What Does Luke 19:6 Mean in the King James?
And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.
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
He does not merely meet Jesus on the road; he welcomes him as a guest, and that welcome is already joy.
THE MEANING
Your encounter with the one who calls you does not remain at the level of seeing; it becomes a welcome that makes room for presence. The welcome itself is marked by joy: receiving him is already a glad response.
THE ROOT
ὑπεδέξατο
hypedexato
GROWS FROM
δέχομαι
dechomai
To receive, accept, or welcome.
“received” in this verse is hypedexato. The verb means more than noticing Jesus or meeting him; it describes welcoming him as a guest. Luke uses this same compound when Martha receives Jesus into her house, making the movement from descent to hospitality explicit.
ALSO GROWS
dechomai: Receive, accept, welcome.
δέχομαι
This is the base verb beneath the compound: the action is taking someone in.
apodechomai: Welcome, accept.
ἀποδέχομαι
Luke uses this related form when the people receive Jesus in Luke 8:40, again showing welcome as an active response.
dektos: Acceptable, welcomed.
δεκτός
This related word names someone received favorably; in Luke 4:24 it appears as “accepted.”
χαίρων
chairōn
GROWS FROM
χαίρω
chairō
To rejoice, be glad.
“joyfully” in this verse is chairōn. The form describes him rejoicing as he receives Jesus, so joy belongs to the welcome itself. The same word family gives Greek χαρά (chara, “joy”) and χαῖρε (chaire, “rejoice” or a greeting), keeping gladness close to the act of welcome.
ALSO GROWS
chara: Joy, gladness.
χαρά
This noun names the joy that is present in his manner of receiving.
chaire: Rejoice; a greeting meaning “hail” or “greetings.”
χαῖρε
The related greeting carries the sound of rejoicing into an encounter.
THE PATTERN
Welcome is an active opening that makes room for another’s presence.
Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.THE THREAD
Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.Luke uses the same Greek verb, ὑποδέχομαι (hypodechomai), meaning “welcome as a guest,” for Martha’s reception of Jesus. The shared word shows that Zacchaeus’s joy is expressed as hospitality: he welcomes Jesus into his space.
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