What Does Luke 11:28 Mean in the King James?
But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.
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 word translated “keep” carries the sense of guarding: flourishing belongs to those who hear God’s word and guard it.
THE MEANING
Flourishing belongs to those who hear God’s word and keep watch over it. Hearing does not end when the sound passes; the word remains guarded in the one receiving it.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that closeness to Jesus by birth or proximity is itself enough for flourishing; here, flourishing belongs to those who hear and guard God’s word.
THE ROOT
φυλάσσοντες
phylassontes
GROWS FROM
φυλακ-/φυλασσ- (phylak-/phylass-)
to guard, keep watch, or protect
“keep” in this verse is phylassontes. The verb carries the sense of guarding or keeping watch, not merely remembering something. The verse places that guarding after hearing: what reaches the ear is held under watch.
ALSO GROWS
phýlax: guard or watchman
φύλαξ
This branch makes the keepers in the verse sound like sentries, actively watching over what they have heard.
phylakē: guard, watch, or guarded place
φυλακή
The word family points to protection and watchfulness, opening “keep it” into an ongoing act of guarding the word.
THE PATTERN
Flourishing takes shape when the word heard is kept and enacted.
Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee.But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.THE THREAD
And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.Luke uses the same Greek verb for “kept” here as in this verse. The claim is followed by an invitation to release possessions, bringing the word’s lived sense of keeping into view.
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