Addressed to the centurion who trusted Jesus to cure his child.
Matthew 8:13 Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.
Matthew 8:13 Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.
Depart. When you trust, it must be made to happen for you.
What we trust in determines our future.
Ὕπαγε, ὡς ἐπίστευσας γενηθήτω σοι:
Depart. When you trust, it must be made to happen for you.
The KJV gives the impression that Christ is acting based on the man's religious faith but the Greek is more interesting. The message is that events happen because of the nature of that trust. They are caused possibly by the one trusting.
The word translated as "done" does not mean that at all. It means "come into being". The form is that they "must" happen. In other words, out of people's beliefs, specific events must happen. Note this is spoken to an individual, not the crowd.
IP - Inserted Phrase-- The phrase "thy way" doesn't exist in the source.
OS -- Outdated Source -- The Greek word translated as "and" existed in the KJV Greek source but not the one we used today.
MW - Missing Word -- The word "let" is not shown in the English translation.
WT - Wrong Tense - The verb "hast" indicates the past perfect tense, but the tense is something that happens at a specific point in time (past, present, or future).
WW - Wrong Word -- The word translated as "done" should be "become" or "happen."
CW - Confusing Word -- The "unto" is only one possible interpretation. More likely the meaning is "for."
WW - Wrong Word -- The word translated as "done" should be "become" or "happen."
IP - Inserted Phrase-- The phrase "it would" doesn't exist in the source.
MW - Missing Word -- The word "for" (or some other preposition) is not shown in the English translation.
MW - Missing Word -- The word "you" is not shown in the English translation.
Go - "Go your way" is a Greek verbal command that means literally "go under" or "bring under," but Christ usually uses it to mean "go away" and "depart."
thy way; -- (IP) There is nothing that can be translated as "thy way" in the Greek source.
and -- (OS) There is nothing in the Greek that can be translated as "also" in the source we use today but it does exist in the source that the KJV translators used.Adding this conjunction creates more of a separation between the elements of this verse than the speaker intended. The "going" and the "coming into being" are connected.
as - The word translated as "as" has a number of uses indicating the connection between two situations "such as", "thus", "how", "when", "where", "like". and "so far as."
thou -- This is from the second-person, singular form of the verb.
hast -- (WT) This helping verb "hath" indicates that the verb is the tense indicating an action completed in the past. This is not the tense of the verbs here, which could be the past, present, or future.
believed, - The Greek word translated as "believe" does not mean religious faith. It refers to trusting others, especially their word. Christ usually uses it in contexts, as the one here, that apply to trusting words. The "hast" indicates a past tense in English, but the tense here indicates something that can happen at any specific point in time, past, present, or future. This tense is the same as the following verb. So they should be translated similarly instead of one in the past tense and the other in the future tense.
so -- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "so" in the Greek source.
missing "it must" or "let"-- (MW) A helping verb is necessary because the following verb is a third-person command, which is a verb that demands that something acts or happens in a certain way.
be -- -- This helping verb "be" indicates that the verb is passive. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.
it -- This is from the third-person, singular form of the verb.
done -- (WW) The word translated as "done" means "to become," that is, to enter into a new state. In Greek, especially as used by Jesus, it is the opposite of "being," which is existence in the current state. When applied to events, this word mean "to happen." It is in the form of a 3rd person passive command, which is usually translated as something like, "Let it become!" However, in modern English, we use the word "must" to capture this idea. "It must coming into being" or "it must happen." This is a command for a situation to enter into a new state of being. In Greek, especially as used by Jesus, becoming is the opposite of "being," which is existence in the current state.
unto -- (CW) This word "unto" comes from the dative case of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English. The most common is a "to" for the English indirect object. However, the translator can chose other prepositions: "with," "in," "of," "as," "by," "for," "at," or "on" depending on the context. The case can indicate a "with" for instruments, an "in" for locations, an "as" for purposes, an "about" (or "for" or "against") indicating interest, an "of" for possession, a "by" for agents, an "as" for comparisons, "at" or "on" a time, and an "in" for area of effect. -
thee. -- The word for "you" is the indirect object form of the singular, second-person pronoun. In this situation, the form of this word could indicate agency ("through you") or benefit ("for your benefit"). In this context, both ideas fit equally well.
Go! -- "Go" is a Greek verbal command that means literally "go under" or "bring under," but Christ usually uses it to mean "go away" and "depart."
Let -- This "let" is the helping verb used to translate the Greek form of the third-person command. In English all commands are in the second-person. This form is used as something like our word "must."
it -- This is from the third-person, singular form of the verb.
be -- -- This helping verb "be" indicates that the verb is passive. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.
done -- (WW) The word translated as "done" means "to become," that is, to enter into a new state. In Greek, especially as used by Jesus, it is the opposite of "being," which is existence in the current state. When applied to events, this word mean "to happen." It is in the form of a 3rd person passive command, which is usually translated as something like, "Let it become!" However, in modern English, we use the word "must" to capture this idea. "It must coming into being" or "it must happen." This is a command for a situation to enter into a new state of being. In Greek, especially as used by Jesus, becoming is the opposite of "being," which is existence in the current state.
just as - The word translated as "as" has a number of uses indicating the connection between two situations "such as", "thus", "how", "when", "where", "like". and "so far as."
you -- This is from the second-person, singular form of the verb.
believed - The Greek word translated as "believe" does not mean religious faith. It refers to trusting others, especially their word. Christ usually uses it in contexts, as the one here, that apply to trusting words. The "hast" indicates a past tense in English, but the tense here indicates something that can happen at any specific point in time, past, present, or future. This tense is the same as the following verb. So they should be translated similarly instead of one in the past tense and the other in the future tense.
it would.” -- (IP) There is nothing that can be translated as "it would" in the Greek source.
missing "for"-- (MW) The dative case of the following word requires the addition of a preposition in English, but the translator must decide which preposition to use: a "to," "with," "in," "of," "as," "by," "for," "at" or "on," can all be used depending on the context.
missing "you" -- (MW) The final word of the verse is not translated.
Ὕπαγε, (2nd sg pres imperat act) "I go" is hypago, which means "to lead under", "to bring under", "to bring a person before judgment", "to lead on by degrees", "to take away from beneath", "to withdraw", "to go away", "to retire", "to draw off," and "off with you."
ὡς (conj/adv) "As" is from hos, an adverb which means to "thus", "as", "how", "when", "where", "like", "just as", "so far as", "as much as can be", "that", "in order that", "nearly (with numbers)," and "know that."
ἐπίστευσας (2nd sg aor ind act) "Thou has believed" is from pisteuo, which means "to trust, put faith in, or rely on a person", "to believe in someone's words", "to comply", "to feel confident in a thing," and "to entrust in a thing."
γενηθήτω (3rd sg aor imperat pass) "Be it done" is from ginomai, which means "to become", "to come into being", "to happen", "to be produced," and "to be." It means changing into a new state of being. It is the complementary opposite of the verb "to be" (eimi)which indicates existence in the same state.
σοι: (pron 2nd sg dat) "You" is from soi which is the singular, second person pronoun, "you".
The final "you" can mean that the one trusting actually created the new situation as well as the one who benefits from it.
The Master then turned back to Decimus.
“Go,” he said. “As you believe, it must happen for you.”
The centurion left. He sent a message of gratitude later, saying that when he had gotten back to his house, his child had recovered from his paralysis.