The Last Supper
Matthew 26:23 He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me.
Matthew 26:23 The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.
The one dipping in with me the hand into this bowl will turn me in.
Jesus liked to tease.
This short verse has some uncommon words for Christ, but they are common word meaning "dip in" and "bowl." They simply are not words that Jesus uses symbolically in his teaching. We see this commonly when Christ is just interacting with people. His teaching has its own special and more limited vocabulary.
The word translated as "dipped" is from the same root as the untranslated word "baptized" which also means "to dip" or to "dunk." This word means literally "to dip in." The "bowl" was most likely the hand bowl used for washing hands before a meal. Could it be that Jesus was joking here? Daring his friends to use the bowl while he did? In the Matthew version, no one dips his hand. In the different John version, Jesus says he will dip some food and give it to someone, which is still odd.
- WW - Wrong Word -- The word translated as "he" should be something more like "the one."
- IW - Inserted Word -- The word "that" doesn't exist in the source.
- WW - Wrong Word -- The word translated as "his" should be something more like "the one."
- CW - Confusing Word -- The "the same" does not capture the specific meaning of the word.
- CW - Confusing Word -- The "betray" does not capture the specific meaning of the word.
- IW - Inserted Word -- The word "who" doesn't exist in the source.
- WW - Wrong Word -- The word translated as "his" should be something more like "the one."
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "this one" is not shown in the English translation.
- CW - Confusing Word -- The "betray" does not capture the specific meaning of the word.
He-- (WW) The word translated as "he" is the Greek definite article, without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more.
that-- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "it" in the Greek source. It was added because the next verb was translated as active rather than a participle.
dippeth - - "Dippeth" is from a verb that means to "dip in." It is in the form of an adjective, "dipping in," used as a noun, "the one dipping in." This is an uncommon word for Christ and a somewhat unusual one in Greek.
his -- (WW) The word translated as "his" is the Greek definite article, without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more.
hand - "Hand" is from the word that means "hand and arm," and "with the help of agency of another." Like "hand" in English, it has a lot of meanings including "an act or deed", "a body of people," and the measurement "handful." Since it doesn't have definite article ('the"), the sense is "a hand."
with -- "With" is the Greek word that usually means "with" or a related concept such as "among" or "by the means of."
me -- "Me" is the regular first-person pronoun in Greek as the object of r preposition.
in -- The word translated as "in" means "in," "within," "with" (an instrument), "during" (time), or "among" with a dative object as the one here. With the accusative, it means "into," "on," and "for."
the - The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more.
dish, - "Dish" is from a word that means "cup" or "bowl." It is an uncommon word, not the one that Christ usually uses for cup or platter.
the same -- (CW) "The same" is translated from a Greek word that means "this," "that," "the nearer." It is not the usual Greek word translated as "the same," which is a more common pronoun.
shall -- This helping verb "shall" indicates that the verb is the future tense. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.
betray - (CW) "Shall betray" is from a compound word that literally means "to give over." The various biblical translations translate being it as "betray" or "delivered over" depending on the context. It has less of a sense of "betray," though giving someone over is similar to turning someone it. In looking through all the other uses of the word, he uses it consistently to mean being given over to authorities, most often state authorities. The word, "betrayal," adds a lot of baggage to the discussion. It raises an issue of that Christ's original words did not raise: whether turning over someone to authorities is itself a dishonest act.
me. -- "Me" is the regular first-person pronoun in Greek as the object of the verb or preposition.
The one- The word translated as "the one" is the Greek definite article, without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more.
who -- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "who" in the Greek source. It was added because the next verb was translated as active rather than a participle.
has -- (WT) This helping verb "has" indicates that the verb is the tense indicating an action completed in the past. This is not the tense of the verb here.
dipped - - "Dipped" is from a verb that means to "dip in." It is in the form of an adjective, "dipping in," used as a noun, "the one dipping in." This is an uncommon word for Christ and a somewhat unusual one in Greek. It is from the same root as "baptized," which means "dip" or "dunk."
his -- (WW) The word translated as "his" is the Greek definite article, without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more.
hand - "Hand" is from the word that means "hand and arm," and "with the help of agency of another." Like "hand" in English, it has a lot of meanings including "an act or deed", "a body of people," and the measurement "handful." Since it doesn't have definite article ('the"), the sense is "a hand."
in -- The word translated as "in" means "in," "within," "with" (an instrument), "during" (time), or "among" with a dative object as the one here. With the accusative, it means "into," "on," and "for."
the - The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more.
bowl , - "Bowl" is from a word that means "cup" or "dish." It is an uncommon word, not the one that Christ usually uses for cup or platter.
with -- "With" is the Greek word that usually means "with" or a related concept such as "among" or "by the means of."
me -- "Me" is the regular first-person pronoun in Greek as the object of r preposition.
missing "this one" -- (MW) The untranslated word means "this," "that," "the nearer."
will -- This helping verb "will" indicates that the verb is the future tense. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.
betray - (CW) "Shall betray" is from a compound word that literally means "to give over." The various biblical translations translate being it as "betray" or "delivered over" depending on the context. It has less of a sense of "betray," though giving someone over is similar to turning someone it. In looking through all the other uses of the word, he uses it consistently to mean being given over to authorities, most often state authorities. The word, "betrayal," adds a lot of baggage to the discussion. It raises an issue of that Christ's original words did not raise: whether turning over someone to authorities is itself a dishonest act.
me. -- "Me" is the regular first-person pronoun in Greek as the object of the verb or preposition.
Ὁ [821 verses](article sg masc nom) "He" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the").
ἐμβάψας [2 verses] (part sg aor act masc nom) "He that dippeth" is from embapto, which means to "dip in." It is a compound word from en, meaning "in" and baptizo which means "to dip", "to plunge", "to be drenched", "to be drowned," and "getting in deep water."
μετ᾽ [103 verses](prep) "With" is from 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," and "next afterward."
ἐμοῦ [239 verses](adj sg masc gen) "Me" is from emou, which means "me", and "mine". -- "Me" is from the regular first-person pronoun in Greek.
τὴν [821 verses](article sg fem acc) "His" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the").
χεῖρα [25 verses] (noun sg fem acc) "Hand" is from cheir which means "the hand and arm," and "with the help of agency of another." Like "hand" in English, it has a lot of meanings including "an act or deed", "a body of people," and the measurement "handful."
ἐν [413 verses](prep) "In" is from en, which means "in", "on", "at", "by", "among", "within", "surrounded by", "in one's hands", "in one's power," and "with". -
τῷ [821 verses](article sg neut dat) "The" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the").
τρυβλίῳ [2 verses](noun sg neut dat) "Dish" is from tryblion, which means "cup" or "bowl."
οὗτός [137 verses] (adj sg masc nom) "The same" is from houtos, which as an adjective means "this", "that", "the nearer." As an adverb, it means "in this way", "therefore", "so much", "to such an extent," and "that is why."
με [49 verses](pron 1st sg masc acc) "Me" is eme, which is the objective first-person, objective, singular pronoun that means "me."
παραδώσει: [43 verses](verb 3rd sg fut ind act) "Shall betray" is from paradidomi, which means "to give over to another", "to transmit", "to hand down", "to grant", "to teach," and "to bestow."
"The one dipping in a hand with me," he said casually, "into this bowl, is going to turn me in."