This is Christ's response to Pilate when he was asked if he was the King of the Jews.
Matthew 27:11...Thou sayest.
Matthew 27:11 You have said so,”
Your yourself say.
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.
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "yourselves" is not shown in the English translation, but it is needed to capture the pronoun as well as the form of the verb.
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "yourselves" is not shown in the English translation, but it is needed to capture the pronoun as well as the form of the verb.
- WT - Wrong Tense - The verb "have" indicates the past perfect tense, but the tense is something that happens at a specific point in time (past, present, or future).
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.
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.
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."
"So you say," he said.