This seems to be a Jehovah’s Witness theory.  It stems from a comma placement.  They say that Jesus said in Luke 23:17 “I tell you the truth today, you will be with me in paradise.” instead of the normal “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”  This means that he would be with Jesus in paradise, but sometime later.  So was this a mistranslation?

Simple answer, no.  This was not a mistranslation.

They are correct when they say that commas were not present in the original manuscripts, nor are the present in the oldest manuscripts.  This leads them to conclude that there is no way of knowing where the comma should be.  Since they can put it where ever they want, they can make it say what they want.

This is false.  It’s actually very easy to determine where this comma should be placed.  You don’t even have to know Greek.

Jesus says “I tell you the truth” 78 times throughout the Gospels.  Aside from the possible Luke 23 passage, Jesus never in any other instance says “I tell you the truth today” before his statement.  So to assume that this sole time, Jesus decided to change his very common phrase is quite far fetched and irrational.

So, to go a little further in depth, we can examine this from Greek speaking perspective.  The Greeks were very good at their language.  They did not need commas or punctuation to understand it.  In fact, that is why it was the norm to read out loud when reading, even if in private.  It was to understand the context.  Word placement is essential in these types of understanding.

If Jesus wanted to clarify that he was saying that he was saying today, the word placement would have been different.  He would have said “Today I tell you the truth” not “I tell you the truth today”.

This misconception however, can be easily taken on as true because it is hard for English speakers to understand a language without punctuation.  For Greeks, however, it was common knowledge.  You just don’t phrase things to be misunderstood.

I do not even give this a slim chance of being a mistranslation.  It’s very clear by his 77 previous statements that Jesus says “I tell you the truth” and then makes his statement.  One would need just cause or some kind of evidence to claim that this one time he added “today” to his opening clause.  For which there is none.

Tags: Comma, Common Phrase, Context Word, English Speakers, gospels, Greeks, Jehovah, Jehovah S Witness, Jehovah Witness, Jesus Cross, Jesus Promise, manuscripts, misconception, Norm, Outloud, Passage Jesus, Perspective, Punctuation, simple answer, Thief On The Cross, Time Jesus, Today You Will Be With Me In Paradise, truth, Witness