What Does Luke 10:25 Mean in the King James?
And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
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 question names the life of the ages as an inheritance, a share received, even as it asks what to do.
THE MEANING
The question reaches you in the tension between doing and receiving: what action belongs to a life that comes as an inheritance? This is the life of the ages, a share held within the ages rather than merely an idea of endless duration. The question also functions as a test, so its surface request and its purpose are not the same.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the assumption that a question framed as spiritual inquiry must be neutral: this one is explicitly asked as a test.
THE ROOT
κληρονομῆσαι
klēronomēsai
GROWS FROM
κληρονόμ- (klēronom-), from κλῆρος (klēros, allotted share) and νέμω (nemō, apportion)
To receive an allotted share as an heir.
English “inherit” can sound like simply possessing something, but this Greek word belongs to a family centered on heirship and an allotted share. The question places life among the ages in the language of reception, even as it asks for an action.
ALSO GROWS
klēronomos: heir
κληρονόμος
The heir is the one who receives the share named in the question.
klēronomia: inheritance
κληρονομία
This noun names the inheritance itself and belongs to the same word family as “inherit.”
αἰώνιον
aiōnion
GROWS FROM
αἰών
aiōn
An age, era, or span of time; the adjective describes what belongs to or pertains to an age.
The phrase names “the life of the ages,” giving life a place within the language of ages rather than leaving “eternal” as an abstract measure of duration. Beside inheritance, the phrase presents that life as a share belonging to the ages.
ALSO GROWS
aiōn: age
αἰών
This is the noun at the center of the word family; it grounds the phrase in the language of an age.
aiōnes: ages
αἰῶνες
The plural form keeps the phrase connected to ages, which is the root sense behind “eternal.”
ἐκπειράζων
ekpeirazōn
GROWS FROM
πειρ- (peir-), from πεῖρα (peira)
An attempt, test, or trial; the verb form can mean to put someone to a test or tempt.
“tempted” in this verse is ekpeirazōn. The verse itself places the question in a testing frame: what sounds like a request for an answer also puts Jesus to proof. The word carries the sense of testing as well as tempting, so the testing does not depend on an enticement to wrongdoing.
ALSO GROWS
peirazō: test, put to trial, tempt
πειράζω
This is the base verb behind the form translated “tempted.”
peirasmos: test, trial, temptation
πειρασμός
The related noun names the test or trial that the verb can impose.
THE PATTERN
What is ultimate is pictured as a share received and inherited, with life itself placed in that inheritance language.
The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.THE THREAD
For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.The word translated “inheritance” here is κληρονομία (klēronomia, inheritance), from the same word family as “inherit” in Luke 10:25. Galatians sharpens the image: the inheritance is given by promise, placing the question’s “what shall I do?” beside the language of receiving.
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