Turner on Nostr: Here’s our obligatory AI summary.. The relevant Greek is: καὶ τὸ ...

Here’s our obligatory AI summary..

The relevant Greek is:

καὶ τὸ γλωσσόκομον ἔχων τὰ βαλλόμενα ἐβάσταζεν

kai to glōssokomon echōn ta ballomena ebastazen

Breaking it down:

καί (kai)

Usually “and.”

A very common connective word.

βάλλω (ballō)

Literally “to throw,” “cast,” “put,” or “place.”

In John 12:6 it appears as:

τὰ βαλλόμενα

“the things being put into [the moneybag]”

The idea is money being deposited into the common purse.

βαστάζω (bastazō)

Normally means:

* to carry
* to bear
* to take up
* to carry away

In John 12:6 it appears as:

ἐβάσταζεν (imperfect tense)

Many older commentators noticed that while the word can mean “carry,” it can also mean “carry off” or “take away.”

That is why some translations render the verse more strongly than simply “he carried the bag.”

Compare:

* KJV: “and bare what was put therein”
* ESV: “he used to help himself to what was put into it”
* NIV: “he used to help himself to what was put into the bag”

John has already called Judas a thief (κλέπτης), so most modern translators understand ἐβάσταζεν here as “carried away for himself” rather than merely “transported.”

This is one reason many commentators conclude that Judas’s theft was ongoing. The imperfect tense (ἐβάσταζεν) suggests a habitual action—he kept taking from the funds.

That said, John’s Greek is remarkably direct:

1. Judas was a thief (κλέπτης ἦν).
2. Money was regularly put (βάλλω) into the purse.
3. Judas regularly carried off/took away (βαστάζω) from what was put there.

The grammar points toward an existing sinful disposition expressing itself through the opportunity of handling money, rather than the office itself creating the sin.