those people might produce for you? So much also you yourselves? Produce for them! Because this is the law and the prophets.
Notice how the translators added, “is the essence of all that is taught in” the Law and the Prophets. Jesus didn’t say anything like this. By adding it, the translators make it clear that they are explaining Jesus’s words, not simply translating them.
Sharing Jesus’s Meaning
Is it enough to be “nice” to one another? Being nice is good enough for small children but don’t we want to meet a higher standard than that as adults? Was Jesus wrong in commanding us to seek more responsibility in the world, to live productive lives? Doesn’t our mutual success depend on how productive we all are in addressing, not only each others needs, but our desires?
Is there something wrong with Jesus teaching sound economic theory? Sound economic theory is no more than the rules by which our natural world works. God wrote the book of nature as surely as he scripted Jesus’s words. We should expect that morality does not conflict with the laws of nature or our highest desires.