What's the difference between " anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit " and "anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit"? In the Chinese bible, the two are not expressed by the same word

What’s the difference between " anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit " and “anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit”? In the Chinese bible, the two are not expressed by the same word.

i think blasphemes Holy Spirit means they cannot recognize Holy Spirit. Then they have to die in sin.

@Jianqiu Can you cite two scriptures in the Chinese Bible that illustrate this? I can look up the Greek for you and check.

By “cite” I mean like this: John 17:17 or The Gospel of John chapter 17 verse 17. (That is not this subject. Just using as an example.)

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Oh, thank you so much!

The verses I cited are:

Matthew12:32 I Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
In Chinese version is:
凡说话干犯人子的,还可得赦免。惟独说话"干犯圣灵"的,今世来世总不得赦免。

Luke12:10And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
In Chinese version is:
凡说话干犯人子的,还可得赦免,惟独"亵渎圣灵"的,总不得赦免。

No wonder you’re asking! When I just got the English translation from the Chinese (I just used Google Translate) it is confusing in English!

(Matthew 12:32) Anyone who speaks and commits a crime against the Son of Man can also be forgiven. The only thing that speaks “to commit the Holy Spirit” is that it will not be forgiven in this world.

(Luke12:10) Anyone who speaks and commits a crime against a human being can also be forgiven, but the “sacred spirit” must not be forgiven.

It sounds like the sacred or Holy Spirit himself will not be forgiven! This is NOT what it means. The Holy Spirit needs no forgiveness. However, people who speak English as their first language often ask about this verse. I did! I went looking for answers until I got them! Who wants to commit the one unforgivable sin if they can help it? So there is still a question for many in these passages from Matthew 12 and Luke 12.

So, the above is not what it means. I don’t even need to look it up in the Greek. I can get that for you if you can read Greek. (Please Reply and ask for the Greek if you want that.)

But I think two things might help. First the most reliable English Translation of your two verses, then a video that explains this often confusing section.

NASB (New American Standard Bible) is the most accurate English translation and the closest to the Greek.

Matthew 12:32 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
32 Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.

Luke 12:10 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him.

https://www.gotquestions.org/blasphemy-Holy-Spirit.html
The above link will explain in English what “blasphemy of the Holy Spirit” is. There is text you can read, a video you can watch, even audio (see speaker button at top) you can just listen to.

Here is the whole passage talked about in the video above.

Matthew 12:22-32 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
The Pharisees Rebuked
22 Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw. 23 All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?” 24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”

25 And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? 27 If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges. 28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.

The Unpardonable Sin
30 He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

31 “Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. 32 Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.

If you just read what comes 10 verses before in Matthew, you can see that Jesus is actually damning the Pharisees for saying “He (meaning Jesus) casts out demons by the Prince of Demons (or Beelzebul).”

They knew better. They knew Jesus was the Messiah. But they were afraid that if they “let” Him keep doing miracles and astonishing people, the people would leave them (the Pharisees) and follow Jesus. They did not want or like that. And, they never repented of their sins, even though they knew of John the Baptist (see Matthew 3:7-9 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. )
John the Baptist pointed out that they were hypocrites. Even when they saw Jesus healing ALL the people, they refused to repent and believe. So Jesus was rebuking them saying they had committed the only unforgivable sin: Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Jesus did all with the power of the Holy Spirit and the Father and His own divine nature. To say of Jesus that He does anything by using demonic power is blasphemous. Period.

For Luke 12:10 go back and read Luke 11:14 through Luke 12:10. You will see the same story just with a few other things in between.

I sure hope I helped and didn’t make it worse. Let me know?

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Thank you for your detailed answers, which are very helpful to me!