Luke 5:32 I came not to call the righteous,

After scribes and pharisees ask why he eats with sinners, after he says the sick need doctors.

KJV

Luke 5:32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

NIV

Luke 5:32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

LISTENERS HEARD

I have not shown up to invite the civilized. but the worthless for a change of mind.

MY TAKE

If we have Jesus's call, it is because we have been erring.

GREEK (Each Word Explained Bottom of Page)

Luke 5:32 οὐκ ἐλήλυθα καλέσαι δικαίους ἀλλὰ ἁμαρτωλοὺς εἰς μετάνοιαν.

GREEK ORDER

οὐκ ἐλήλυθα καλέσαι δικαίους ἀλλὰ ἁμαρτωλούς
not I have shown up to inviste the civilized. but the worthless

εἰς μετάνοιαν.
for a change of mind.

LOST IN TRANSLATION

Asked why he eats with the worthless. Jesus's opponents heard, "I have not shown up to invite the civilised but the worthless." (What we hear wrongly as "sinners.) This raises their mental question, "invite to what?" The punchline is one word meaning "a change of mind."

The term translated as "repentance" literally means "to change a mind." It has the sense of "regret" but not the religious gloss and baggage it has been given as "repentance."

I (WT) came not to call the(IW) righteous, but(CW) sinners(CW) to repentance.

WT -- Wrong Tense -- This verb is the past perfect tense, which requires a "have" before the verb.
IW - Inserted Word -- The word "the" before "righteous" doesn't exist in the source.
CW - Confusing Word -- The "but" is not the common word usually translated as "but."
CW --Confusing Word -- The "sinners" does not capture the word's specific meaning.
CW --Confusing Word -- The "repentance" does not capture the word's specific meaning in this situation.

I have not come to cal the(IW) righteous, but(CW) sinners(CW) to repentance.

CW - Confusing Word -- The "but" is not the common word usually translated as "but."
CW --Confusing Word -- The "sinners" does not capture the word's specific meaning.
IW - Inserted Word -- The word "the" before "righteous" doesn't exist in the source.
CW --Confusing Word -- The "repentance" does not capture the word's specific meaning in this situation.

EACH WORD of KJV

I -- This is from the first-person, singular form of the verb.

missing "have" -- (WT) The helping vcrb, "have," is needed to show the past perfect tense of the verb, "have come".

came -- The word translated as "came" primarily means "to start out" but Christ usually uses it to mean "come" but not always. It indicates movement, especially its beginning, without indicating a direction toward or away from anything, so it works either as "start," "come," or "go," but it is more like our phrase "being underway." Our English word "show up" captures both the "start" and "come" ideas. See this article for more.

not -- The Greek word translated as "not" is the Greek negative used to deny objective facts, not opinions. It means "no," "not," or"no truly." It makes a negative statement of fact. Adding "really" to the sentence captures the same idea. When a negative precedes the verb, it affects the whole clause. When it precedes other words, its force is limited to those words.

to -- This "to" is added because the infinitive form of the verb requires a "to" in English.

call -- The term translated as "call" is like our word "call" because it means both "to summon" and also "to name," but it does not as clearly mean "to address."

the -- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "the" in the Greek source, but the following noun is plural and the article is used to make it seem plural. A better way is to add "ones" after the noun.

righteous, -- The Greek adjective translated as "the righteous" means "observant of rules," "observant of customs," "well-ordered," "civilized," and "observant of duty." It could be translated as "law-abiding."

but -- (CW) The Greek word translated as "but" denotes an exception or simple opposition. It is used to emphasize the contrast between things like we use "instead," "but instead,"or "rather." It is not the common word usually translated as "but." It is the Greek word "other" like we use "otherwise." Jesus often uses this conjunction to connect a negative clause, "not this," with a positive one, "instead this."

sinners -- (CW) "Sinners" is word that means "erroneous" or "erring." It also means "of bad character" but with the sense of being a slave or low-born not evil. Only in biblical translations is this term given the sense of wickedness. More about the translation issues regarding "sin" here.

to -- The word translated as "unto" means "into" a place, "towards" as a direction, "in" (a position), "as much as (of measure or limit)," "in regards to" a subject, "up to" limits in measures, "until" in reference to time, "within" a time limit, and "for" a purpose or object.

repentance. -- (CW) "Repentance," is the uncommon noun form of a very common verb. It means "a change of mind or heart", "repentance", "regret", "afterthought", and "correction". In English, this idea is can be expressed as "hindsight". It is from a verb that means "to perceive afterward". The word is not primarily religious as "repentance has come to mean.

EACH WORD of NIV

I -- This is from the first-person, singular form of the verb.

have -- This helping verb "have" indicates that the verb is the tense indicating an action completed in the past.

not -- The Greek word translated as "not" is the Greek negative used to deny objective facts, not opinions. It means "no," "not," or"no truly." It makes a negative statement of fact. Adding "really" to the sentence captures the same idea. When a negative precedes the verb, it affects the whole clause. When it precedes other words, its force is limited to those words.

come -- The word translated as "come" primarily means "to start out" but Christ usually uses it to mean "come" but not always. It indicates movement, especially its beginning, without indicating a direction toward or away from anything, so it works either as "start," "come," or "go," but it is more like our phrase "being underway." Our English word "show up" captures both the "start" and "come" ideas. See this article for more.