Do the Gospels give us the exact words that Jesus spoke, or do they give us a paraphrase that captures his meaning? Today we have a really important question about how we should think of the recorded words of Christ in our Bibles. Do we have the actual words of Christ, or do we have a paraphrase of what he said? The question is from Reston, who lives in Newton, Iowa. “Pastor John, as I continue to study the Bible, and specifically the actual text and transmission of the Bible itself, I keep running into a debate over two Latin phrases: ipsissima verba (‘the very words’) and ipsissima vox (‘the very voice’), or the gist of the words. The debate is whether or not the Gospel writers give us the exact words spoken by Christ, or the paraphrased gist of Jesus’s words. What do you think? And what bearing does this have on our Bible interpretation?” Read or listen to this interview at our website: https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/do-we-have-the-exact-words-of-christ-or-a-paraphrase Find other recent and popular Ask Pastor John episodes: https://www.desiringgod.org/ask-pastor-john