What Does Luke 17:8 Mean in the King James?
And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink?
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 servant’s hunger is not erased; the master’s meal is simply placed first.
THE MEANING
This verse sets before you a plain order: the servant prepares, girds himself, and serves until the master has eaten and drunk. The servant’s own food and drink remain visible, but their place is afterward. The asymmetry is part of the scene, not hidden from view.
THE ROOT
διακόνει
diakonei
GROWS FROM
διακον-
diakon-
attend to another, serve
“serve” in this verse is diakonei. The Greek word belongs to the same family as the words for a servant and for service. Here service is concrete labor at a table: the master’s meal is made ready through the servant’s work.
ALSO GROWS
diakonos: servant, attendant
διάκονος
The person serving in the verse is named by the same word family.
diakonia: service, ministry
διακονία
The act of serving belongs to a wider word family for service, keeping the work itself in view.
περιζωσάμενος
perizōsamenos
GROWS FROM
ζωννυ-
zōnny-
gird, bind around the waist
“gird thyself” in this verse is perizōsamenos. The command pictures fastening a belt around oneself to be ready for work. The same root appears in the image of Jesus girding himself to wash the disciples’ feet, where the one in the master’s place takes the servant’s posture.
ALSO GROWS
zōnnymi: to gird, fasten around the waist
ζώννυμι
This verb supplies the root action behind the servant’s preparation.
zōnē: belt, girdle
ζώνη
The belt is the concrete object behind the act of girding oneself for service.
THE PATTERN
The order around a meal reveals who serves first and whose hunger waits, and that order can turn.
And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.THE THREAD
After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.The servant in Luke is told to gird himself before serving; here the same Greek ζωννυ- word family appears as Jesus girds himself to wash feet. The posture stays the same while the one in the master’s place becomes the one who serves.
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