What Does Luke 12:50 Mean in the King James?
But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!
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
Jesus names the ordeal ahead as an immersion: he is pressed until he passes through it and it reaches completion.
THE MEANING
Jesus speaks of an immersion still awaiting its completion, and until then it holds him in constraining pressure. The verse keeps both realities together: the pressure is present, and it has an end toward which it moves.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The pressure of an unfinished passage does not mean it has no destination; here, it lasts until the passage is complete.
THE ROOT
βάπτισμα
baptisma
GROWS FROM
βαπτίζω
baptizō
to immerse, dip, or plunge
“baptism” in this verse is baptisma. The word pictures more than encountering an ordeal: it is being immersed in what surrounds you. Jesus names the coming suffering as a passage he must go through to its completion.
ALSO GROWS
baptizō: immerse
βαπτίζω
The verb behind “to be baptized with” makes the image one of being plunged into what is coming.
baptismos: immersion or washing
βαπτισμός
This related noun keeps the sense of an encompassing immersion beneath the familiar ritual meaning.
συνέχομαι
synechomai
GROWS FROM
συνέχω
synechō
to hold together, press, or constrain
“straitened” in this verse is synechomai. The pressure is expressed as being held fast or pressed in. It is not vague unease: the word gives the sense of being gripped until the stated completion.
ALSO GROWS
synechō: press, constrain, hold fast
συνέχω
This verb family makes “straitened” a felt pressure that continues through the waiting.
synochē: distress or constraint
συνοχή
The related noun uses the same family for a state of pressure, echoing the force of Jesus’ words.
τελεσθῇ
telesthē
GROWS FROM
τελέω
teleō
to finish or bring to completion
“accomplished” in this verse is telesthē. The pressure is bounded by a completion: it lasts “till” the work reaches its end. The Greek root carries that sense of bringing something to its full term.
ALSO GROWS
telos: end or goal
τέλος
This related word makes the completion a definite endpoint, not indefinite delay.
teleios: complete or mature
τέλειος
This branch connects completion with reaching a full or finished state.
THE PATTERN
Immersion names a passage that surrounds a person and carries them through a decisive transition.
And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.THE THREAD
But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?Mark uses the same Greek baptism word, joining immersion to the cup of suffering. It makes the image in Luke sharper: Jesus is pressed by a passage he must undergo.
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