What Does Luke 22:2 Mean in the King James?
And the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him; for they feared the people.
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
Fear of the crowd does not end the plan to kill him; it makes the planners search for a safer way to carry it out.
THE MEANING
You can see a violent intention moving through public calculation: they want him dead, yet the crowd’s presence governs how they pursue it. Fear does not erase the plan; it constrains its timing and method. The verse shows how power can appear restrained while still seeking a way to harm.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that delayed or hidden harm means the intention has softened: fear changes how the plan is carried out, not its aim.
THE ROOT
ἐφοβοῦντο
ephobounto
GROWS FROM
φοβ-
phob-
fear, dread
“feared” in this verse is ephobounto. Here fear is not detached from action: it governs the search for a way to kill him. The same word family names both the fear itself and what is frightening, showing the crowd’s perceived power shaping the leaders’ choices.
ALSO GROWS
phobos: fear, dread
φόβος
This noun names the pressure driving their search for a method.
phoberos: fearful, frightening
φοβερός
The same word family describes what provokes fear, fitting the crowd’s perceived force in this calculation.
THE PATTERN
Fear of social consequences can shape outward action while leaving the underlying pressure intact.
The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned.Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.THE THREAD
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.The Greek word for fear, φόβος (phobos), shares the φοβ- (phob-) root with Luke’s “feared.” Luke shows fear steering a violent plan; this verse names fear as torment that love casts out, opening the contrast between action governed by dread and life released from its grip.
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