What Does Luke 16:16 Mean in the King James?
The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into 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 announcement of God’s reign meets a forceful threshold: the Greek can picture people forcing their way in, or the reign itself being pressed violently.
THE MEANING
A boundary reaches to John, and from there God’s reign is proclaimed. The verse holds that announcement together with forceful movement toward the reign, making its arrival urgent and contested.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It unsettles the idea that God’s reign is a distant, neutral announcement: this verse presents its arrival as a threshold charged with force.
THE ROOT
βιάζεται
biazetai
GROWS FROM
βιαζ-
biaz-
To exert force, press, or act violently.
The KJV’s “presseth” conveys movement into the reign, while the Greek word family also carries the force of violence. The form can be understood as people forcing their way in or as the reign being pressed violently, leaving the pressure itself in view.
ALSO GROWS
bia: Force or violence.
βία
This noun makes the force in “presseth” audible: the movement toward the reign is not described as passive or effortless.
biastēs: A person who uses force; a violent person.
βιαστής
Matthew uses this related word for “the violent,” placing the same forceful word family beside the kingdom’s contested entry.
βασιλεία
basileia
GROWS FROM
βασιλευ-
basileu-
Kingly rule or reign; the realm under a king’s rule.
“Kingdom” can sound like a place, while this Greek word also names kingship and active reign. Here, what is proclaimed is God’s governance, and pressing into it is movement into that rule.
ALSO GROWS
basileus: King.
βασιλεύς
The king is the one whose rule gives the kingdom its character; the verse speaks of God’s reign, not merely a territory.
basileuō: To reign or rule as king.
βασιλεύω
This verb brings out the active force within “kingdom”: God’s reign is something proclaimed and entered.
THE PATTERN
The proclamation of God’s reign meets people at a demanding threshold of entry.
Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.THE THREAD
And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.Matthew uses the same Greek word family as “presseth,” and makes its force unmistakable with “suffereth violence” and “take it by force.” Beside Luke’s wording, the shared root keeps both the movement into the reign and the violence surrounding it in view.
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