Matthew 11:23

Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will be brought down to Hades. For if the miracles that were performed in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained to this day.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

Καὶ σύ, Καπερναούμ, ἡ ἕως τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ὑψωθεῖσα, ἕως ᾅδου καταβιβασθήσῃ: ὅτι εἰ ἐν Σοδόμοις ἐγένοντο αἱ δυνάμεις αἱ γενόμεναι ἐν σοί, ἔμειναν ἂν μέχρι τῆς σήμερον.

Transliteration

And you, Kapernaoum, the one until the ouranou hypsōtheisa, until hadou you katabibasthēsē: because if in Sodomois egenonto the dynameis the ones genomenai in you, they would have emeinan an until the sēmeron.

Grammar Details

• *Kapernaoum*: vocative, proper noun - Capernaum
• *ouranou*: genitive, masculine, singular - of heaven
• *hypsōtheisa*: aorist participle, passive, nominative, feminine, singular - having been exalted
• *hadou*: genitive, masculine, singular - of Hades
• *katabibasthēsē*: future, passive, 2nd singular - you will be brought down
• *Sodomois*: dative, neuter, plural - in Sodom
• *egenonto*: aorist, middle, 3rd plural - happened/occurred
• *dynameis*: nominative, feminine, plural - mighty works/powers
• *genomenai*: aorist participle, middle, nominative, feminine, plural - having happened
• *emeinan*: aorist, active, 3rd plural - they remained
• *an*: conditional particle - would
• *sēmeron*: adverb - today

Word Meanings

• *ouranou*: of heaven/sky
• *hypsōtheisa*: having been exalted/lifted up/raised
• *hadou*: of Hades/underworld
• *katabibasthēsē*: you will be brought down/lowered
• *egenonto*: happened/occurred/took place
• *dynameis*: mighty works/powers/miracles
• *genomenai*: having happened/occurred/done
• *emeinan*: they remained/stayed/continued
• *sēmeron*: today/this day

Other Translations

• King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)

  And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

• KJV1611 – Modern English

  And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, shall be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works which have been done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

• King James Version 1611 (Original)

  And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

• American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

  And you, Capernaum, shall you be exalted unto heaven? you shall go down unto Hades: for if the mighty works had been done in Sodom which were done in thee, it would have remained until this day.

• King James Version with Strong's Numbers

  And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

• Tyndale Bible (1526/1534)

  And thou Capernau which art lift vp vnto heve shalt be brought doune to hell. For if the miracles which have bene done in the had bene shewed in zodom: they had remayned to this daye.

• Coverdale Bible (1535)

  And thou Capernaum which art lift vp vnto heauen, shalt be brought downe vnto hel. For yf the miracles which haue bene done in the, had bene shewed in Sodom, they had remained vnto this daye.

• Geneva Bible (1560)

  And thou, Capernaum, which art lifted vp vnto heauen, shalt be brought downe to hell: for if the great workes, which haue bin done in thee, had bene done among them of Sodom, they had remained to this day.

• Bishops' Bible (1568)

  And thou Capernaum, which art lift vp vnto heauen, shalt be brought downe to hell: For if the mightie workes which haue ben done in thee had ben done among them of Sodome, they had remayned vntyll this day.

• Authorized King James Version (1611)

  ‹And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.›

• Webster's Bible (1833)

  You, Capernaum, who are exalted to Heaven, you will go down to Hades. For if the mighty works had been done in Sodom which were done in you, it would have remained until this day.

• Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

  `And thou, Capernaum, which unto the heaven wast exalted, unto hades shalt be brought down, because if in Sodom had been done the mighty works that were done in thee, it had remained unto this day;

• American Standard Version (1901)

  And thou, Capernaum, shalt thou be exalted unto heaven? thou shalt go down unto Hades: for if the mighty works had been done in Sodom which were done in thee, it would have remained until this day.

• American Standard Version (1901)

  And thou, Capernaum, shalt thou be exalted unto heaven? thou shalt go down unto Hades: for if the mighty works had been done in Sodom which were done in thee, it would have remained until this day.

• Bible in Basic English (1941)

  And you, Capernaum, were you not to be lifted up to heaven? you will go down into hell: for if the works of power which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have been here to this day.

• World English Bible (2000)

  You, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, you will go down to Hades. For if the mighty works had been done in Sodom which were done in you, it would have remained until this day.

• NET Bible® (New English Translation)

  And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be thrown down to Hades! For if the miracles done among you had been done in Sodom, it would have continued to this day.

Referenced Verses

• Matt 4:13 : 13 Leaving Nazareth, He went and lived in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali.
• Isa 14:13-15 : 13 You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God. I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the north.' 14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. 15 But you will be brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the pit.
• Lam 2:1 : 1 How the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion in his anger with a cloud! He has thrown down the splendor of Israel from heaven to earth and has not remembered his footstool in the day of his anger.
• Ezek 16:48-50 : 48 As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, your sister Sodom and her daughters did not do as you and your daughters have done. 49 Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: pride, fullness of food, and abundant ease were hers and her daughters', but they did not strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. 50 They became haughty and committed abominations before me; therefore, I removed them as I saw fit.
• Ezek 28:12-19 : 12 Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13 You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was your covering: ruby, topaz, and diamond; beryl, onyx, and jasper; sapphire, turquoise, and emerald; and gold. The workmanship of your settings and mountings was prepared for you on the day you were created. 14 You were an anointed guardian cherub, and I placed you on the holy mountain of God. You walked among the stones of fire. 15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until wickedness was found in you. 16 Through your widespread trade, you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mountain of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among the stones of fire. 17 Your heart became proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom on account of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made you a spectacle before kings. 18 By your many sins and your dishonest trade, you have profaned your sanctuaries. So I brought fire out from within you, and it consumed you. I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all those watching. 19 All the nations who knew you are appalled at you; you have come to a terrible end and will exist no more forever.
• Ezek 31:16-17 : 16 I made the nations quake at the sound of its fall when I brought it down to Sheol along with those who descend to the pit. Then all the trees of Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, were comforted in the lower earth. 17 They too went down to Sheol with it, to join the slain by the sword, along with its supporters who had lived in its shadow among the nations.
• Obad 1:4 : 4 Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, even from there I will bring you down, declares the LORD.
• Gen 13:13 : 13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked and great sinners against the LORD.
• Gen 19:24-25 : 24 Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land.
• Matt 8:5 : 5 When Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him,
• Matt 16:18 : 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
• Matt 17:24 : 24 When they arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, 'Doesn’t your Teacher pay the temple tax?'
• Luke 4:23 : 23 Jesus said to them, 'Surely you will quote this proverb to me: “Physician, heal yourself!” and say, “Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.”'
• Luke 14:11 : 11 'For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.'
• Luke 16:23 : 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.
• John 4:46-54 : 46 Jesus came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum. 47 When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and pleaded with him to come down and heal his son, who was about to die. 48 Jesus said to him, "Unless you see signs and wonders, you will never believe." 49 The royal official said to him, "Sir, come down before my child dies." 50 Jesus said to him, "Go; your son will live." The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. 51 While he was on his way down, his servants met him and told him, "Your son is alive!" 52 So he asked them what time his son began to get better. They said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour, the fever left him." 53 Then the father realized that this was the very hour Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." And he himself believed, along with his whole household. 54 This was now the second sign Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.
• Acts 2:27 : 27 because You will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.
• 2 Pet 2:4-9 : 4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned but cast them into hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment, 5 and if He did not spare the ancient world but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, along with seven others when He brought the flood on the ungodly world, 6 and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly, 7 and if He rescued righteous Lot, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless, 8 (For that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard.) 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,
• Jude 1:7 : 7 In the same way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desires, serve as an example by undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.
• Rev 11:8 : 8 Their bodies will lie in the main street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.