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Hebrew and Greek Without Learning Either

A walk through Genesis, the Psalms, and John, plus the key Hebrew and Greek words worth knowing. Each card is a place the English Bibles part company, and what in the Hebrew or Greek made them.

John 3:18-19

Condemned already. The Greek word is judged, and the noun in the next verse is the judgment.

GreekJohnChanges the claimWord range
John 3:18-19

John 3:18-19, in every translation this tool compares.

First, in plain English

Judge and judgment are obviously related in English. Condemn and judgment are not, and the connection breaks the moment you print the first one.

Why this verse

Because English condemn is a verdict against someone and Greek krino is the whole process of judging, which can go either way. The paragraph uses the verb and then the noun, and English uses two unrelated words.

How the others read it

The King James reads condemned and condemnation. Most modern versions read judged and judgment.

The word

κρίνω krino · G2919 / κρίσις krisis · G2920

What you are seeing

Krino is to judge, to decide, to separate. Krisis is the act or result. Verses 17 to 19 use the word family four times, and the paragraph is built on the repetition.

Why translators split

English condemn presumes the outcome; judge does not. Choosing condemn decides the verse before the reader gets there.

The rule to carry away

Word families argue by themselves in Greek. When an English version breaks a family into unrelated words, the argument stops being visible.

Choosing between them

Judged and judgment are the majority modern renderings; the King James reads condemned and condemnation.

Sources
  1. krino and krisis at John 3:17, 18, 19
  2. John 5:22, 27, 29-30
  3. krino as to decide: Acts 15:19; 1 Corinthians 2:2

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