What Does Luke 10:23 Mean in the King James?
And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see:
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 verse calls the eyes themselves flourishing when they perceive what is before them.
THE MEANING
Your eyes are flourishing when you see what is being disclosed to you. The verb for seeing repeats: first for the eyes, then for the things they see, joining perception and what is perceived in one act.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the assumption that seeing is merely having your eyes open: perception itself can be a state of flourishing.
THE ROOT
βλέποντες
blepontes
GROWS FROM
βλεπ-
blep-
To look, see, or perceive.
The same verb describes both the eyes that see and the things they see. The verse links flourishing with perception of what is present, not merely with having functioning eyes.
ALSO GROWS
emblepō: Look intently at; gaze upon.
ἐμβλέπω
This compound makes the directed attention within seeing explicit.
anablepō: Look up; regain sight.
ἀναβλέπω
This compound can describe sight returning, showing how seeing can be a restored capacity.
μακάριοι
makarioi
GROWS FROM
μακαρ-
makar-
Flourishing, fortunate, in a state of well-being.
“Blessed” in this verse is makarioi. The word places flourishing in the eyes that see. Their perception is named as well-being in itself, not only as a path toward some later reward.
ALSO GROWS
makarizō: Call or count someone flourishing; declare them blessed.
μακαρίζω
The branch turns the state of flourishing into a spoken recognition of it.
makarismos: A declaration or state of blessedness.
μακαρισμός
This related noun names the flourishing that the verse sees in the eyes.
THE PATTERN
Perception becomes flourishing when what is hidden or unseen is opened to view.
Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.THE THREAD
But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.Matthew uses the same Greek verb βλέπω (blepō, to see) and directly pairs seeing eyes with flourishing. Its mention of hearing alongside sight opens Luke’s line further: perception is a way of receiving what is being disclosed.
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