Luke 23:43 poses an interesting problem to translators. Ancient Greek (and Aramaic) did not use commas, full stops, or any punctuation. Readers had to insert the pauses and stops themselves by understanding the context.
However, sometimes a single comma can change the meaning of a text. So it is with Luke 23:43. Why?
One of the criminals that was hung next to Jesus asked Jesus to remember him when he got into his Kingdom. Then Jesus replied (literally, from a Greek source text):
‘Amen, soi ego semeron met emou ese en to paradeiso’
Amen, to/you I/say today with me you will be in the paradise
Now, was Jesus saying (as most Bibles put it), ‘I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise’, or was he saying, ‘‘I tell you today, you will be with me in paradise’?
Do you see the difference? If we move the comma, what Jesus was saying changes. In the first way, Jesus is saying that the man will be in paradise later today. In the second way, Jesus is just telling him about it today, but the paradise could be at some future time.
Well, the same ambiguity we have in English is present in Ancient Greek!
The difference is important since some understand ‘paradise’ to mean heaven. Therefore this is a proof-text for those who believe that righteous people immediately go to heaven when they die. They feel that Jesus was confirming that the criminal was rewarded with a resurrection to heaven on that very day. The correct translation, therefore, can have serious implications.
So how can we know where to put the comma? There are no parallel accounts; only Luke records this. However, Jesus is talking about things described elsewhere:
- His Kingdom
- Paradise
- The resurrection
Let’s look at other verses to answer this question: was it possible for the man to be resurrected to paradise under the Kingdom back then in 33 CE?
1) Was Jesus in his Kingdom on that day?
No. Jesus was not resurrected until days later and did not ascend into heaven until 40 days later. In John 20:17, after he was resurrected, Jesus said: ‘I haven’t ascended to the Father yet.’ So Jesus himself says that he was not in his Kingdom on the day he died. He could not be with the criminal in paradise on that same day. Jesus was dead.
2) What is ‘paradise?’ And did it exist on that day?
Jesus chose to use the word paradise, a word that does not mean heaven. It means a garden or park, a place that is here on earth. Indeed, paradise (Greek: paraiso) is the same word that was used to describe the Paradise of Delights in the land of Edem (Garden of Eden) in the Greek Septuagint (the popular ‘Bible’ of Jesus’ day).
I think we can all agree that the Paradise-like garden in Genesis was long-gone by 33 CE, and there was no paraiso in 33 CE. If Jesus had meant ‘heaven,’ he could have said ‘heaven’.
Even if, for argument's sake, paraiso did mean ‘heaven,’ Jesus could not be with the man there since had not been resurrected and ascended yet.
3) Did the resurrection start on that day?
No. Martha said that the resurrection would happen “on the last day,” and several years later, Paul said that he hoped for a future resurrection. Paul also said that nobody has entered heaven except for he who came down from heaven, Jesus.
Therefore, Jesus could not have been telling the criminal that he was going to join Jesus on that same day. According to the other words of Jesus himself, he was not in his Kingdom on that day, Jesus chose the word ‘paradise’ instead of ‘heaven,’ and Paul’s statement means that the dead are still dead.
Therefore, if we, the translators, put the comma before ‘today,’ to say, ‘today you will be with me paradise’ our translation choice would contradict other Bible texts.
So should we fix the problem by putting a comma after ‘today,’ so it reads, ‘I’m telling you today, you will be with me in paradise?’
Perhaps. One problem with this is that Jesus often said, ‘I tell you,’ or ‘Truly I tell you,’ but he is nowhere else recorded as saying, ‘Truly I tell you today.’
However, there is a second explanation.
The criminal’s point-of-view
From the perspective of the criminal, he would indeed be in paradise in just a few hours. After all, Jesus described death as being like sleep. As a criminal, the man would likely be part of the ‘unrighteous’ that are resurrected. As it says in Acts 24:15: ‘there’s going to be a resurrection of the righteous and the unrighteous.’
So upon his resurrection, from his point of view, it will be like Jesus only spoke to him a short time ago. From his perspective, he will be in paradise today.
The most ancient translation helps us out
The oldest copy of the gospels in Aramaic, the Curetonian Gospels is dated variously from the 2nd to 5th centuries AD. While Aramaic did not have commas back then either, they have always used the word “that” (the prefix ܕ) to separate statements. This is where it gets interesting.
In the Curetonian copy of Luke, it says this:
ܐܡܪ ܠܗ ܝܫܘܥ ܐܡܝܢ ܐܡܪ ܐܢܐ ܠܟ ܝܘܡܢܐ ܕܥܡܝ ܬܗܘܐ ܒܓܢܬ ܥܕܢ
Word-for-word:
said to-him Jesus amen I-say I to-you today that-you-will-be with in-garden Eden
Or, as we might put it:
Jesus said to him, ‘Amen. I say to you today, that you will be with me in paradise.’
It’s interesting that this, probably the oldest Aramaic translation of Luke in the world, should be written this way. It’s also interesting that it calls paradise “Eden” and not “heaven.”
However, at some point, Church authorities decided differently. All later Aramaic manuscripts move “that” (ܕ), so it instead says, “I say to you, that today you will be with me in paradise.”
Was that earlier version using “today, that” merely an error on the translator's part? Or was it an accurate reflection of what the Christians believed about Jesus’ statement in the very early days of Christianity?
Perhaps it shows that people were asking these same questions 1,800 years ago!
Interestingly, the Curetonian Gospels constantly differ in their exact wording compared to the traditional Aramaic text (the “Peshitta”). This is probably because this copy was an independent translation from their Greek source (a Western text-type). It is, in effect, an independent witness to the Greek text. That makes it all the more interesting that it should say “today, that”. Was it reflecting popular belief? Or was it just the translator’s guess? Or was it a simple mistake?
The oldest Greek manuscript agrees
The oldest complete copy of Luke in Greek is found in the 4th-century Codex Vaticanus. The manuscript has an unspaced dot after the word “today.” This appears to be a marker to indicate a pause. It’s impossible to know whether this is original or added by correcting scribes (or someone else) later. Either way, it indicates that someone, at some early time after 300 AD, believed that Jesus was not saying, “Truly I say to you, today you will be,” but was saying, “Truly I say to you today, you will be...”, and was able to insert this marker into the codex.
See the marking for yourself at the Vatican website (or see it in this screenshot). It is located on page 1,351, 1st column, on the 4th line from the bottom, just after the letters ΜΕΡΟΝ (the last five letters of ΣΉΜΕΡΟΝ, the word for “today”).
There are very few punctuation markings in the Codex Vaticanus. The fact that one exists here shows that the verse must have been debated, its reading declared unsure, and someone acted to clarify the meaning.
The faithful go straight to heaven?
We must also consider wider church history.
Church historians have documented the long development of Christian doctrine. At this early stage, Christians were awaiting a physical resurrection as a reward for their faithfulness at Jesus’ return, at which time they would get a new body like his and rule with Jesus upon Earth.
The concept of people’s immortal souls being immediately transported to heaven developed later. This development is widely documented in the decisions of various Church councils.
In other words, it is out of time to say, “I tell you, today you will be...”.
So, what is correct?
Let’s recap:
• Putting the comma before today would introduce contradictions in the Bible text. Putting it after today would not.
• What is probably our earliest Aramaic translation says that it should go after “today” by using the word “that” afterward.
• Our earliest complete Greek manuscript of Luke contains a pause marking after “today.”
• Putting it before today is primarily supported by those wishing to promote later Church doctrines, but this motivation is centuries out of time (‘anachronistic’).
Based on all of this, the comma should likely go after today, so that is what we have done.