In Luke 17:20-24, the Savior addressed a group of Pharisees who had accosted him and demanded that he tell them “…when the kingdom of God should come”. As was often the case, the Pharisees were looking beyond the mark for the day when the Messiah would come in power and glory, redeem them, and overthrow the rule of Israel’s tyrannical rulers forever.

The following has been taken from The Joseph Smith Translation (JST), RedLetter Edition, New Testament.1 Red text are additions made by the JST, while blue text are the words of the King James Version (KJV) as they previously read. Black text was unaltered by the JST.

Summarizing those verses, we learn from Joseph’s alterations that God’s kingdom “…has already come unto you.” indicating that at that time the kingdom of God (the Lord and his Church) was already among the Jews, though most did not see it; that the Lord was addressing a group of Pharisees; that the sentence “Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” should be translated as “Neither shall they say, lo Lo here! Or, Lo, or, lo there! For, behold, the kingdom of God has already come unto you.”; that Christ continued by addressing “his the disciples,” and explaining that it was the Pharisees, not the disciples that would “desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and they ye shall not see it.”; and that just as the morning sunlight spreads across all the earth without discrimination, so would the kingdom of God in the day of the Son of man.

These verses, and in particular verse 21, have frequently been used by those who are averse to organized religion or a specific denomination. Such thinking is used to justify the belief that Christ did not set up an organized church because the church or “kingdom of God” is within us. Thus, they convince themselves that any affiliation is acceptable to God so long as one simply accepts Jesus as their redeemer, or that they can get closer to God when in nature, or some other similar fallacies. This misunderstanding allows them to excuse themselves from the remaining requirements of the Gospel as taught by the Savior. Joseph Smith was adamant about the Lord’s Church being on the earth when he stated:

“Some say the kingdom of God was not set up on the earth until the day of Pentecost, and that John did not preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; but I say in the name of the Lord, that the kingdom of God was set up on the earth from the days of Adam to the present time; whenever there has been a righteous man on earth unto whom God revealed his word and gave power and authority to administer in his name and where there is a priest of God, a minister who has power and authority from God to administer in the ordinances of the Gospel, and officiate in the Priesthood of God, there is the kingdom of God, and in consequence of rejecting the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Prophets whom God hath sent, the judgments of God have rested upon people, cities and nations in various ages of the world, which was the case with the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, which were destroyed for rejecting the Prophets.”2

With regard to Luke 17:21 Elder Bruce R. McConkie has written:

“One of the heresies which prevails … is the concept that Jesus did not organize a Church or set up a formal kingdom through which salvation might be offered to men. This poorly translated verse is one of those used to support the erroneous concept that the kingdom of God is wholly spiritual; that it is made up of those who confess Jesus with their lips, regardless of what church affiliation they may have; that the kingdom of God is within every person in the sense that all have the potential of attaining the highest spiritual goals; and that baptism, the laying on of hands, celestial marriage, and other ordinances and laws are not essential to the attainment of salvation.”3

Verse 21 has been a conundrum for translators for at least two millennia. This particular verse has caused and frequently continues to cause consternation among biblical translators. In Greek, it reads as follows:

A grammatical translation of the Greek would not render the KJV of the text incorrect in verse 21 by translating the phrase έντός ύμών έστιν as “is within you”, literally “within you is”5. However, considering the contextual sense of Luke 17:20-24, and the plural nature of the word ύμών (you) 6, along with the fact that Christ was speaking to a group of Pharisees and afterwards his disciples, it seems more accurate to translate the phrase as “is among you” or as Joseph translated it “…has already come unto you” which beautifully and succinctly captures the meaning of the Savior’s words.

This passage in Luke has been wrestled with by biblical scholars and translators at least since the days of Origen. The verses were considered early on by numerous “Church Fathers”, including Origen, John Chrysostom, and Cyril of Alexandria. They considered them alongside other references to the Messiah being among them and the coming of the kingdom of God (see John 1:26, Matthew 12:28, Luke 11:20). Origen and Chrysostom could not get away from their esoterical preference for the phrase “within you,” while Cyril preferred “among you”7.

In his Homilies on Luke8, Origen (c. 184-253 AD) an early “Church Father,” commented on Luke 17:21 and was acutely aware of the grammatical possibility of the verse meaning “in your midst”, but he explicitly rejects it in his commentary. For Origen, the internal, spiritual interpretation was the true, deeper meaning of the text. He stated, “But let us see what it is: ‘Behold, the kingdom of God is within you.’ I do not think that this is to be understood as if it were ‘in your midst.’ For what great thing would he be saying, that the kingdom of God is within you, if it were [merely] in your midst, when the King himself is standing in your midst?” Origen chose to take a more allegorical meaning that the Kingdom’s presence is only within the human soul. Origen also appears to consider the phrase “in your midst” trivial because it was obvious that the Savior and his kingdom was among the people at the time he was addressing the Pharisees. (italics are mine)

In his sermon on the end of times found in Matthew 24, John Chrysostom (c. 349 – 407 AD) another early “Church Father” incorporated Luke 17:21 but avoided the debate on “within you”. He stated, “What then is, ‘Behold, the kingdom of God is within you’? He is revealing the manner of his coming, and that it is not from without, and that it does not happen in a place. For the thing is not sensible, nor does it have a visible ruler, as the kingdoms of men have; but it is the forgiveness of sins, the freedom from shameful passions, the way of life according to God, love for one’s neighbor, and things like these.”9 (italics are mine)

Cyril of Alexandria (c. 376 – 444 AD) in his commentary on Luke 17:21 stated, “He says therefore, ‘The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, “Lo, here!” or “Lo, there!” for behold, the kingdom of God is within you.’ Now, ‘within you’ is instead, ‘in your midst.’ For the King of all was with them, standing in their midst, and speaking to them.” 10 Cyril even performs a grammatical substitution for “ἐντὸς ὑμῶν” “within you” with “ἐν μέσῳ ὑμῶν” meaning “in your midst”.

Of the three “Church Fathers”, Cyril is the only one to accept the meaning of the Savior’s words that the kingdom of God was presently among the Pharisees and the Jews, because He and the Church He established were there with them. This consideration is consistent with John the Baptist’s own interactions with the Pharisees in John 1:26 when he “answered them, saying; I baptize with water, but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;” Incidentally, John the Baptist’s use of the word “among” in this verse is the same Greek word “ύμών” used in Luke 17:21. In their interactions with the Pharisees both the Savior and John preached that the Messiah and his kingdom were among the Jews at the time, but those Jewish leaders could not or would not see it. Parenthetically, there is some scriptural hints that among the Jewish Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and other leaders they knew who Christ was, at least academically, but that is another story. (italics are mine)

Modern Prophets have often quoted Luke 17:21 using the KJV sense “within us”, which would not be an incorrect use of that phrase. Others, however, have indicated that it would be more correct to use the phrase “among us”.

Elder Joseph Fielding Smith wrote:

“…when they demanded of him to tell them when the kingdom of God should come. According to the Bible He answered them and said: “The Kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, Lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” This should be translated properly, “among you,” for the power of salvation was there, and the Author of it stood before them, with the invitation to bring them into the kingdom if they would repent and obey its laws; but this they would not do. In the marginal notes in the Bible this proper translation is given and this is confirmed by the revision which was made by the Prophet Joseph Smith.11”

In a General Conference address, Elder Harold B. Lee indicated:

“Another statement was made by the prophets of the New Testament which to me has some significance. They are quoted as having said that ” . . . the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:21.) A more correct translation probably would have said, “The kingdom of God is among you or in your midst, …12” (Harold B. Lee)

Once again, we see that the Prophet Joseph Smith was spot on with his translation. His rendering of “the kingdom of God has already come unto you.” clearly captures what the Savior meant. He also clarified for us that it was the Pharisees and not the Lord’s disciples that “will ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and they ye shall not see it.” Joseph Smith was indeed the Lord’s Prophet, Seer, Revelator, and Translator.

Footnotes

1 These and other verses of the JST can be easily followed by obtaining an eBook or hardbound version of The Joseph Smith Translation, Red-Letter Edition, New Testament from https://jstrle.com/.

2 History, 1838–1856, volume D-1 [1 August 1842–1 July 1843] [addenda], p. 4 [addenda], The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed November 6, 2025, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1838- 1856-volume-d-1-1-august-1842-1-july-1843/285.

3 Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1965-1973], 1: 539.)

4 All Greek transcriptions referred to herein are from The Greek New Testament, Fourth Revised Edition, 1983, United Bible Societies U.S.A., edited by Barbara Aland, Kurt Aland, Johannes Karavidopoulos, Carlo M. Martini, and Bruce M. Metzger.

5 Word order in Greek is not configural like English but more linear in nature. The order of words are often not how English speakers would construct a sentence. Numerous articles and books on ancient Greek and its sentence structure can readily be found and referenced by the interested reader.

6 “Many translations read “among” because the pronoun “you” is plural here in Greek.” See footnote ‘c’ for Luke 17:21, The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.

7 Numerous current biblical translations use the word “among” rather than “within”. They include but are not limited to The New Oxford Annotated Bible (NRSV), the New King James Version (NKJV), The New International Version (NIV), the English Standard Version (ESV), and the New American Standard Bible (NASB).

8 8 Homilies on the Gospel of Luke, Homily 39 (as preserved in Jerome’s Latin translation).

9 Homily 79 on Matthew

10 Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Homily 116 (on Luke 17:20-21)

11 Joseph Fielding Smith, Church History and Modern Revelation, 4 vols. [Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1946-1949], 4: 140.

12 Harold B. Lee, Conference Report, October 1953, Afternoon Meeting, 26 – 27.