What Does Luke 11:26 Mean in the King James?
Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.
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 decisive change is not what leaves the house but what takes up residence after it.
THE MEANING
What has left returns with seven others more harmful than itself, and they settle in. The verse shows a return that multiplies harm: the person’s condition changes with what enters and dwells, and the ending becomes worse than the beginning.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that removing a harmful presence guarantees lasting freedom from it.
THE ROOT
πνεύματα
pneumata
GROWS FROM
πνευ-
pneu-
To blow or breathe; this word family also names breath, wind, and spirit.
The English “spirits” selects one sense of pneuma, whose word family also carries breath and wind. Here the verse describes unseen presences that enter and inhabit, with the word’s wider sense suggesting movement as well as presence.
ALSO GROWS
pneō: to blow or breathe
πνέω
It shows the movement contained in the word family behind the presences that enter.
pnoē: breath or breathing
πνοή
It shares the family’s breath sense, which English “spirits” does not show here.
κατοικεῖ
katoikei
GROWS FROM
οἰκ-
oik-
House, and by extension inhabiting or making a home.
“dwell” in this verse is katoikei. The verb κατοικεῖ means to inhabit or settle in, and its οἰκ- root is also found in the Greek word for house. The verse’s language links the place and the act: the harm deepens when the returning presence makes the house its home.
ALSO GROWS
oikos: house or household
οἶκος
It makes the dwelling image explicit: the presence occupies a house, not just a passing place.
oikeios: belonging to a household; familiar
οἰκεῖος
It extends the house-root to what belongs within a household, emphasizing settled presence.
THE PATTERN
A dwelling’s condition is shaped by what fills or inhabits it.
Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,THE THREAD
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,“Dwell” translates the same Greek word family as κατοικεῖ in Luke: to inhabit or settle in. Ephesians places that inhabiting in the heart, opening the image of an inner house whose condition is shaped by its presence.
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