Luke 23:43 — The Thief on the Cross

Ancient Greek manuscripts were written without punctuation. The comma in "Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise" was added by translators more than a thousand years later. Moving it — "Verily I say unto thee today, shalt thou be with me in paradise" — changes the meaning entirely, and nothing in the Greek forbids it. The phrase "I say unto you today" was a common Hebrew-style idiom of solemn emphasis (compare Deuteronomy's repeated "I testify unto you this day").

Jesus had said He would be "three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matthew 12:40). On resurrection morning He told Mary, "Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father" (John 20:17). If paradise is where the Father is — and Revelation places the tree of life "in the midst of the paradise of God" (Revelation 2:7; 22:1–2) — then Jesus did not go there on Friday.

The thief's request was, "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom" (Luke 23:42) — a future kingdom, at Christ's coming. Jesus' answer gave him far more than he asked: a certain promise of a place in that kingdom. The promise will be kept at the resurrection, when the thief's next conscious moment after death is paradise.