What Does Luke 22:36 Mean in the King James?
Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.
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
“But now” marks a real change: what could be left behind before must be carried now, and the sword comes at the cost of a garment.
THE MEANING
The verse speaks from a changed present: whoever has a purse takes it, and whoever lacks a sword is told to sell his garment and buy one. Readiness here is costly and concrete, the garment is exchanged for a weapon, and the command leaves its violence visible.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the assumption that the earlier lack of travel gear still describes the present: “But now” marks changed terms.
THE ROOT
μάχαιραν
machairan
GROWS FROM
μαχ-
mach-
The Greek word family carries the sense of fighting and battle.
The word belongs to the same family as words for battle and fighting, giving the sword a direct connection to conflict. The verse’s picture of readiness therefore includes an instrument of force.
ALSO GROWS
machē: battle, fight
μάχη
Shares the fight-related stem, making the sword’s connection to conflict audible in Greek.
machomai: fight, contend
μάχομαι
Uses the same stem for the act of fighting that the sword is associated with.
ἀγορασάτω
agorasatō
GROWS FROM
ἀγορα-
agora-
The marketplace, a place of public exchange.
“buy” in this verse is agorasatō. The word for buying comes from the marketplace word-family. Beside the command to sell, it makes the change in readiness an explicit exchange: the garment is given up and a sword is purchased.
ALSO GROWS
agora: marketplace; public gathering place
ἀγορά
Names the setting of exchange behind the verb for buying.
exagorazō: buy out; redeem
ἐξαγοράζω
Extends the same market word-family into an exchange that brings something out of its prior condition.
THE PATTERN
Readiness changes with the season: what one moment permits to be left behind, another moment requires you to carry.
And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing.Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses,To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:THE THREAD
And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing.The same purse and scrip appear here and in the preceding verse, where the disciples say that traveling without them left them lacking nothing. “But now” marks the reversal: the earlier terms have changed.
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