What Does Luke 18:37 Mean in the King James?
And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by.
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
Before the man can see Jesus, another person’s words make his nearness audible.
THE MEANING
You can receive the news of Jesus’ nearness through another’s voice. The moment begins with hearing that Jesus of Nazareth is passing by, before sight enters the encounter.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This dissolves the belief that sight must come before encounter: the man first receives nearness through hearing.
THE ROOT
παρέρχεται
parérchetai
GROWS FROM
ἐρχ-
erch-
come, go; move toward or along
“passeth by” in this verse is parérchetai. The compound joins παρά (pará, beside) with ἔρχομαι (érchomai, come or go), holding nearness and movement together. Jesus is passing, yet he is close enough to be heard; the moving moment is also an opening for encounter.
ALSO GROWS
érchomai: come; go
ἔρχομαι
This is the base verb inside παρέρχομαι, revealing the movement beneath “passeth by.”
diérchomai: go through; pass through
διέρχομαι
It carries the same ἐρχ- root, showing how the verb can describe movement across a space.
יֵשׁוּעַ
Yēshūaʿ
GROWS FROM
י־שׁ־ע
y-š-ʿ
deliver; bring out from constriction into spaciousness
The Greek name Ἰησοῦς (Iēsoûs, Jesus) carries the Hebrew name Yeshua, rooted in deliverance. The person passing by bears a name whose nature is movement out of narrowness into space.
ALSO GROWS
yāšaʿ: deliver; bring into safety
יָשַׁע
This verb is the seed behind the name, joining Jesus’ identity to deliverance.
yəšūʿāh: deliverance; rescue
יְשׁוּעָה
The same consonants name deliverance itself, connecting the name to what it embodies.
נָצְרַת
Nāṣrat
GROWS FROM
נ־צ־ר
n-ṣ-r
watch, guard, keep
Nazareth carries the watcher-root: the place-name holds the idea of watching or keeping within it. So the line names Jesus by a place whose name carries watchfulness as he passes within hearing.
ALSO GROWS
nāṣar: watch; guard; keep
נָצַר
This verb supplies the watcher-nature carried by the name Nazareth.
nōṣēr: one who watches or keeps
נֹצֵר
This participle grows from the same root and makes the watcher an active presence.
THE PATTERN
A message can carry the nearness of God into hearing before direct sight or certainty arrives.
O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.THE THREAD
And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.Luke uses the same Greek verb παρέρχομαι (parérchomai, pass by or pass away) for Jesus passing and for heaven and earth passing. Here that motion is also nearness: the one passing is within the man’s hearing.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us