What Does John 12:2 Mean in the King James?
There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The one who lay among the dead now reclines with Jesus, and the Greek verb holds lying down and table fellowship in the same word.
THE MEANING
Here, service and returned life meet at one table. Martha serves while Lazarus, once dead, reclines with Jesus. What has been marked by death is not excluded from shared life.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that death has the final claim on a person’s place among the living. Lazarus’s presence at the table contradicts it.
THE ROOT
ἀνακειμένων
anakeimenōn
GROWS FROM
κεῖμαι
to lie, be laid, or recline (keimai)
“sat at the table” in this verse is anakeimenōn. The word is a form of ἀνάκειμαι (anakeimai, recline at a meal), built on κεῖμαι (keimai, lie or be laid). English “sat” can hide the physical echo: Lazarus, who lay in death, is now among those reclining with Jesus.
ALSO GROWS
anakeimai: to recline at a meal
ἀνάκειμαι
This is the verb behind the verse’s participle: Lazarus is one of those reclining with Jesus.
katakeimai: to lie down or recline
κατάκειμαι
This compound shares the base verb κεῖμαι (keimai, lie or be laid), making the bodily image inside table reclining visible.
אֶלְעָזָר
Elʿazar
GROWS FROM
עזר
to help or aid (ʿ-z-r)
Lazarus is the Greek form of אֶלְעָזָר (Elʿazar, “God has helped”), built on עזר (ʿ-z-r, help). His name gives his presence at the table a quiet echo: the one Jesus raised bears a name that speaks of help received.
ALSO GROWS
ʿezer: help or aid
עֵזֶר
This noun carries the root’s sense of help, echoing Lazarus’s name as he sits among the living.
ʿazar: to help or assist
עָזַר
This verb shares the name’s root and keeps its meaning active: help is something given, not merely named.
διηκόνει
diēkonei
GROWS FROM
διακον-
attend to a need or serve (diakon-)
“served” in this verse is diēkonei. The verb belongs to the same word family as διακονία (diakonia, service) and διάκονος (diakonos, attendant or servant). Martha’s work stands alongside Lazarus’s presence: the table holds both active care and shared company.
ALSO GROWS
diakonia: service or ministry
διακονία
It names the service expressed by Martha’s action.
diakonos: attendant or servant
διάκονος
It names a person who serves, keeping Martha’s action connected to a wider language of attendance and care.
THE PATTERN
A shared meal turns provision into visible belonging.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,THE THREAD
Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.John uses the same reclining verb here as in John 12:2. Lazarus shares the table with Jesus, and here a disciple leans close to him; the repeated word lets the posture of reclining carry a sense of nearness.
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