"Verily I say to thee to-day, that with me thou shalt be in the Eden's garden"

 

From: Good Tidings Pertaining to the Earth and the Race as Disclosed in the Scriptures 1871

 If our readers will observe the common use of language, they will notice that all classes of persons frequently use to-day, to-night, this day, and this night, in the same sense that to-day is used in the text, provided it qualifies say. Some may object, by saying that thus arranged, to-day would be superfluous; but no more so than in many cases in the Bible. The Lord instructs Moses to say to the children of Israel, “I command thee this day.” “I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish.” Deut. 30: 11, 18. He does not mean that they shall perish that day, but makes the denunciation that day; which fact was perfectly apparent without stating it, but it is a common mode of expression. Again, the Lord says in Deut. 15: 15, “I command thee this thing to-day.” Here, to-day is used in the same sense as in Luke 23: 43,-“verily I say unto thee to-day, shalt thou be with me in paradise.” If the phrase, to-day, is superfluous in Luke 23:43, if made to qualify say, it is equally so in Deut. 15: 15. Mr. Webster, in one of his speeches said, “I speak to-day for the preservation of the Union.” All knew he was speaking that day, without his declaring the fact. Mr. Choate, on one occasion, spoke in the same style. These distinguished orators used to-day in the same sense as it is used in Luke 23:43, when the comma is placed after to-day. An intelligent minister said, "I expect to-night, to get into the kingdom.” Of course it was not understood that he expected to be in the kingdom before morning, but that he spoke of his present expectations. Similar expressions are very common. 

Again, if it could be proved that the thief went to heaven or paradise the day of the crucifixion, it was forty-three days before the Saviour ascended. The Saviour says, “thou shalt be with me in paradise.” Three days subsequent to this, after the Saviour had risen from the dead, he said to Mary, “touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my father.” He remained on earth forty days longer, and then ascended to Heaven.

4. The adverb seemeron, rendered "to-day," occurs in the Septuagint scriptures of the Old Testament, and in the Greek of the New Testament, two hundred and fifty-nine times. It is used adjectively twenty-four times, and without a verb to qualify fourteen times. It precedes the verb it qualifies fifty-one times, and one hundred and seventy times it follows the verb it qualifies; so that there are one hundred and seventy instances to fifty-one, in favor of putting the comma after to-day in this case. From a very ancient manuscript of the Syriac, written, as supposed, about the fifth century, the following rendering occurs: "Verily I say to thee to-day, that with me thou shalt be in the Eden's garden.”

.........................

From the Literal Idiomatic Translation:

"And (kai) he enunciated (eipen) to him (autō), 'Truly (amēn) I say (legō) to you (soi) today (sēmeron), you shall cause yourself to be (esē) with (met’) me (emou) in (en) the (tō) paradise (paradeisō)!'"

See also The Eonian Life Bible New Testament and The One God, the Father, One Man Messiah Translation and Rotherham's Bible and The Kingdom of God Version New Testament by Raymond Faircloth and the New European Version Bible and the Concordant Literal Version and the 2001Translation and the Revised Version Improved and Corrected and the Twenty First Century New Testament and the New World Translation and the Updated American Standard Version.