Untranslated Words: New Meanings for Jesus's Words

Many of Jesus's words haven't been translated but adopted from Greek and given new meanings they didn't have at the time.

At least thirty-four verses of Jesus’s words contain words whose meaning has been changed in a strange way in their translation into English. What we see in the Bible is not the meaning of the word at the time of Jesus, but a form of the original Greek word, adopted into English, usually after first being adopted into Latin, given a new meaning, through its use in the Bible, one that is usually unrelated to what Jesus’s listeners would have heard.

We saw one of these words in my earlier article on “angels,” from the Greek aggelos,, a word that means “messenger. The word translated as “satan” is another example, though the Greek word, satanas,  discussed in this article, was originally adopted from the Hebrew satan( שטן), meaning "adversary." There are many such words in the Bible and. in this article, wewill briefly explain the most common ones so that you can know what Jesus was really saying when you see these words.

The Untranslated Words of Jesus

Below is the list of words that have been adopted into English from the Biblical Greek. The words are shown by their frequency of use by Jesus. Each word is put next to how it would appear if it was actually translated instead of adopted. You can also see how each word has been translated into English outside the Bible.

The word “prophet” means “luminary” or “enlightened.” It is adopted from prophetes (προφῆται), which is used by Jesus in 37 verses. In translating ancient Greek into English, it has been translated as "one who speaks for a god and interprets his will", "interpreter", "keepers of the oracle", "the highest level of priesthood in Egypt," "interpreter," and "herald." But it is a noun from the verb, prophao, that means "to shine forth," “to shine light forth," or "to shine light before."

The word “angel” means "messenger" and "envoy." "It is adopted from aggelos,(ἀγγέλος), which is used by Jesus in 25 verses. In translating ancient Greek into English, it has been translated as "messenger" and "envoys" though it came to mean "semi-divine beings" in later use.

The word “Pharisee” means "distinguished" and "separated." It is adopted from Pharisaios, (Φαρισαίων.), which is used by Jesus in 19 verses. In translating ancient Greek into English, it has been translated as "the separated", "the separate ones," " separatist" and refers to the religious sect. The word comes from the Hebrew, pharash, which means "to distinguish." So the sense is also "the distinguished" or "the elite."

The word “hypocrites ” means "actor" and "interpreter." It is adopted from hypokrites,(ὑποκριταὶ), which is used by Jesus in 18 verses. In translating ancient Greek into English, it has been translated as "interpreter", "actor", "stage player," and "dissembler."

The word “Satan” means "adversary" and "opponent." It is adopted from satanas, (Σατανᾶς), which is used by Jesus in 16 verses. In translating ancient Hebrew into English, it has been translated as "adversary", "opponents," “slanderer,” or "one who opposes another in purpose or act. "

The word “synagogue ” means "assembly" and "meeting house." It is adopted from synagoge, (συναγωγὰς), which is used by Jesus in 14 verses. In translating ancient Greek into English, it has been translated as "bringing together", "assembly", "place of assembly", "contracting", "collection", "combination", "conclusion," and "demonstration." It comes from a Greek word Jesus uses commonly, sunagô, that means "gather" or "bring together."

The word “parable” means "comparison" and "analogy." It is adopted from parabole, (παραβολαῖς), which is used by Jesus in 12 verses. In translating ancient Greek into English, it has been translated as "comparison", "illustration," and "analogy."

The word “baptize” means "to dip" and "to plunge." It is adopted from baptizo, (ἐβάπτισεν), which is used by Jesus in 8 verses. In translating ancient Greek into English, it has been translated as "to dip", "to plunge", "to be drenched", "to be drowned," and "getting in deep water."  This word is translated as “dip” in the Bible when it is used to describe dipping something in a liquid other than people.

The word “baptism ” means "a dipping" and "a dunking." It is adopted from baptisma, (βάπτισμα), which is used by Jesus in 6 verses. In translating ancient Greek into English, it has been translated as "baptism" because it only appears in the New Testament and derivative works. It is the noun form of the verb that means "to dip", "to plunge", "to be drenched", "to be drowned," and "getting in deep water." 

The verb “prophesy” means to "be illuminated" or "be a shining light." It is adopted from propheteuo, (ἐπροφητεύσαμεν), which is used by Jesus in 8 verses. In translating ancient Greek into English, it has been translated as "be illuminated" or "be a shining light."

The verb “blaspheme” means to "to speak profanely of sacred things" and "to offer rash prayers." It is adopted from blasphemeo, (βλασφημήσωσιν), which is used by Jesus in 4 verses. In translating ancient Greek into English, it has also been translated as "to speak ill of", and "to slander."

The noun “blasphemy” means to "slander" and "profane speech." It is adopted from blasphemia, (βλασφημία), which is used by Jesus in 4 verses. In translating ancient Greek into English, it has been translated as "slander", "profane speech", "word of evil omen," and "irreverent speech against God."

The noun “Peter” means to "rocky" and "stony." It is adopted from petros, (Πέτρῳ), which is used by Jesus in 3 verses. In translating ancient Greek into English, it has been translated as "rock", "boulder," and "stone" as a building material.

The noun “Baptist ” means "one who dips." It is adopted from baptistes, (βαπτιστοῦ), which is used by Jesus in 3 verses. In translating ancient Greek into English, it has been translated as "one who dips," and "baptizer," because it is used primarily in the Bible and resulting works.  

The noun “Sadducees” means to "righteous." It is adopted from Saddoukaios, (Σαδδουκαίων), which is used by Jesus in 2 verses. The word is adopted from the Hebrew, sadōk ( צָדוֹק) meaning "righteous."

Σαδδουκαίων. [](noun pl masc gen) "" is from Saddoukaios, which was the name of a Jewish sect that believed that all law came from the Torah, rather than Jewish tradition as the Pharisees believed.

The noun “eunuch” means "castrated person." It is adopted from eunouchos, (εὐνοῦχοι), which is used by Jesus in 1 verse. In translating ancient Greek into English, it has been translated as "castrated person", "sexless,” ”bed sitter,” , and "(of dates) without stones."

Conclusion

While a few of these words have come to mean ideas very close to their original, for example “eunuch,” most are intentionally not translated to give them a special religious significance that people of Jesus’s era would not have recognized. This can be most clearly seen in a word like “baptize,” which is used because of its meaning today, while even Biblical translators translate it as “dipped” when a rag is dipped in vinegar or bread dipped in a bowl.