OneYearBibleOnline Discussion

In one of my Bibles is says, in verse 29, that the first son didn't want to go into the vineyard, but then changed his mind and went.

In another Bible it says, in verse 29, that the first son said he would go into the vineyard, but didn't go.

Now to some of you, this is no big deal and it doesn't even ring a bell or anything because it doesn't change the outcome of the parable.

To me it's a big deal! First, I didn't realize ~ before making a commitment to read the Bible in a year ~ , having never read the Bible for any more than a couple of minutes in a row in my life, that it was "legal" to change the meaning [like totally flip it around] of a verse in the Bible; and second, it's a little un-nerving to realize, at least on first glance, that such "irregularities" exist in the Bible... Maybe I just intended to read the Book, not need to have to take so much time to think about all these little things.

Sometimes it's simply takes more time to figure out some of this stuff than I really want to spend. It's kind of like excercising... it feels better when its over!

But, month two. Still at it...

SHORT ANSWER
I have reviewed over a dozen different translations and I have not found any difference in how the 29th verse is translated. It always is translated to (I will not) so I am lead to believe that your question may be more about the two different responses from the two sons. Let’s take another look at the parable that Jesus tells.

Matthew 21:28-32 (New International Version)
The Parable of the Two Sons
28"What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, "Son, go and work today in the vineyard."
29 "I will not," he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.

30"Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, "I will, sir," but he did not go.

31"Which of the two did what his father wanted?"
"The first," they answered.
Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.

32For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

Understanding the Parable

Matthew 21:28-32 contains the story of two sons, one who said he would not do the work his father asked of him, yet did, and another who promised to work, but did not. Who are the characters in the Parable of the Two Sons? The father is God. The sons represent two different responses to the work the father asks them to do which corresponds to living God's way of life.

The first son, who flatly refuses to work in the vineyard, represents the weak, foolish, and base of this world. He answers, "I will not," which is a carnal answer from a carnal mind. This is the mind all of us had before God called us out of the world. His answer displays no hypocrisy because he sincerely did not want to come under God's authority. He is guilty of bold rebellion. Ultimately he does respond to the call and does what is right.

The second son, who promises to work yet never shows up, represents hypocrites, those who appear or profess one way but act another. He says, "I go," and makes a promise that he never fulfills—and possibly never intends to fulfill. His word contradicts his performance. While his father is present, he conceals his determination to disobey; he is a liar. As Jesus says in Luke 6:46, "Why do you call me "Lord, Lord," and do not do the things which I say?" This son's guilt combines deception with disobedience. This was a pointed accusation to the chief priests and elders of the people for not doing God’s will.

LONG ANSWER
There is really nothing more to add to the short answer in regards to understanding the verses. Below you will find various translations of verse 29 which all do say I will not. I have also supplied the Original Greek with a word by word lexicon for each word. Please provide the version you have if there is truly an issue with the translation and then we can further discuss it’s method of translation for that specific translation.

If this is more a question of the reliability of the bible, we can open up a thread on Bibliology. Bibliology teaches us that the Bible is inspired, meaning it is "breathed out" by God. A proper Bibliology holds to the inerrancy of Scripture—that the Bible does not contain any errors, contradictions, or discrepancies. There may be problematical translations, but the bible in the original language is without error.

A solid Bibliology helps us to understand how God used the personalities and styles of the human authors of Scripture and still produced His Word and exactly what He wanted to be said. Bibliology enables us to know why other books were excluded from the Bible. For the Christian, the Bible is life itself. Its pages are filled with the very Spirit of God, revealing His heart and mind to us. We must have confidence in it’s origin and content for it to speak to our hearts.


Various Versions of Verse 29

Matthew 21:29 (New International Version)
29"I will not," he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.

Matthew 21:29 (King James Version)
29He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
"And he answered, "I will not"; but afterward he regretted it and went.
King James Bible
He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.

American Standard Version
And he answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented himself, and went.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he answering, said: I will not. But afterwards, being moved with repentance, he went.

Darby Bible Translation
And he answering said, I will not; but afterwards repenting himself he went.

English Revised Version
And he answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented himself, and went.

Webster's Bible Translation
He answered and said, I will not; but afterward he repented, and went.

World English Bible
He answered, "I will not," but afterward he changed his mind, and went.

Young's Literal Translation
And he answering said, "I will not," but at last, having repented, he went.


GREEK Translation and Lexicon
ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΤΘΑΙΟΝ 21:29 Greek NT: Tischendorf 8th Ed. with Diacritics
ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν• οὐ θέλω, ὕστερον μεταμεληθεὶς ἀπῆλθεν.


He answered __ and said I will not but afterward he repented and went
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ο definite article - nominative singular masculine
ho ho: the definite article; the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom) -- the, this, that, one, he, she, it, etc.
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δε conjunction
de deh: but, and, etc. -- also, and, but, moreover, now (often unexpressed in English).
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αποκριθεις verb - aorist passive deponent participle - nominative singular masculine
apokrinomai ap-ok-ree'-nom-ahee: to conclude for oneself, i.e. (by implication) to respond; by Hebraism to begin to speak (where an address is expected) -- answer.
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ειπεν verb - second aorist active indicative - third person singular
epo ep'-o: to speak or say (by word or writing) -- answer, bid, bring word, call, command, grant, say (on), speak, tell.
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ου particle - nominative
ou oo: no or not -- + long, nay, neither, never, no (man), none, (can-)not, + nothing, + special, un(-worthy), when, + without, + yet but.
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θελω verb - present active indicative - first person singular
thelo thel'-o: by implication, to wish, i.e. be inclined to (sometimes adverbially, gladly); impersonally for the future tense, to be about to; by Hebraism, to delight in
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υστερον adverb
husteron hoos'-ter-on: more lately, i.e. eventually -- afterward, (at the) last (of all).
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δε conjunction
de deh: but, and, etc. -- also, and, but, moreover, now (often unexpressed in English).
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μεταμεληθεις verb - aorist passive deponent participle - nominative singular masculine
metamellomai met-am-el'-lom-ahee: to care afterwards, i.e. regret -- repent (self).
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απηλθεν verb - second aorist active indicative - third person singular
aperchomai ap-erkh'-om-ahee: to go off (i.e. depart), aside (i.e. apart) or behind (i.e. follow), literally or figuratively -- come, depart, go (aside, away, back, out, ... ways), pass away, be past.

From the New American Standard Bible; Reference Edition; Concordance; The Lockman Foundation; 1973:

Matthew 21: 28-30

28 “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’

29 “And he answered and said, ‘I will, sir’; and he did not go.

30 “And he came to the second and said the same thing. But he answered and said, ‘I will not’; yet he afterward regretted it and went.

Very interesting FOTOP... I pulled the following from Biblegateway for the New American Standard Bible:

Matthew 21:28-30 (New American Standard Bible)

28"But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go work today in the (A)vineyard.'

29"And he answered, 'I will not'; but afterward he regretted it and went.

30"The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, 'I will, sir'; but he did not go.

Yours is definitely reversed. I think you have found a human typo that likely came from the printer's shop or the editor. I am sure that this had been communicated and fixed in later versions from the Lockman Foundation since your version is from 1973. Only goes to show that you have a very sharp eye. Impressive...

Well done!

Cartoonbug

Thank you for your diligence Cartoonbug.

Maybe I should take up stamp collecting!

Dear Fotop,

I am convinced that the Lord, God of the Universe has allowed what appears to be, conflicting translations and or contraditions to exist because HE DOES NOT WANT US TO USE OUR MINDS, EMOTIONS AND OUR WILLS TO UNDERSTAND HIM.

"God is Spirit and those who worship Him MUST worship Him in spirit and truth (reality)."

One can never logically figure out God. We must take His word by faith if we trully believe Him and believe that the bible is His inspired word. Don't try to get too technical. Just enjoy Him and the fact that He has given us a wonderful gift in His Son, Jesus Christ.

Before you take up stamp collecting just make sure that you are stamped as one of His.

THE JOY OF THE LORD IS MY STRENGTH!!

What does it mean in John 4:24 when Jesus says, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” Does this refer to how we are to study God’s word or does it refer to something greater? Let’s look at the context of the sentence in the story of the Samaritan Woman in John, chapter 4. We pick up the action when Jesus shows that he is more than just a man having a theological conversation.

John 4:16-26 (English Standard Version)
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.

23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”



We see the woman referring to the Samaritan fathers worship centered on the mountain that this conversation was taking place. Jesus in Verse 21 turns her attention from where to how: "Jesus said to her, 'Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father."' In other words, it is not the location that makes an act of worship authentic.

Worship is not merely an external act that you can accomplish by going to a place. Jesus said in another place (Mt. 15:8): "This people honors me with their lips but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me." Worship is first and foremost an experience of the heart. Prayer without heart is vain. Songs without heart are vain. Confession and creeds and liturgies and sermons that don't come from the heart are empty and worthless in God's eyes. So Jesus says to the woman: How you worship is vastly more important than where.

Then verse 22 introduces the question of whom you worship. "You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews." When all our efforts to be gentle and sensitive and respectful of another person's religion are done, the time eventually comes when you have to say: Biblical worship is true worship and yours is false. That will often be thrown back in your face as a statement of arrogance. But it isn't. If there is truth, and you have bowed humbly before it, then to try to persuade another person to bow with you is not arrogance. It is love. The Samaritans rejected all the Old Testament except for their version of the books of Moses. Their knowledge of God was deficient and so their worship was deficient. And to tell them so was as loving as telling a person with lung cancer to stop smoking.

So in verses 21 and 22 Jesus directs the woman's attention away from the external question "where" to the internal question "how" and the theological question "whom." Worship must be vital and real from within and it must be based on a true perception of God. Now verse 23 sums this up with the key phrase "in spirit and truth": "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth." The two words, spirit and truth, correspond to the how and the whom of worship. Worshipping in spirit is the opposite of worshipping in mere external ways. It's the opposite of formalism and traditionalism. Worshipping in truth is the opposite of worship based on an inadequate view of God. Together the words "spirit and truth" mean that real worship comes from the spirit within and is based on true views of God. Worship must have heart and worship must have head. Worship must engage your emotions and worship must engage your thought. Truth without emotion produces dead orthodoxy and a church full of unspiritual fighters. Emotion without truth produces empty frenzy and cultivates flaky people who reject the discipline of rigorous thought. True worship comes from people who are deeply emotional and who love deep and sound doctrine.

Therefore, as a pastor I agree with Jonathan Edwards when he said, "I should think myself in the way of my duty, to raise the affections of my hearers as high as I possibly can, provided they are affected with nothing but truth, and with affections that are not disagreeable to the nature of what they are affected with." I think of it something like this: The fuel of worship as the truth of a gracious, sovereign God; the furnace of worship is your spirit and the heat of worship is the vital affections of reverence, fear, adoration, contrition, trust, joy, gratitude, and hope.

But something is missing from that analogy, namely, fire. The fuel of truth in the furnace of your spirit does not automatically produce the heat of worship. There has to be fire, which I think is the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus says in v. 23, "True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth," some take him to mean "in the Holy Spirit." I've taken him to mean that worship must come from your spirit within instead of being merely formal and external. But in John 3:6 Jesus connects God's Spirit and our spirit in a remarkable way. He says, "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit." In other words, until the Holy Spirit touches our spirit with the flame of life our spirit is so dead it does not even qualify as spirit. Only that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. So when Jesus says that true worshipers worship in spirit he must mean that true worship only comes from spirits that are made alive and sensitive and vital by the touch of the Holy Spirit.

So now we can complete the analogy: the fuel of worship is the grand truth of a gracious and sovereign God; the fire that makes the fuel burn white hot is the quickening of the Holy Spirit; the furnace made alive and warm by the flame of truth is our renewed spirit; and the resulting heat of our affections is worship, pushing its way out in tears, confessions, prayers, praises, acclamations, lifting of hands, bowing low and obedient lives. Notice verse 34. When his disciples come back with food Jesus says, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work." The work of God is to seek real worshipers. Jesus was sent to accomplish this work. Therefore we should see the whole interchange with the Samaritan woman as the work of God in Jesus seeking a real worshiper. In verse 35 Jesus applies his example to us, "Do you not say there are yet four months and then comes the harvest? I tell you, lift up your eyes and see how the fields are already white for harvest." There is a white harvest of harlots in Samaria. I have just made one into a real worshiper. That's why the Father sent me, so send I you. God seeks people to worship him in spirit and truth. Here comes the city of Sychar white unto harvest. If you love the glory of God make ready to reap.

The Truth Will Set You Free
John 8:31-32 (ESV)
31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

In his letter to Timothy, Paul writes, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (II Timothy 2:15). The Greek word translated rightly dividing is orthotomeo, and is used only this one time in the Scriptures. It means “to cut straight,” to make a true and accurate division.

Our God is not a God of chaos. He wants his truth to be known fully, because it is the truth that will set you free. So we must continue to strive to seek God's word in it's original perfection and understand the context of the Who, What, When, Where, How and Why of the verses.

Hello Everyone,

I completely agree with your posting Pastor Jim. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God, the Bible. Unless the words spoken conform to it, they are merely doctrines of men and do not reflect the true God, for those that worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. This requires searching the Scripture as the Bereans did to verify if the preacher's words are true (Acts 17:11). One cannot know the true God unless one knows the truth of God. You achieve this by study and more study. Get into the details, get technical and never give up. This is the purpose of this forum. That together, with other believers, we can learn the whole counsel of the Word of God by diligently diving into the rich depths of the word of God.

It is certain that you will encounter difficult verses. We do not lose faith. That is when you do not lean unto your own understanding. You rely on the Spirit of God to reveal the truth to you. God gave us our mind, emotions and will as gifts for his glory. Use them to their fullest to bring honor to Him. Anywhere we fall short, then we ask God for wisdom who gives liberally. We can know the truth... with God's help.

In Him,

Jack

The reality is, is that every minute we are not ‘in spirit’ we are acting out in our fallen nature, our flesh, which is opposite of God. That is why it is important for us to grown in Him so that we will grow spiritually. Of course we study, we inquire, we read the bible and in it are all of the answers. But if we simply take it into our mind without the leading of the Holy Spirit it is of naught.

Who knew more about what was written in those days (of Jesus) than the Pharisees? They knew the scripture backward and foreword. Yet what did Jesus tell Nicodemus, a Pharisee? John 3: 1-7:

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.”

Also read the context of 1 John 2:18-27. You may come to the conclusion that “You need not that any man teach you because you have the leading of the Holy Spirit”.

God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth (reality).

Yearling,

There is only One stamp I'm accepting.

God Bless.