What Does Luke 11:17 Mean in the King James?
But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth.
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
“Divided” comes from a word that also means to portion out: the whole falls when its shared life is carved into rival shares.
THE MEANING
A kingdom or household cannot hold together while its parts make war on one another. The split turns what should bind people together into opposing sides, and the whole falls into desolation.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that an inner split is harmless as long as the outer structure remains intact: the division itself brings the whole down.
THE ROOT
διαμερισθεῖσα
diameristheisa from diamerizō
GROWS FROM
μερ-
mer-
part or share; in διαμερίζω (diamerizō), to divide or distribute into parts
“divided” in this verse is diameristheisa from diamerizō. The word carries both division and the portioning of a whole into shares. What falls apart here is a shared life carved into parts set against one another.
ALSO GROWS
meris: portion, share
μερίς
A share is a part taken from a whole, making the fracture inside the kingdom visible.
merismos: division, distribution
μερισμός
The related noun holds both senses: dividing something and distributing it into portions.
ἐρημοῦται
erēmoutai from erēmoō
GROWS FROM
ἐρημ-
erēm-
deserted, desolate
“desolation” in this verse is erēmoutai from erēmoō. The outcome is more than a weakened structure: the divided kingdom is made desolate. The word’s family also names the deserted place that remains when life has been driven out.
ALSO GROWS
erēmos: deserted, desolate; a wilderness
ἔρημος
The related adjective shows the state division produces: a place emptied of its former life.
erēmōsis: desolation, devastation
ἐρήμωσις
This noun names the desolating result that the verb describes.
οἶκος
oikos
GROWS FROM
οἰκ-
oik-
house, dwelling, household
The image reaches from kingdom to house: a house can mean the people and shared life within a dwelling, as well as the structure itself. When one household stands against another, the fracture has entered ordinary life at home.
ALSO GROWS
oikia: house, home, household
οἰκία
This related word makes the household sense of “house” explicit.
oikeō: dwell, inhabit
οἰκέω
The related verb points to the life that takes place within the house and is put at risk when households oppose one another.
THE PATTERN
When a whole turns its parts against one another, the structure loses the force that lets it stand.
He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart.For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.THE THREAD
And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.Mark uses μερισθῇ (meristhē), from the same μερίζω (merizō, divide or distribute into parts) root as Luke’s διαμερισθεῖσα. The shared root reveals the same structure in both verses: when the kingdom is split into opposing parts, it cannot stand.
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