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Matthew 27:11

...Thou sayest.

This is Christ's response to Pilate when he was asked if he was the King of the Jews.

Spoken to:
an individual
KJV issues:
1
KJV

Matthew 27:11...Thou sayest.

NIV

Matthew 27:11 You have said so,”

What His Listeners Heard

Your yourself say.

Greek

Greek Word Order

 

Σὺ                   λέγεις.
Your yourself say.

Lost in Translation

Interestingly, though this looks like the previous quote, Matthew 26:64, it uses a different word for "say."

Jesus is playing on the fact that in Greek, there is no difference between a question and a statement in the actual words. Unlike some languages, there is no interrogatory form, identifying questions.

Vocabulary (Greek word by word)

Σὺ [26 verses](pron 2nd sg nom) "Thou" is from su which means "you" and "your." ​

λέγεις. [264 verses](verb 2nd sg pres ind act) "Sayst" is from lego, which means "to recount", "to tell over", "to say", "to speak", "to teach", "to mean", "boast of", "tell of", "recite," nominate," and "command." It has a secondary meaning "pick out," "choose for oneself", "pick up", "gather", "count," and "recount." A less common word that is spelt the same means "to lay", "to lay asleep" and "to lull asleep."

KJV — word by word

Thou . -- The "you" used here is an actual pronoun, uses as a subject. Since this information is part of the noun in Greek, the pronoun is only used to emphasize it as we would say "you yourself" in English. It is singular.

missing "yourself" -- (MW)  The subjective pronoun repeats the information in the verb so it should be repeated in English like "you yourself."

sayest  - - The word translated as "sayest" is the most common word that means "to say," and "to speak," but it also means "to teach," which seems to be the way Christ uses it more frequently. It also has many ancillary meanings such as "to count" ("to number" or like we might say, "to recount" a story) or "to choose for yourself." Christ usually uses this word to refer to his own speaking or teaching.

NIV — word by word

You . -- The "you" used here is an actual pronoun, uses as a subject. Since this information is part of the noun in Greek, the pronoun is only used to emphasize it as we would say "you yourself" in English. It is singular.

missing "yourself" -- (MW)  The subjective pronoun repeats the information in the verb so it should be repeated in English like "you yourself."

have ---- (WT) This helping verb "have" indicates that the verb is the tense indicating an action completed in the past. This is not the tense of the verb here.

said - - The word translated as "sayest" is the most common word that means "to say," and "to speak," but it also means "to teach," which seems to be the way Christ uses it more frequently. It also has many ancillary meanings such as "to count" ("to number" or like we might say, "to recount" a story) or "to choose for yourself." Christ usually uses this word to refer to his own speaking or teaching.

so. -- -- There is no Greek word here, but Greek does not need pronouns when the object can be assumed from the context. In English, they are added for the subject-verb-object form of our sentences.

Related Verses

Luke 23:3 ...Thou sayest it.

Mark 15:2...Thou sayest it. ›

Matthew 26:64 You have said: nevertheless I say unto you...

John 18:34 ...Sayest thou this thing of thyself,

John 18:37...Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born,