What Does Luke 22:31 Mean in the King James?
And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
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 Greek “you” is plural, so while Jesus names Simon, the Adversary’s demand reaches for the whole company.
THE MEANING
The verse lets the reader see how pressure can name one person while reaching for the circle around them. The Adversary’s demand is to shake that circle through a sieve, separating its members as wheat is sifted. It names an intended rupture; it does not yet declare its outcome.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A threat of sifting does not prove that separation has already won.
THE ROOT
σινιάσαι
siniasai
GROWS FROM
σινιαζ- (siniaz-), from σινιάζω (siniazō)
To shake grain through a sieve; to sift.
“sift” in this verse is siniasai. The image is physical: grain is shaken through a sieve so its contents are separated. The verse presents the Adversary’s aim as separation through pressure, not as a vague test.
ALSO GROWS
sinion: A sieve used to separate grain.
σινίον
The implement makes the verse’s image concrete: the intended shaking passes through a tool made to separate.
siniazō: To sift or shake through a sieve.
σινιάζω
This is the verb behind “sift”; it holds the shaking and separation together in one action.
ἐξῃτήσατο
exēitēsato
GROWS FROM
αἰτε- (aite-), in αἰτέω (aiteō)
To ask or request.
“desired to have” in this verse is exēitēsato. The verb frames the Adversary as asking for the disciples, rather than describing only an inward wish. The following phrase names what is being sought: they are wanted for sifting.
ALSO GROWS
aiteō: To ask or request something.
αἰτέω
This base verb shows the asking contained in the more forceful compound used here.
aitēma: A request or something asked for.
αἴτημα
The related noun gives the request a concrete shape: the group is the object being asked for.
שָׂטָן
śāṭān
GROWS FROM
שׂטן
śṭn
To oppose or act as an adversary.
“Satan” in this verse is śāṭān. The name carries the nature of opposition: the Adversary is identified by the role of standing against. Here that opposition takes the form of a demand to shake the group apart.
ALSO GROWS
śāṭān: An adversary or opponent.
שָׂטָן
The noun names the opposing role enacted through the demand to sift.
śāṭan: To oppose or accuse.
שָׂטַן
The verb shows opposition as an action, which the verse makes visible in the attempt to separate the disciples.
THE PATTERN
Sifting subjects a gathered whole to pressure that separates its contents.
For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.THE THREAD
But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.The next line shifts from the Adversary’s plural claim on the group to Jesus’ singular prayer for Peter. The sifting is real, but the demand itself does not settle whether Peter’s trust will fail.
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