What Does Luke 15:2 Mean in the King James?
And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.
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 charge meant to discredit him reveals the center of his way: he receives the missing and makes room for them at the table.
THE MEANING
The person named by what is missing is still received into nearness; the table does not wait for a repaired identity. Shared food makes that welcome visible, while the complaint shows how unsettling such nearness can be.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This verse undoes the belief that people marked by their missing must remain outside until they qualify for welcome.
THE ROOT
προσδέχεται
prosdechetai
GROWS FROM
δεχ-/δεκ- (dech-/dek-)
take in, receive, accept or welcome
“receiveth” in this verse is prosdechetai. The verb means receives or welcomes: this is more than allowing the missing to remain nearby. Its word family holds receiving and accepting together, and the shared meal makes that welcome tangible.
ALSO GROWS
dechomai: receive, accept, welcome
δέχομαι
This related verb shows that receiving carries a sense of welcome, not mere proximity.
dektos: accepted, welcome
δεκτός
The shared root connects being received with being welcome at the table.
ἁμαρτωλούς
hamartōlous
GROWS FROM
ἁμαρτ-
hamart-
miss, err, fall short
“sinners” in this verse is hamartōlous. The word belongs to a family organized around missing and error, not a fixed identity beyond reach. Here, those named by their missing are the very people received into company and shared food.
ALSO GROWS
hamartanō: miss, err
ἁμαρτάνω
The verb shows the root as an action or condition of missing.
hamartia: missing, error
ἁμαρτία
This related noun keeps the sense of missing present beneath the label applied to the people at the table.
διεγόγγυζον
diegongyzon
GROWS FROM
γογγυζ-
gongyz-
murmur, grumble
“murmured” in this verse is diegongyzon. The same verb returns in Luke 19:7 when the crowd grumbles at Jesus entering the home of a man called a sinner. The repeated word makes this complaint an echoing response to welcome across a boundary.
ALSO GROWS
gongyzō: murmur, grumble
γογγύζω
This related verb carries the same sound and sense of resentful complaint.
gongysmos: murmuring, complaint
γογγυσμός
The noun form shows the same root naming the murmuring itself.
THE PATTERN
Welcome becomes visible at the shared table, where the boundary around who belongs is exposed.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them.THE THREAD
And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.Luke repeats the same Greek verb διεγόγγυζον (diegongyzon, “they murmured”) when the crowd sees Jesus enter a sinner’s home. The table is the recurring flashpoint: welcome becomes visible enough to provoke the same complaint.
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