What Does Luke 2:24 Mean in the King James?
And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.
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 sacrifice is an act of giving, while the Greek word for “pair” carries the image of two joined together.
THE MEANING
An act of devotion takes tangible form as a gift given in keeping with the Lord’s instruction. The verse names the offering closely: one pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.
THE ROOT
ζεῦγος
zeugos
GROWS FROM
ζευγνύμι
zeugnymi
to yoke or join together
English “pair” tells you the number; the Greek word carries the sense of joining. That same word-family includes the word for a yoke, so the birds are named not only as two, but as a joined pair.
ALSO GROWS
zygos: yoke
ζυγός
This close relative makes the joining image explicit: a pair and a yoke share the idea of things brought together.
syzygos: companion, yokefellow
σύζυγος
The word extends joining to a person who is paired or linked with another, as in Philippians 4:3.
δοῦναι
dounai
GROWS FROM
δίδωμι
didōmi
to give
The Greek phrase uses the verb “to give” for what the KJV renders “to offer.” The root keeps the act of giving visible inside the ritual language: the sacrifice is a concrete gift.
ALSO GROWS
dosis: giving, gift
δόσις
This noun names the act or result of giving, keeping the same root visible in the gift itself.
dotēr: giver
δοτήρ
This related form names the one who gives, making clear that the root can describe both the gift and its giver.
THE PATTERN
An offering takes shape as a concrete gift, named and given in the real world.
Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.THE THREAD
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.Luke’s word for a pair, ζεῦγος (zeugos, a joined pair), belongs to the same joining family as Matthew’s ζυγός (zygos, a yoke). That shared root opens the image of Luke’s pair onto the language of being joined under a yoke.
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