Judas and Jesus—A Reminder of Our Depravity (Matthew 26:25)

Here is a verse that provides and excellent example of how, oftentimes, our English bible translations simply fail to render the original Greek in the most accurate manner. Within Greek grammatical rules is a grammatical structure where if one of two Greek negatives, οὐ, is used in a question, then the questioner is expecting a “Yes” answer. Conversely, if the other of the two negatives, μή, is used, a “No” answer is expected. In the following verse under consideration, the New American Standard version gets it right, while the highly reputable English Standard version unexpectedly seems to miss it.

The setting is the last Passover Jesus will share with the twelve disciples. Among the twelve, of course, is Judas, who has already secured his booty of silver from the chief priests in exchange for his impending betrayal of Jesus (v. 15). This fact is key to understanding the importance of the Greek grammatical structure in verse 25!

Now, knowing what has occurred in earlier in verse 15, Matt. 26:25 is even more startling, when in answer to Jesus’ all-knowing statement that one of his disciples would betray him, Judas emphatically asks Jesus, “It is not I, is it, Rabbi?” — μήτι ἐγώ εἰμι, ῥαββι;

According to Greek usage, Judas is expecting—at least in his mind and heart—a “No” answer from his omniscient Lord. This, in spite of the fact that, shortly after “Satan entered into Judas” (Luke 22:3), he has already been paid by the chief priests for the yet uncommitted deed of betrayal. Yet, surely Judas reasonably should have known by then that Jesus, the very Son of God, would know what was in his heart. A reminder and warning to us all of our depraved condition, most clearly set forth by Jeremiah: “The heart is more deceitful than all else, and is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jer. 17:9)

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“TV Makes People Nauseas” —OR— “How to ‘Parse’ a Greek Verb”

One of the most important considerations in studying the foundational elements of Greek must be given to the verb, that part of speech which affirms either action or state of being. The component elements of a verb are collectively referred to as its “parsing.” These components are:

1. Tense

2. Voice

3. Mode (or Mood)

4. Person

5. Number

. . . or, as my beginning Greek professor used to wisely proclaim (to our era of declining quality television programming viewers) via the acronym of the first letters of each of the above words: “TV Makes People Nauseas!”

The “parsing” (from the Latin word meaning  “a part or “parts”) of Greek’s “model” regular verb λύω — “I am loosing” is: Present, Active, Indicative, 1st Person, Singular. Now, let’s take a closer look at what these “parsing” components represent—

1. Tense conveys “kind” of action and generally, in the Indicative Mode only, the “time” of the action. So, for the above verb, Present tense would mean both present time and continuous “action” (that is, activity “in progress” in real, present time). Of course, from your additional study elsewhere, you’ll know that the Greek tenses are the Present, Imperfect (continuous “action” in past time), Future, Aorist (a normal 1st Aor., and an “irregular” 2nd Aor., describing “point” or undefined action [in past time in the Indicative mode]), the Perfect (perfected action with continuing results), and the Pluperfect (equivalent to the English “Past Perfect” = I had loosed).

2. Voice (“active,” “middle,” or “passive”) tells how the action of the verb is related to the subject.

3.  Mode (or Mood) tells what the verb is affirming, its relation to “reality.”

Indicative — declaratives, simple assertions, interrogations.
Subjunctive — mildly contingent, hesitating affirmation; mode of probability.
Imperative — commands or entreaties; mode of “volition.”
Optative — strongly contingent; mode of “possibility,” weaker than the Subjunctive.

4. Person denotes who is acting as the subject.  In Greek the personal pronouns (i.e., I, you, he, she, it, we, you, and they) are included in the endings of the verb form.

5. Number is the “singularity” or “plurality” of the person or persons represented by the verb form, included in the verb’s personal endings.

By the way, since every Greek verb contains these five “parsing” elements that identify its structure, it only makes sense to realize that: “If you can ‘parse’ it, you can translate it!” Alternately stated, a verb’s “parsing”—once discerned by the student—is the verb’s way of “telling you” how to translate it. At that point, it’s only a matter of knowing the vocabulary.

There’s more: For a one-page PDF on Greek verbs—the way the tenses are formed and translated—click here (also downloadable from the sidebar). Additionally, you may want to download the Greek Indicative Verbs “PowerPoint” presentation here (or from the sidebar).

Go to: Wermuth’s GREEKBOOK.com

Wermuth’s GREEKBOOK Now Available for Purchase as a Watermarked PDF!