Luke 23:43 ...To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

KJV

Luke 23:43 Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

LISTENERS HEARD

Honestly, to you I tell on this day, by means of me, he might let you in, into the private royal garden.

LOST IN TRANSLATION

A very straight forward verse, starting with one of Jesus's catch phrases. This verse is the only use of the word "paradise" by Jesus.

The "verily" phrase is used frequently by Jesus as a personal signature. Its vocabulary and meaning are discussed in detail in this article.  Christ makes fun of his frequent use of it. The word translated is as "verily" is an exclamation that means "truly" or "of a truth." It is an untranslated Aramaic word that is echoed by a similar Greek word, and a good piece of evidence that Christ taught in Greek, not Aramaic.

The word translated as "verily" is the Hebrew word that means "truly" or "certainly," but it sounds like the Greek word with the same meaning. In Greek, the word also means "to reap."

The word translated as "I tell" 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.

The word for "you" is the indirect object form of the pronoun.  This pronoun is singular, but Jesus almost always uses the plural pronoun with this phrase. In this verse, the pronoun comes before the verb, where in almost all other cases, it follows it. The form is that of an indicated object, "to you".

The Greek word translated as "to day" is an adverb that means "for today" and "on this day."

The verb "shalt thou be" here is the common form of "to be" in Greek. It means to have a certain characteristic or remain in a certain condition. It also equates terms or assigns characteristics.  The form is the future tense, second person singular. However, it could be another Greek verb that is a form of the Greek verb "to be" the means "sent into" or "let into" where the form is not the future tense but the tense of possibility in the second or third person, "you might be let yourself in" or "he might let you in".

"With" is the Greek word that usually means "with" or a related concept such as "among" or "by the means of". It also refers to "after" or "behind" when referring to a place, time, or pursuit. This word has slightly different meanings with various forms of objects. With a singular genitive object, as here, the meaning is "in common", "along with", and "by means of".  "By means of" has a particular appeal here.

"Me" is the regular first-person pronoun in Greek in the possessive form, so "my" or "of me".

The word translated as "in" also means "within", "with," or "among."

"Paradise" is the unique Greek word here for Jesus, It is a Persian word that means an "enclosed park," "pleasure ground", but it was used specifically to refer to the private gardens of Persian kings and nobles, which were walled and to which the general public was not commonly admitted. More generally,  it means "garden", and  "orchard" but Jesus and others in the Bible commonly uses other words for those ideas.  The "let into" translated of the verb seems to fit particularly well with the idea of an enclosed royal garden. The word is introduced by are article "the private royal garden."

 

COMPARISON: GREEK to KJV

Ἀμήν ( exclam ) "Verily" is amen, which is the Hebrew, meaning "truly", "of a truth," and "so be it." It has no history in Greek of this meaning before the NT. However, this is also the infinitive form of the Greek verb amao, which means "to reap" or "to cut." --

σοι  (pron 2nd sg dat) "You" is soi which is the singular, second person pronoun, "you". -- 

λέγω, (1st sg pres ind act) "I tell" is 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 spelled the same means "to lay", "to lay asleep" and "to lull asleep." --

σήμερον (adv) "To day" is semeron, which is an adverb that means "for today" and "on this day." -- 

μετ᾽ (prep) "With" is meta, which means "with", "in the midst of", "among", "between", "in common", "along with", "by the aid of", "in one's dealings with", "into the middle of", "coming into", "in pursuit of", "after", "behind", "according to,"  "after", "behind",  and "next afterward." --

ἐμοῦ (noun sg masc gen) "Me" is emou, which means "me", and "mine". --  

ἔσῃ (verb 2nd sg fut ind mid ) "Shalt thou be" is eimi, which means "to be", "to exist", "to be the case," of circumstance and events "to happen",  and "is possible." However, it could also be another Greek verb (verb 2nd sg aor subj mid or verb 3rd sg aor subj act) eisiemi, a form of "to be" that means "sent into" or "let into".

ἐν (prep) "In" is en, which means "in", "on", "at", "by", "among", "within", "surrounded by", "in one's hands", "in one's power," and "with". --

τῷ παραδείσῳ. [unique]( noun sg masc dat ) "Paradise" is paradeisos, which means an "enclosed park," "pleasure ground", oriental word  refers to the gardens of Persian kings and nobles, more generally, "garden", and  "orchard."

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