What Does Luke 20:46 Mean in the King James?
Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts;
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 “highest seats” and “chief rooms” both carry the Greek element for “first,” exposing one appetite for precedence beneath the robe, greeting, and table.
THE MEANING
The verse names a desire to be noticed as distinguished and addressed with deference. The robe, market greeting, and prominent seat are outward marks of rank, and the warning still speaks wherever those marks are mistaken for inward substance.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A robe, deferential greeting, and prominent seat prove a person has inward worth and authority.
THE ROOT
πρωτοκαθεδρίας
prōtokathedrias
GROWS FROM
πρωτο- (from πρῶτος, prōtos)
first, foremost
“highest seats / chief rooms” in this verse is prōtokathedrias. Although English uses two different rank words, both Greek compounds begin with prōto-, “first”: one names foremost synagogue seats, the other foremost places at feasts. The verse traces the same appetite for precedence across religious and social settings.
ALSO GROWS
prōtokathedria: foremost seat
πρωτοκαθεδρία
This is the “highest seat” in the synagogue, marked as first place.
prōtoklisia: foremost reclining place at a feast
πρωτοκλισία
This is the “chief room” at the table, carrying the same first-place claim into a feast.
THE PATTERN
When first place becomes a prize, clothing and seating turn into public signs of the rank someone wants.
Put not forth thyself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men:And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:THE THREAD
And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them,“Chief rooms” translates the same Greek word, πρωτοκλισίας (prōtoklisias), used for the places the scribes love. The repeated word makes the desire for first place visible in both passages.
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